Expectations of the Unexpected

Quote of the Day:

Know that everything is in perfect order

whether you understand it or not.

~Valery Satterwhite~

Current Local Weather:

Snowing through the sunlight with 

anticipation of another great night.

Currently on my iTunes: 

Livin on a Prayer

"This Left Feels Right"

Bon Jovi

Dear Family, Friends and my Family of Friends, 

I'm writing to you today from the living room of the retreat house in Breckenridge, Colorado. If you don't know what I'm referring to, go HERE. This has, by far, been one of the smallest retreats yet the very best of them. One of the reasons, actually, the number one reason I do these, is to connect fellow artists back with their muse, their passion, the very purpose that made them pick up a pen in the first place. As busy as this world expects us to be, being extremely busy at doing nothing...I shouldn't say nothing...being busy at getting back to who you once were and improving that self with your new, past and present experiences is a business all of us tend to neglect. And of course, that includes myself. Each retreat has had its own magic. Connections are made, AHA! moments are around every corner, a renewal of spirit and soul to be had by everyone involved. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

So far...and we're two days into the main part of the retreat, the following has happened among the attendees and staff: 

Sarah Crisman and Becki Davis were paired, solely on the fact that they're both female, in the same room. After much gabbing and late night conversations, they found out that they are related...

Charisse, Weamn, Phyllis and Karen are all one of eleven kids in their family. 

Lisa Scontras and Becki Davis are both dealing with Alzheimer's disease in their elderly parents. 

John Gilstrap and I were both involved in the direct care of trauma patients. He was an EMT, me, a nurse. 

Karen DeGroot Carter and Sara Brentano used to have children in the same daycare. 

Phyllis Glazer has been an inspiration to all of the women in the house in regards to keeping ourselves in love with ourselves...despite those obstacles that seemingly define who the world thinks we should be. 

Richard Earls came down with one of the worst colds of his life and called me around the time he was supposed to show up at the house saying he was going to stay in a hotel instead...I hesitated to push him out of his comfort zone but ended up calling him back and basically saying, look, we're all adults here, this is not a house of just work and writing, this is a house of healing. 

Etc. Etc. Etc. 

The level of connectedness in this house, at this moment is uncanny, unexpected, and very much welcome. There isn't a clear "reason" why we are all together right now. But sometimes, we are brought to new people in our lives through an unseen vehicle. We are found by someone else's energy, through their third person dreams or by physical happenstance. I think the key to not screwing these connections up is to realize that we are not their answer but their motivation or drive to find the path their supposed to be on or at the very least, the outline of the map their supposed to follow.  

The amazing Signe Pike, who is here on staff, seems to have a very wise mother. She said that her mom used to say to her, why do we, especially as women, feel that we have to find someone in our lives that is supposed to be EVERYTHING we need? 

She's right, rather her mother is right. Damn right. Sometimes what we need is someone other than the outer shell of our over-the-top expectations of the people in our lives. Not everyone can be everything, but everyone can give of themselves in such a way that they're assisting someone, with love, to find a way to their bigger picture. 

You wouldn't go to Google Maps and expect them to give you driving directions to a ranch in the Alps from a small town in Texas....right? No, it would take a team of travel experts, a variety of vehicles and more importantly, the will and want to get there. 

Today, I hope you find yourself in the same position I'm in...sitting amongst great company, listening to the wind come off the mountains and hoping that the place I'm going is closer to where I'm at now than it's ever been because of those that have not only loved me, but those that have shown me that love is not a color, it is not a thought, that love is an expected binding of the souls you surround yourself with. And without love, you are nothing. Without love, you can be nothing to no one. 

Yours in Going the Extra Mile, Getting Where You Need to Be and Growing Within, 

Cicily

How Grey’s Anatomy Can Save Your LIfe: One Line of Dialogue at a Time a.k.a. the real story of what happened last year.

