Wildacres Day 1

This was arrival day at the Wildacres Retreat Center. I like it. There will be a weeklong writers retreat, followed by a weeklong writers workshop.

I arrived around 3 p.m., checked in, and found my room. The director, Judi, said I was lucky to be in the house known as the Guest House, because the rooms are larger, and I have a single room. I do share a bathroom with the fellow in the next room. I have not met him yet.

The facility is beautiful. There seem to be about six or eight large buildings, scattered around the top of the mountain. There is a thick forest of pine and oak with a lot of rhododendron. Most of the attendees are staying in one of two large lodges. I do feel lucky to be a little farther down the mountain in the Guest House.

There was a little mixer at 5:30. It was supposed to be on the patio of the lodge, but we moved to the porch of the canteen when it started to rain. I met a lot of nice people. Several mentioned that most folks devote themselves to writing in the morning. Some begin socializing in the afternoon, and some keep writing until evening. Apparently nothing is mandatory, so we have plenty of time to write. I will start tomorrow morning. I think I will try to knock out the English textbook quickly.

At 6:30 we all went to the dining hall for dinner. It was pretty good. The woman next to me started talking about teaching writing—she teaches at Appalachian State University in Boone. It was very nice to talk with another writing teacher. They put serving dishes of food on each of the eight-person tables, and we ate family-style. I am going to like this place.

 

Make Way, Part Two

Last week, I wrote about an incident at a nearby intersection, where I stopped traffic to protect little ducklings. Yesterday I was at the same intersection, and the traffic was very heavy. Even worse, there was a school bus that stopped just before my street, stopping all traffic on both streets in all directions while the students got off and crossed. I knew my wait to pull out would be even longer, now that the school bus had stopped everybody. But the school-bus driver caught my eye and waved for me to pull out. While traffic on the highway remained stopped for the school bus, she let me pull out and go on my way before they resumed their trips.

Tomorrow I leave on a long road trip, which will involve camping and surprises on my way to the Wildacres Writers Retreat. I am very excited.

Revising "Happy"

For the last few weeks I have been revising my completed manuscript, I Just Want To Be Happy. It is a minor revision--just trimming a few words here and there. Today I saved a new file as "I Just Want to Be Happy, June 2013 and saved it to my hard drive as well as two thumb drives. Tomorrow I will take it to Kinkos and get five copies of the whole manuscript, just in case someone wants one. I will also give one to Glenda, who has agreed to edit it for me.

In a beautiful summer solstice celebration meditation this afternoon it became clear to me that I should discuss the book at the Wildacres conference and listen to Glenda's suggestions and then self-publish the book myself, using Amazon's Create Space, using the name Tom's Run Press. The publication and related digital platform will have to wait until the January break, since the fall semester is starting so quickly, but at least I know what I will do.

When I was young I was in a group that helped maintain a shelter on the Appalachian Trail named Tom's Run. Later in life I had a pet box turtle named Tom. I was very sad when he ran away. Both events lead me to the name Tom's Run. I'll need a good illustrator to make the logo.

I will have a lot of writing time on retreat. That could be for the English text, the mass media book, or the novel. Finishing the English book would be the most responsible choice, I suppose, but my heart is heading toward the mass media.

Make way!

This morning I was driving out of my neighborhood. I stopped at the main road, which was filled with traffic. I knew I would have to wait a while to make my left turn onto Route 151. As I was waiting, I noticed some motion along the side of the road to my right. It was a small duck with five even smaller ducklings--little more than buff-colored puffballs--waddling along behind her along the side of busy Route 151.
They were heading behind my car, in order to cross the road I had just driven down. With no time to think, I unbuckled my seat belt, put on my flashers, opened my door and stood up just in time to catch the eye of a guy in a pickup truck making a right turn from 151 onto my street. I looked at him, held up my hand like a traffic cop, and said, "Stop!"
He stopped and said, "What?"
I pointed to the road, right in front of his bumper, where the six ducks waddled safely across the street.
His face softened.
"Cute," he said, with a grin.

Back to school

I went back to my college office yesterday and today to begin preparing course materials for the fall semester. It went well. I am excited about trying to teach two identical classes back-to-back. I hope to share all the same materials. I think that will help a lot.

Why worry now about classes that do not begin for 12 weeks? Because I have no time for course planning in the next 12 weeks. This weekend I am going to Rochester, N.Y., to help my son move into his new home. Then on the 27th I head for a month in the mountains of North Carolina, with a writers retreat, a writers workshop and a week as writer in residence. There's a week on Mount Pisgah, visiting my other son. As soon as I get back, there is the weeklong Cape Cod Writer's Conference. The last two weeks in August, I will be on the staff of a Thich Nhat Hanh retreat in Pine Bush, N.Y.

I will try to update this blog regularly, but most of this time will be on remote mountaintops with little or no connectivity.

We Can

The nonprofit foundation We Can is Women Empowerment through Cape Area Networking. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending their annual celebration of Words, Wit and Wisdom at the Wychemere Beach Club in Harwichport. It was very supportive of my sabbatical studies.

(My dear friend Suzanne Carter is a sponsor of the event and could not attend because of a foot injury. She graciously arranged for me to attend in her place. Thank you, Suzanne!)

