The Eighth Annual
Cliff House Writer’s Retreat held May 2-4, 2014, was another huge success.
With such diverse manuscripts, everyone learned something new. We discussed two
MG novels, one realistic and one supernatural. Five YA’s— contemporary romance,
suspense, historical, steampunk and LGBT.
On Friday afternoon, we brainstormed additions to one
member’s final pages, to make a stronger, more effective ending. Her story is
headed to her agent and then off to the requesting editors. :)
Friday night, all seven of us enjoyed a wonderful dinner at
Peter’s Europa House. Toasts were issued around the table. Four of the seven of
us had books published within the last year. J
That night, after brainstorming sequel titles and concepts
for one of our MG writers, we had a very deep discussion led by Ruth Knafo
Setton, writing instructor at Lehigh University and Roxanne Werner, former
editor at Stories for Children. Needless
to say everyone ran home to “SAVE THE CAT!” J
Saturday morning began with ‘sunrise yoga’ led by Milan
Sandhu. Once we stretched our bodies we were ready to stretch our minds.
Readings, comments, critiques and plenty of note-taking commenced. After lunch break, we headed back for more. Writers had individual time to write and revise.
Supper was a community effort with vegetarian red lentil
soup, various cheddar cheeses and dill crackers, chicken, grape and apple
salad, heritage tomato salad, Spanish olives, chicken cutlets, and a large
tossed salad dressed with Italian spices, vinegar and olive oil.
We finished up Saturday evening with the last writer critique
and brainstormed topics for our next meeting.
Sunday morning, breakfast was a melancholy event, because
everyone knew the time to leave was fast-approaching.
One last round table meeting to cover synopses, queries and
pitch lines and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.
Lookout world, the Cliff House Writers mean business, and
with any luck, more of us will be published this year. J
If you are interested in joining us for a paid retreat in
the fall, drop me a line and I’ll forward your information to our Fall Retreat
coordinator.
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