Retreat to go Forward

I recently had the good fortune of spending eight days at Ocean Shores in Washington State. This has become an annual event for my wife, our two children (and our dog!), and also includes my wife’s parents, as well as her two siblings and their children. We look forward to the get-together each year, and 2019 was no exception. What’s not to like when your daily routine involves long walks on the beach during the day and cozy camp fires during the night with loved ones, and a whole lot of fun in between.

This year’s get away was particularly special to me because the ‘in between’ part afforded me an opportunity to work on substantive edits for my manuscript. While I’ve been very happy with how the story has evolved as a whole, there have been a few areas within the story that nagged me, and tightening those loose ends had proven elusive.

Not anymore! My early morning walks on the beach helped get my creative juices flowing with the result that I was finally able to put the finishing touches to those last areas.

This trip proved to be a welcome writers retreat, helping me to stop and reflect on my manuscript, before plotting my way forward. I still have work ahead, the next step being the mechanical edits, as I work towards the fall deadline with my publisher. But I accomplished a great deal over this eight day period, including finalizing the title. I’ve deliberated on a number of working titles over the past several months, and I gratefully acknowledge my editor for her suggestion of THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD.

More to come…