The overall atmosphere was elegant and luxurious, with a lovely continental breakfast in the morning and a formal luncheon in the afternoon. In between we heard from three successful authors and the group's "Woman of the Year" award recipient. About 400 of us attended.

Julia Glass

The first author, Julia Glass, said that wanting to be an author because you like to read is, "like wanting to meet the duck because you like pâté." She said writing is like "putting your spiritual gizzards on toast. " She emphasized that writing can be very hard work.

She expressed surprise and disappointment that some of her friends now say they no longer have time to read, "because they now spend all their time playing some game called Words with Friends." That provoked nervous laughter from all the Words With Friends players in the audience, which appeared to be most of us.

(Her remark made me more determined than other to give up such games and focus on reading and writing.)



Tom Perotta

The second author, Tom Perrotta, told an amusing story about growing up in the 1980s and feeling like the popular television sitcom The Wonder Years was a sanitized version of his childhood. When he finally wrote his own version it became a successful book. Once at a book signing a reader told Perotta he did not like his book.

That's because," said Perotta, "That was real life and not the fucking Wonder Years!"



Laura Lippman

The third author, Laura Lippman, is famous for her mystery novels. She said in any genre, "You have to reach the point quickly where the reader says "I'm in; I'm engaged." Unlike the other two authors, Lippmann said she gets up early and writes every morning as a regular routine. The other two authors had less structured writing routines. Lippman said, "I don't think you can get what you want if you can't say it aloud to at least one person." She said she told friends she wanted to be on the New York Times Best Seller List, and she achieved that.

Lippman mentioned a new trend in publishing, which she called "DIY digital publishing."  She expressed some uncertainty about its future. She said she objected to the traditional type of publishing being called "Legacy Publishing." She said that makes it sound terribly old-fashioned and antiquated, a view  she does not accept.

I could relate to Lippman because, like me, she began her career as a journalist.

Marie Wilson

The woman of the year, Marie Wilson, while not an author, was an inspirational figure. She started "Take your Daughter to Work Day" among many other accomplishments. She urged us to "start where the people are," which may be on the Internet or on TV or the movies. She also declared, "You can't be what you can't see." She emphasized the need for more female leaders, office-holders and elected officials.


Anne LeClaire

The moderator for the day was the successful Cape Cod author Anne LeClaire. She was amusing and witty as she introduced the speakers and kept the day moving along smoothly. I had an opportunity to speak with her briefly. She and I were both on the faculty of the Cape Cod Writers Conference a few years ago. I also had a nice chat with another successful Cape Cod author, Paul Kampricos, who once worked with me at the Cape Cod Times.

At the end of the day, Anne LeClaire closed the day with a quotation from Nell Freudenberger’s second novel, The Newlyweds:


 "I believe it is only by sharing our stories that we truly become one community."

Going offline

Dear friends,
 Since January I have been taking a sabbatical from teaching to concentrate on writing. After attending two writing conferences and a lot of research, I discovered that being a successful writer requires an interconnected digital platform. This includes an author’s Web site, a blog, and social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and others. These are connected to e-mail, text messaging, voicemail, and other media.

On the other hand, after attending many meditation retreats and a lot of meditation, I have also discovered that we are all connected by a network that is spiritual, personal and based on mindful speaking and deep listening. It is not digital at all, except in terms of holding hands.

Between June 15 and Sept. 2, I plan to take a break from the digital network and focus on the interpersonal network. During those 11 weeks, I will attend a writers retreat, a writers workshop, a writer-in-residence week, a writers conference and two weeks on the staff of a meditation workshop. I’ll also be visiting my sons. 

Although I will check my e-mail when I can and periodically update my blog, I plan to spend most of June, July, and August offline. So I will not respond to electronic communication as quickly as I have in the past. I will not be playing Words With Friends, Lexulous, or any other Internet games. And yet, somehow, I will still exist—I think.

Long Break

I took a long break from blogging as I determined whether or not to move. That basically replaced all other considerations for a week. The answer is yes. In August, I will move my place of residence a few miles eastward on Cape Cod, from Mashpee to Osterville. It is closer to work, less expensive, and in a beautiful neighborhood. I am glad I established a Post Office Box address years ago, because that doesn't chance.
I was reading the alumni magazine from Marietta College, from which I graduated in 1970. There was a big profile story about my friend Gary Kott, who had a distinguished career in communications, including a bunch of cool things like writing, directing and producing The Cosby Show. He credited an upper classmate, who was also a mentor to me, Peter Meyers. Another story mentioned a program getting help form alumnus Earle Maiman. Earle was our student body president who got expelled for making "inflammatory remarks." I sent the following letter to the alumni magazine:
I enjoyed reading about three old friends in the spring 2013 edition of Marietta.
Revolutionary things were happening in the late 1960s in Marietta and all over. Peter Meyers and Gary Kott were writing witty satire, and Earle Maiman was saying things the College President found worthy of expulsion.  Bob Dylan was singing “The Times They Are a Changing,” and John Kerry was an anti-war activist.
It’s 2013 and John Kerry is secretary of State, and Bob Dylan is a guest at the White House. Earle Maiman, Gary Kott and Peter Meyers are three of Marietta’s most distinguished alumni.
“What a long strange trip it’s been.”