Monday, July 28, 2008

Writers Retreat


My, the house is quiet. All the gals in our writers' retreat group are leaving this morning. Mom and I are left alone in the house, tired but happy. Over the four days we plotted books for each member, worshipped, ate a lot, played a lot, and laughed a lot. My poor husband put up with us all.

The first evening the group gave me an unexpected hostess present. What in the world was in the big box? Turned out to be a present fit for a suspense writer hostess. I thought it was terrific and had much fun putting the knife set together.

Some of you have asked how to start a similar group. If you want such a group, ask God to help you find the right members for it. I do believe if you pray for something like this, He'll lead you to the right people. You may want to start with a smaller group. Eleven people take a lot of beds and room. But five or six might be a great way to start. For six people, you could take two full days and perhaps an evening, plotting six books per day. If you're a member of a local chapter of ACFW, that would be a great way to put out the word to interested people. On the other hand, the members don't have to be geographically close. Our group is spread from Oregon to Kentucky.



4 comments:

Pam Halter said...

I read this and heaved a great, big sigh. I can't wait for my group to get together now and we have 5 months to go!

However, some of us will see each other at the Greater Philadelphia conference next week.

SIGH . . .

Kim Vogel Sawyer said...

Yeah...but...see...I want Mama Ruth in MY group! ;o)

Glad you all had fun...but that knife thing? OUCH! I'm so glad I write "gentle" stories. Ha!

Gracie said...

Glad that ya'll had a great time brainstorming. Getting that many creative minds together sounds fun: I hope to host a writer's retreat of my own someday.

A knife set? Perfect gift for a suspense novelist! Now you don't have to simply imagine the killer stabbing his victim -- you can reenact it with your prop person.

Blessings!

Anonymous said...

Brilliant! Now why didn't I think of that? I could've made millions selling that knife rack to all you crazies...er, I mean, suspense writers.