I returned from Vegas with very little trouble yesterday, in spite of an ice storm. I was concerned that planes would be cancelled and I might be banished to Detroit for a day, but I flew in a mere half an hour late, Bryon came and picked me up, and we made it home. The big issue right now in the state seems to be fog rather than ice. Yay?
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I had a glorious time in Vegas. The retreat’s basic pattern was this: breakfast and conversate, write, quick lunch, write some more, spa, gussy up and eat. The next day? breakfast and brainstorm, write, lunch, write some more, get feedback on novella, supper, see a show, ride a gondola. Everyone else barred after that, but I had to get up at 2:30 am to get through the airport process, so that was it.
As you might know, I have spent most writer retreats in workshopping mode. While a couple of nice fellow writers gave me feedback on a novella, most of this retreat was spent producing new material, and/or editing, depending on what individual writers felt they needed to do. How did that work?
The feedback was positive. Most of the writers who attended wanted some writing time, time to just put their fingers on the keys and go at it. Also, being in an environment with writers sparked creativity, and made people want to work on their own projects more, plus get excited about other people’s work (there are several projects I am now hot to read.) Everyone was friendly and got along well. We seemed to all feel comfortable with each other, and that also helped.
Now, I know what you might be thinking. Las Vegas? Really? That’s what I thought back when Lou and Danielle and Eric took us in 2011, and I was so wrong. Las Vegas, while a bit of overload, really *is* a good place to retreat. There’s not so much to do there that we are distracted from doing it, but enough to do there so when we are sick of writing we can do something else. I would definitely recommend it.
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More I want to say about the projects I’m working on, and so forth (especially since the wimmen on the retreat pumped me up!). I hope to get a chance to write more this week. Regrettably, everything’s an emergency right now at work, and while that means nothing is, it also means I have to roll up my sleeves, so we’ll do this as we can.
Hope to see you soon.
