Where is Cheryl, take 2

I have, thankfully, completed my research into all things illness. (if confused, check out my previous post!) In fact, I believe I’ve done enough research on the subject to last me quite a while, so if you have any influence with the flu/bronchitis/pneumonia and other agents of mass destruction, please mention that I can be taken off their lists.

It’s kind of nice to return to the real world (at least, at least as real as the world of the writer ever gets….)

Actually, I’m not in the real world at all right now. I’m at a ridiculously wonderful writing retreat in Breckenridge, CO, basking in all things creative. This session, I’ve had the chance to meet "officially" with editor Kate Gale of Red Hen Press, author Justin Taylor, agent Sorche Fairbank, and agent Scott Hoffman of Folio Literary Agency. They're all very nice and human. And smart. And funny.

And can you imagine any other setting where you have official one-hour meetings with so many different people in the industry? Pretty cool. Add in amazing food, a hot tub, and a seemingly bottomless bowl of peanut M&M’s, I’m definitely feeling inspired! Especially now that I stopped trying to grind out the projects I thought I *ought* to be working on in favor of the project I *want* to be working on.

Message for the week: when writing, follow your heart. Maybe that’s not always the right answer, but it’s definitely working for me right now! So I’m off to write more about Cassandra Fort as she drops into the sleepy community of Rodger’s Island, WA, with all the subtlety of a breaching whale…a character who makes me laugh aloud when I write about her. More later!