Oct 22, 2015

Living it up at the Northwest Retreat

Credit: WallaWalla.edu
I'm here! I'm finally here! It's been a solid year of planning, one month of organizing all my family's schedules, seven and a half hours of driving, and one all-nighter filled with preparations to make it happen, but I'm here!

I'm at Rosario Beach in Anacortes, Washington with sixteen amazingly wonderful women who share my love of writing and are equally driven to tell the story that's inside them. And you know what's even better? Tomorrow our numbers will more than double.

We're surrounded by lush greenery, a fog-covered eddie lapping onto a river rock shore, and just enough mist to make the retreat feel magical. Oh, wait. That's because it is!

Tomorrow we will listen to Lisa Mangum, Managing editor of Shadow Mountain followed by a variety of breakout sessions put on by some incredibly talented women who are kind enough to inspire and enlighten us on how to improve our craft, and to make it in the publishing world.

Oh how blessed we are to live in this day and age where we can come together, share our talents, and become better together. How blessed we are to have such a wonderful group of ladies to learn and grow with, while encouraging and celebrating their individual goals and accomplishments.

This is my second retreat at Rosario Beach. Last year I was a tag-along with almost no writing experience. I came, I observed, I cowered in the corner, and in spite of it all, I made friends, memories, and came home inspired to do and be more. This year, I come alone, determined to overcome my fear of not being good enough, and prepared to absorb everything I can from this experience.


For me, ANWA has been Heaven sent. I cannot imagine any other organization who is more focused on helping each other succeed. I look forward to a weekend without my children, gleaning from those who are further in the process than I am, and making a whole other group of life-long friends! Thank you, ladies, for welcoming me with open arms. I am truly blessed to be a part of this group.  

1 comment:

  1. Oh I am so excited for you...and a little bit jealous. I have a goal to go next year. Happy writing!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. Feel free to comment on our blogger's posts.*

*We do not allow commercial links, however. If that's not clear, we mean "don't spam us with a link to your totally unrelated-to-writing site." We delete those comments.