This is one of these cases where I have TOO much to post — it was a busy 5 days, and without internet access (no, Bev, that was NOT considered internet access — if it involves a phone, then that’s for the third world countries, not us) I didn’t get to post some of the action.

The Writer’s Retreat was truly a retreat. Now I can write anywhere. It’s a learned skill, one that is definitely a must. But writing is a solitary task and sometimes, the mind goes a little crazy. Especially with no commercial success, the only thing keeping me going…is me. There’s not a lot of feedback, not a lot of interaction, so sometimes doubt begins to creep into the equation.

Which is why Writer’s Retreats are so important. Being around others who are as crazy as I am (well, more so than me) really energizes me. They helped me the Proud Nails of Curse of the Black Swan. Proud Nails was an editing term I read somewhere and it’s a great description. When there was always something that wasn’t quite right, but you couldn’t place it. Just enough, like a proud nail sticking out of a floor that caught your sock…

Bev and Eileen caught the Proud Nails of Curse of the Black Swan and I think it’s a much stronger story now. And we worked on pitches (that’s for another post), and started planning for the World Fantasy Conference in early November.

There were ‘ifs’ before I left for this trip. Work ifs, and personal ifs. I’m glad all the ifs worked out.