A few days ago, I treated myself to a one-day writer’s retreat in Austin. Smack in the middle of Austin but still secluded is The Writing Barn, perfect for an event like this. The converted barn is large, has lots of character, and is surrounded by trees and cactus and rocks … well, you get the picture. It was rustic. The tree branches groaned as they banged against the barn’s tin roof. Two deer came out of the woodsy area and meandered around for a while as we watched them from inside the screened-in porch.
It was nice to get away, meditate, be around other writers with the same passion as you, and then get inspired to write, write, write. Being in a setting like that brings out the creative juices. My writing flowed and I hardly lifted my pen as I wrote and wrote. No laptops, no IPads, simply notebooks and pens. It was really, really nice. When was the last time you treated yourself to such an outing? There are plenty of opportunities around the Texas area. Ask around and you’ll find them.
A few days later, I participated in a Picture Book panel at the Corpus Christi ESC Region 2 event on Tuesday, November 13. While there, I met up with Texas Poet Laureate Jan Seale. It was a thrill seeing her again. I first met her at a Laredo bookfest event a few months earlier where I bought her book, The Wonder Is.
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| Author and Poet Laureate Jan Seale |
“When you choose a creative life, you never grow old. It’s forever young and forever growing.” — Salome Jens