GRW Meeting and a Write-Away in One Weekend
What am I Reading?
March 23, 2011Princess Bella and the Evil Queen
April 4, 2011Wow! This weekend’s Georgia Romance Writer’s Meeting was off the chart. We had New York Times Bestselling author Suzanne Brockman as our speaker for the first half. She was amazing, inspiring, funny and the nicest person. I bought three of her books but forgot to go back and get her to sign them because the line was incredibly long. She made a point to chat with each person and that really made me like her even more. I was also amazed that the book that just came out is her fiftieth published book. Again, wow!
Suzanne Brockman speaking to our group – really wish I had gotten a closer picture but you can see a close-up of her and my friend Pam Asberry over at her blog.
The second half of the meeting was our annual Virginia Ellis Critique Workshop. This is something that is for GRW members only (just one of MANY incentives to join!!!) where a published author will look at the first 25 pages of the unpublished authors manuscript and give them their honest opinion on how it looks. This year I had the fabulous Tanya Michna. She was awesome! She pointed out quite a few things and praised me on some others. This was a great mix and I am thrilled to have had this opportunity.
Immediately after the meeting, a group of us checked into the hotel for an evening and morning of writing. This would be one of many impromptu Write-Aways we’ve had where we get together and let the world pass us by while we work on our manuscripts (or whatever else we might be writing). I was able to complete one page on one story I’m writing; half a page on another (but I also scrapped the whole first chapter, too…); edited my blog post for Tuesday on the Petit Fours and Hot Tamales blog; and had the best time catching up with some wonderful friends. I also had a chance to check out the area around the hotel where we hold our monthly GRW meetings. I really wish I had done this sooner (only a year and a half later….) because there are quite a few shops and food places that I want to try (guess we will have to do another one in the near future).
We got together to write in one of the many hotel rooms we rented. This is the space I claimed as my own (just picture me lounging there with my AlphaSmart 3000 on my lap).
Below is Susan May (author of Nick’s New Heart) and Tammy Schubert working extremely hard.
Debbie Kaufman was working on her second book (she recently sold her first book, The Doctor’s Mission, due to release November 2011).
Sia Huff and Linsey Lanier were already hard at work before the rest of us arrived.
Tamara Brookes and Sandy Elzie definitely put me to shame. Both ladies were diligent in keeping their fingers on the keyboard. (Sandy’s book, In Daddy’s Shoes was released in 2010 and she has quite a few others to be released soon).
This is a picture of the group (minus one who wasn’t able to stay over).
Back row: Tami Brothers (me!), Sia Huff, Susan May, Tamara Brookes and Debbie Kaufman
Front row: Tammy Schubert and Sandra Elzie
This was definitely a FUN, FUN weekend. If you are a writer, I highly recommend connecting with a local writing chapter. Start making friends with people who understand this crazy writing world and can relate to the madness of wanting to stay overnight in a hotel JUST to sit and write. It is a great feeling.
14 Comments
It looks like you all had SO MUCH FUN. I wish I could have been there, but I just couldn’t work it all the details. NEXT TIME. 🙂 And thanks for the shout-out!
Hey Pam!!! Definitely next time.
No problem. You got a great picture.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tami
It was fun. And we’re still at the lake at the keyboard!
Loved the meeting this past Saturday. Sorry I couldn’t join you at the write-in. But I’ll be coming to the lake tomorrow morning to work on my new work in progress.
Marilyn Baron
I had planned to attend. Even had a room, but didn’t realize I had a conflict. I, too, am at the lake. You can see, by this, how hard I am working. By the way, your editing is just super and is helping sooooo much! Thanks!
Go ladies!!! That looks like a ton of fun!
Girls, I SOOOOOOOOOOOO miss my GRWA meetings! I surely wouldn’t have missed this one! It looks like you had a blast. x
Aw, man, this post makes me homesick for all my GRW writing buddies. (sniff, sniff)
Glad y’all had fun. Many miles away, I finished my edits and returned the MS to my editor. Yay!
Hey Debbie! Hope you guys are having fun at the lake. It’s pretty chilly here, so I’m hoping you guys stay warm and get a lot of writing done! Thanks for stopping by!
Tami
Hey Marilyn! Make sure and take warm clothes. Sorry you couldn’t do the write-in but definitely next time! Thanks for stopping by.
Tami
Hi Maxine! No worries. I think the next one will be a beach retreat or something. Might be kind of fun. Have fun at the lake!
Tami
Hey Jen! Thanks for stopping by. I just checked out your website. Really cool. Let me know when you get a blog and I’ll definitely follow it!
Thanks for stopping by!
Tami
Hey Angela! We miss you, too. Were you able to find a writing group in Europe?
Thanks so much for stopping by. Definitely keep coming back!
Tami
Hi Carol/Annie!!!! We really do miss you. I wish I had been able to make it to M&M when you were out here last October. Think you might be able to come out this year? I know you are headed to nationals, so maybe not. Either way, would be great to catch up.
Thanks for stopping by!
Tami