I am in Chattanooga, TN about to have a writing retreat at my parents’ house with some friends. It’s a good way to spend the last week in September. Yesteday, I made pimento cheese and a butternut squash lasagna, and I wrote. People have been drifting in so the house is filling up. At this point everyone is here, except some of the locals, like Cherie Priest, who are doing drop-ins, and Michael Livingston, who comes on Wednesday.
For those who have not heard me talk about my parents’ home, Woodthrush Woods is set on thirteen wooded acres of what used to be the family farm. There are two houses on the property, Woodthrush itself, and Robin’s Roost. Woodthrush was built by my grandfather and is the house that Dad grew up in.
I’ve had a couple of retreats here because it seems as though it were built for that. There are plenty of secluded spots to sit and write, either indoors or out. The photo is Shanna Germain in the side garden.
So what am I working on? I’m trying to finish Valour and Vanity, which I think will be wrapped by the time I leave here. I spent the bus ride down here doing a re-read of the first eighteen chapters before writing forward again. This is sort of my standard operating procedure, apparently. I write the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the novel, stop, read it and make adjustments, then write forward from there.
This lead to me inserting a new scene in Chapter 17 and moving a scene to Chapter 18. So if you are reading along and Chapter 18 looks familiar, go back and read the second half of 17.
I moved some other things as well, for pacing and flow, but that was the only real content insertion. I am going to have to go back and change character names though. I have a Singor Aquarone and a Sister Aquinta. Those are just unnecessarily close.
Good luck with the writing. 🙂
Everything about your post today sounds wondrous. Of course I’ve heard of writing retreats before, and the idyllic scene of your parents’ house tickles my senses. What a delightful place to be, to write, and to enjoy.