Hello Writers!
I have exciting news in this edition of Write On! If you need time to write and a place away from all the hubbub, I have just the answer.
Self-Directed Retreats
Starting in late July, my new writing cabin will be available for rent to writers who need the time. It is a small cabin on eleven silent acres that sleeps up to four and is set up specifically for writers. It has new writing tables and chairs and full fiber-optic Internet. Full kitchen is there, too. It was built about 20 years ago and feels woodsy and fresh.
The standard rate will be $125/night, so with up to four people, that could be just over $30 per night per person if you have four people. I’m not prepared to take reservations quite yet, but wanted to announce it exclusively to the Write On! writers. You’ll be the first to know what reservations open, and if you have any interest or questions, please contact me. Next time I will include photos of this cozy place for writing or spiritual refreshment.
10,000 Word Weekend Writing Retreats
Given this new location, my 10,000 Word Weekend Writing retreats will be coming back as well. Writers need time to write and people to connect with, and that’s what these retreats are built for. I will be organizing these as well, so stay tuned!
Weird World
Writing has taken on a new meaning for me since the recent Supreme Court decision. Not only do I find it appalling that individual sovereignty over decisions regarding one’s body is not understood as a universal right, but the decision by the court undermines many other rights—privacy, movement, expression, and association. When I combine a court like this with the near destruction of our democracy by Trump between his election day defeat and Biden’s innauguration, it is hard to maintain center. The agony has been coming up in my poetry, as you can see in this poem: A Dark Robe at the Window.
Indeed, creative writing has taken on a new urgency. Reason is not working, and that should be no surprise. An old adage in sales is “Facts tell, stories sell.” Creative writing cannot now recede.
Rescinding individual sovereignty, expanding gun rights in the aftermath of mass shootings, and a near coup d’etat. How do we communicate the insanity of it all? We need to write, to tell compelling stories of compelling characters, to evoke emotion through image and verse, and to bring our wholeness to the world. So. please… write.
Write On!
Tony