writing workshop | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I left the beach yesterday afternoon–it was one of those beautiful days, a gorgeous breeze, white caps on the horizon, blue skies with cotton candy clouds–and I’m not gonna lie. I did not want to leave the beach.

But duty called. As in a writing workshop I’d signed on for–and paid in full. With Marietta B. Zacker from the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency. (It was on characters and how they affect story and why characters matter. Mostly.)

And just between us, I was not driving over to that workshop with a cheery heart. My heart was a bit whiny, and my lip might even have been poking out about a mile. All I could think about was how great it would be, sitting in my beach chair, with the clouds and the waves and the breezes. But then I saw a passel of writer friends–and the cotton candy clouds flitted away. And I started listening to Marietta and the breezes blew right past me. I went to lunch at the Dekalb Farmer’s Market with a couple friends and even when I saw the fresh crabs, I didn’t remember to pout. And by the time I had a one-on-one consultation with Marietta, I could not for the life of me recall why I didn’t want to go to that workshop.

The beach, I expect, will still be there when I go down to the sea again. But Marietta Zacker? Best get her while you can. She’s that good.

And P.S. I wrote about how to keep fit as a writer yesterday at the Muffin. Though technically, I didn’t exactly share how to keep fit as much as I asked you to share how you keep fit. But having just returned from the beach, I can say that taking a couple days off did wonders for my aching back. Now if I could just work that sand-and-surf break into my exercise regimen…)

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.)