This is now day four of my writing retreat and it has been a roaring success. I've been head down, working hard and have achieved everything I wanted to achieve. Book 2 in the DI Shona Mckenzie Mysteries, Killer's Craft, has had its final edit and is good to go. I am now waiting patiently for the launch on 20th July, 2015. Okay, I'm not that patient but you get the gist. I am now storming ahead with book 3, Killer's Cross. I have managed to write up a storm, and that is partly down to the weather. I make no apologies for the dreadful pun here.
Initially I was praying for sunshine for the week. I had plans to sit out in the courtyard and write all day. This being Scotland, the weather had other plans. It has been dull, raining, windy, and today I have fog. Rather than sitting in a courtyard I have spent the week sitting at this writing desk, in front of a picture window.
It has been perfect. I have watched pounding waves break on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. I have been eyeball to eyeball with swooping seagulls and other seabirds, just inches from my face. Towering rocks in the distance look like derelict castles, depending on the light. Trees, clinging to the cliffside, have been windblown and rainswept. Today there is thick fog shrouding the landscape in mystery. As I type the fog is slowly moving , drifting past my window with icy tentacles.
So, as far as writing mysteries go, the week has been an astounding success. The atmosphere of the changing landscape has given me ideas for this, and future, books. The week has taught me, that as a writer, I need to be flexible and make the most of every situation. Nothing is wasted. Everything I do or see can be stored away and used at some time in the future.
So my Bookaholic friends my retreat is fast coming to an end. Tomorrow I will be back home and ready to take part in life again. I will do so with more vigour and a renewed sense of why I write. I would recommend this to any writer.
What is your experience of retreats? have you been on any or are you contemplating doing one?
