The Writing Retreat

As most every writer knows, there are just some times you need to get away from your real life to get any writing done. For some, they book a room at a local hotel, hunker down and order room service for a weekend (I've yet to do this!). Some, like me, choose to go on writing retreats. Usually there's a small group of us, each working on our own projects with various deadlines. This time around I went with Tonya Kappes and Wendy Watson. Melissa Bourbon was supposed to go as well but had to cancel at the last moment (bummer!).

The main point of these forays isn't a vacation. It's to work. To buckle down and get tons of writing done--as much as possible in a short time span. Think marathon writing.

But that's not to say we don't have fun. Even our muses need a break once in a while.

The retreat was in a corner of Tennessee, minutes away from both Alabama and Mississippi. Tonya and I drove the eight hours to get there together, and Wendy drove up from Texas by herself TEN HOURS (she's Wonder Woman, I'm convinced.) 

Here I am, lost taking the scenic route through downtown Louisville. Thank goodness for Tonya's Garmin or we never would have found our way around the closed highway (!!!!).

Well, Garmin might have been beneficial in Louisville, but she was diabolic through Nashville, getting us lost making us take another scenic route. We did see Elvis, though. Score!

Mother Nature turned on us two hours from our destination. Blinding rain, driving winds, Dorothy-like clouds. Not fun. Tonya was glad I was driving and I was wishing she was the one behind the wheel.

Here's the cabin where we stayed! So nice. Two big bedrooms and a large loft with twin beds.

Here's Wendy making us dinner the first night we were there. She's an amazing cook and you can find some of her recipes over at Mystery Lovers Kitchen.

Trauma! The TV wasn't working the night we arrived. Tonya had wanted to watch Big Brother (she does a play by play of it on Facebook with some of her friends.) Not to mention that Project Runway was debuting the next night! Panic time. A call to the cabin manager helped us figure out what was going on. We totally knew we were supposed to push that one specific button on that random AOL box. Really. We were just testing the management.

 We started working early the next morning. Not sure what Tonya's looking at here...

Not sure we brought enough snacks! LOL. Tonya supplied me with two boxes of Lemon Heads. She knows me well.

Working hard! I'm hogging most of the couch. LOL. 

My view of that same shot. See--I really am working. In between, you know, taking pictures.

 Well. Because our muses need breaks--and entertainment--Tonya graciously provided us with dramatic readings from Fifty Shades of Grey. Complete with Kentucky twang and theatrical hand gestures. I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long time.

The neighbors set off fireworks the night before we left! So pretty!

And here we are about to head home after our very productive four days away.

  A good time was had by all, and we've promised each other to do it again next year.