Holly Lisle | Cathy C. Hall Writes

But I’m ever so glad a writer friend invited me to a four-day retreat! Because I love a good writer getaway. I love how it frees me.

Not that the Beneficent Mr. Hall and company hold me captive. Honestly, there are many times when dinner turns into a sandwich because I’m in the middle of a deadline. Nope, it’s not people so much as things.

Like Braves baseball games. Dirty clothes piled up in the hamper. The overgrown yard. Facebook. All the stuff that pulls my attention away (and gives me an excuse) from working on a long writing project. The project otherwise known as (dum dum dum) The Novel.

So getting away gives me no excuses. I will go where no woman has gone before–well, I’ve gone into these revisions before, but I’m going deep this time. Way deep. Anyway, a couple things before I go:

Thing 1: I will catch up with you and your lovely writing lives when I return to regular internet connection (and I’ll be turning around next week and heading out for a visit with my parents, where the internet is also missing). So if there is something with a time deadline, or even some fabulous news that you know I’ll want to hear, please send me an email as I’ll try to check that each day.

Thing 2: A couple days ago, I received an email from Holly Lisle about her Writer Boot Camp. I know it’s not the same as getting completely away, but it might be exactly what you need to kick your writing butt into gear. Plus, you have the support of a community along the way, and that really is half the fun of camp (or a getaway), isn’t it? So here’s the link, membership is free, and the Beginning Writer’s Bundle is 4 bucks. And P.S. You don’t have to be a beginner. You just have to be a writer who needs a push.

Thing 3: Please do not worry about the Beneficent Mr. Hall. As long as there is ice cream in the stores, he will survive.

Okay, now. You know it’s going to be writing, right? But such a lot of writing stuff you never imagined! So off we go! (See? I’ve just used TWO exclamation points in a row. That’s how excited I am.)

You know how you hear about something really great (five months ago) and plan to tell everyone about it but then you get carried away by your latest writing projects and maybe sitting outside on the lounge chair, reading a great book, and possibly watching entirely too many summer reality shows, and then you completely forget to mention it?

Um, yeah. So whilst talking to author and friendly mentor Karyn Henley at the Highlights Whole Novel Wokshop, she mentioned Holly Lisle’s workshops and writing books. (It must have made a big impression because I wrote “Holly Lisle” on a random page and underlined it twice.) And then the other day, the ~~pushy~~ helpful Amazon folks sent me an email espousing certain writing books and there was Holly Lisle’s plotting book for 99¢ (Kindle). So that sort of jarred my memory and I ordered it and then I went to her site and holy moly! TONS of helpful classes and books! Non-fiction, fiction, offered for whatever level of writer you are, and ridiculously reasonable. So there’s that.

And then I also forgot to remind you about the Chicken Soup From the Soul’s Married Life giveaway (from last week or so). You can read all about it at Get Your FREE Chicken Soup (For The Soul). And please post a comment there if you’d like to try to win a copy of this delightful book in the series. So there’s also that.

And finally, I forgot to mention (from yesterday) that I’d opined again about the arts and crafts festival, but this time I discussed What I Learned About Selling Books. It’s over at The Muffin so drop in there and get a few selling tips. (The lovely Becky P. mentioned some difficulty leaving a comment yesterday but I think that’s been fixed. Still, if you tried to leave a comment and couldn’t, please know how much I appreciate you!) So that’s that.

Whew. That was a lot of remembering to do this Thursday. So until the next catch-up Thursday, I’ll leave you with this: Happy writing! (See? I added an exclamation point, just for you.)