Saturday, October 27, 2012

I've Retreated

This weekend I've retreated from my home, the Internet, and the incessant political/poll phone calls.

I'm once again participating in the Northern Colorado Writers member retreat at a nearby guest ranch. We take over the bunkhouse which has private bedrooms, a kitchen for our snacks, coffee and tea, and a common room for our social time which includes games and a movie and just a little wine tasting.

The ranch dining room serves two awesome breakfasts for us and our Saturday night dinner.

And we have huge blocks of quiet writing time when we're strictly forbidden to disturb each other.

Last year I churned out 13,000 words including a short story and a detailed outline. This year I'll be working on a novel first draft that's 2/3  complete, so I've upped my goal to 15,000 words in the hope I can finish before the start of NaNoWriMo and another brand new story.

It snowed Thursday night and more yesterday, so the ranch and the river that runs by the bunkhouse will be gorgeous. The photos are two of my favorites from past retreats.

Next week I'll let you know if I made that 15,000 word goal or not. Wish me luck!

9 comments:

Lorelei Bell said...

Hey, sounds like fun, Patricia. I hope you make your 15K mark! Good luck and most importantly have fun writing and then mingling with the other writers.

Jan Morrison said...

Oh Pat! It looks like heaven and retreats are my favourite way to get a good chunk of work done! We have a lovely place to go to called Elizabeth Bishop House in Great Village, Nova Scotia. I've posted about it before. Turns out it was free right now but I cannot go there - we're moving again. Later I hope.
Have a ball and make your goal!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You are going to have a great and productive time!

Yolanda Renée said...

Patricia,

I am so envious. Snow combined with beautiful views, relaxation and nothing to do but write. Sigh...

I'm preparing for Hurricane Sandy, my only hope -- it's not too bad, and I get some great material for 'it was a dark and stormy night' :)!

Hope you have oodles of fun and successful writing!

Yadin Bromberg said...

Have a good time! :)

Also, I just re-opened my blog and I would really appreciate you checking it out.
Here's a link to my newest post:

http://yadinbromberg.blogspot.com/2012/10/im-back-nanowriwr-is-here.html

Thanks!
-Yadin

liz young said...

Oh wow! You lucky, lucky thing! Wish I was there with you. I hope you have a restful and productive time.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Patricia .. I remember from last year - have so much fun this year .. the snow looks a little chilly - but if you're all cosy it's no problem .. it does sound such a good event ..

Looking forward to the report back - cheers Hilary

Trisha said...

I am really jealous of you being there! We don't get snow at all where I love, and to me those photos look like heaven ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh, Pat, I hope you have/had a wonderful experience! I'm looking forward to reading how it went.