Wildacres Day 8

Sunday, July 7, 2013, got off to a great start. I set my alarm for 6:30, got up quietly and walked up to the canteen, where Marci, Carol, and I meditated for 10 minutes. Marci left to go shower, and Carol and I walked around the retreat center for a while until breakfast at 8. The morning meditation just seems to make the whole day go better. I have been meditating on my own almost every day, but it felt very good to sit with a group. My home Sangha will be meeting back on Cape Cod today, and I send them good wishes through that mysterious network of meditation and mindfulness.

After breakfast I did laundry. I feel guilty that most of the folks here would have to go to a Laundromat in Spruce Pine, but the five of us in the guesthouse have our own washer and dryer.

While the laundry was drying I went to the lobby where I got an Internet signal to post this. I also re-read Jessica Handler's guidelines for the critique sessions. I didn't realize I was supposed to write a note to each participant. I'll do that between now (10 a.m.) and the class (2:30 p.m.)

Sunday afternoon was our first workshop class with our teacher, Jessica Handler, who is a successful author. I like her a lot. We talked about the nature of nonfiction. Jessica mentioned the phrase, “true stories well told,” which I like a lot. We discussed the nature of authorial integrity—do you trust the author? Do you trust the narrator’s voice? Other questions to ask are: “Is the setting clear?” and, “What’s at stake?”

We critiques two students’ work, and I volunteered to be one of the students to be critiques on Monday.

After dinner there were readings from four faculty members, and they were very good. I noticed that many of them made reference to Southern culture, reminding me that I am in the South. There was a party in the evening, but I went to bed early.