Summary:

A great week of clearing the decks and then experiencing a fantastic writing retreat and meeting lots of lovely new people.

 

Monday:

I was on countdown to going away, so I concentrated on getting as much paid editing work done as possible, alternating between Amie’s client novel, and the copy editing stage of the volunteering book, which came back from the author over the weekend.

 

Tuesday:

I got halfway through editing the volunteer book and caught up to where the client was still revising from the developmental feedback, so I called a halt and said I’d have to do the rest after I got back from my trip.

I also edited a chunk more of Amie’s client novel.

Later, I finished my current solo RPG, The Last Tea Shop, and selected another one to play next.

I also watched Mockingjay Part 2 for the podcast and made more notes in my script.

 

Wednesday:

I finished editing Amie’s client novel and sent the manuscript back for her approval. I ended up enjoying it more than the last instalment, which I edited last summer, and am quite looking forward to finding out what happens next.

I also won a chunky new project (developmental and copy editing of a techno thriller!), so I’m all set for work when I get back from retreat, and can also still fit the Space 1999 project in, if and when it gets confirmed.

I finished writing my Mockingjay podcast script and polished it up.

 

Thursday:

I wrote my review of A Desolation Called Peace, which I stayed up late the previous night to finish.

I also typed up some revision notes I found for an old writing project, to make sure I had a digital copy, in case I ever want to go back to it.

Later, I went through all the notes I’ve collated so far for my next novel – A Wizard Calls My Name – which I’ll be working on at two different retreats over the next week! It was great to get it back in my head and remember how excited I am about the idea.

 

Friday:

Off to Somerset on retreat – woohoo!

We didn’t arrive until after 3pm, but even the rest of the first day was awesome.

I met other amazing writers, we had a great workshop thinking about what we want our books to be, then there was a barbecue and wonderful conversations in the evening.

I made some interesting new notes for my next novel, Wizard.

 

Saturday:

Another great workshop, all about making characters distinct, and more great conversations with other writers.

Then there was time to work individually, so I went back to outlining Wizard.

 

Sunday:

A third great workshop, this time about approaches to dialogue, which resulted in me writing one of the most pivotal scenes of Wizard, so that was unexpected!

There was more individual writing time, and a very interesting walking exercise, where we were meant to embody our protagonist and try to see the world through their eyes.

The last evening involved a lot of really wonderful conversations with various of the participants – leading to a couple of potential new editing clients!