Quote of the Day:
Depression is the inability to construct a future.
~Rollo May

Current Local Weather:
White Noise coming in droves from the
Microwave Vent in order to quiet
the storms inside.

Currently on my iPod:
Interlude:
The 2nd Happiest Song in the World
The Project

Dear friends, family and my family of friends,

I’m not one to follow television shows. Okay, that’s a lie. I am. If I had an actual television and cable, I’d be a sucker for a few shows that are on right now.

Grey’s Anatomy
Modern Family
and of course, my absolute favorite show...beating out 90210 from my teen years, Glee.
I’m addicted.
I can admit it but I’m not quite ready to go into recovery.

I know it’s been a long, long time since I’ve blogged on here. But it’s been a long, long, looonnngg time since I’ve even felt like myself. My life has kinda turned upside over the last nine or so months. Throughout these nine months of my pregnancy (thank you Dr. LaMonica and Dr. Martin for making sure it was a nine month pregnancy instead of a seven month one) I spent the better part of 15 weeks locked up in medical hell. One week was in the ICU courtesy of Mag Sulfate flooding my lungs. When the docs asked the father, if it came down to it, would it be me or the baby, I knew I was screwed. Or at least thought I was, but that was after the fact. I didn’t actually hear them say this, but they did. I then spent one week wondering if I was going to live. This wasn’t the week in the ICU. This was the week I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my internal right jugular. Nothing says, you may be dead any minute now, than when the doc comes in, gives you the prognosis/diagnosis and then sends in the clergy to ask you if you need anything and if he can pray for you and then the social worker to help you fill out a will/durable power of attorney.

Then there was the birth. C-section with a massive blood loss that rendered me, as my doc put it, profoundly anemic. What a joy it is to be in my skin!

Not to mention crippling depression that lingers on a daily basis but is somewhat clearing. Every single day, not knowing if it was going to be my last, be painful, or be wonderful will mess with your head. Talk about a range of emotions.

So what do I have to show for all this shit?

Natalie Jane.

December 7th, 1020am
7lbs 11oz.

She couldn’t be more perfect.

So back to that thing about being myself. One would think that it would be even harder now that I’m a mom, again. Starting over in the game of life in ways you will never know about. I could blame the hormones from the pregnancy. Or...it could have been that I needed a break from who I was in order to take a step back and really look at the world around me. My rose colored glasses shattered one afternoon and I began to see the world for what it was. I would like to believe that I found out what is truly important to me. I found love, in all the wrong and right places. I found sacrifice. I found out what it means to fight for what you believe in. I also found out that sometimes what turns out to be the right solution for you is not the solution others thought should have played out.

Going through the amount of trauma that I went through in a small amount of time will change you. It would change anyone.

Now, my life is planning writing retreats (October folks. If you want info, email me), watching shows like Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix while I feed my little one in the middle of the night and then praying, begging, borrowing and stealing snippets of sleep. And I’m trying to get healthy...actually I’m not trying. I’m GOING TO get healthy and stay that way for the rest of my life. This is the year I say good-bye to all the docs and medications and other shit that I’ve been carrying around as if it were a Prada handbag. (Thanks Kate)

Last night, while feeding an infant and obsessing over Grey’s Anatomy, I heard this: “When the battle chooses us, that’s when the sacrifice turns out to be more than we can bare.”

For now, think about that.

I believe the writers of Grey’s Anatomy knew what I needed to hear in that moment. I wouldn't say they saved my life, but they sure as hell helped me gain perspective. Again. I wish I was friends with the writers.

I heard the line, “I’ve heard it’s possible to grow up, I’ve just never met anyone who’s actually done it. Like children, we never give up hope.”

I won’t say that I’ve given up hope, but I think it’s about damn time I actually grow up and take more responsibility for who I am, where I am and what I’m doing. Being aware of this is sometimes more difficult than you would think. Try it some time. And when you try it, don’t lie to yourself about any of your current factors. Not that I’m trying to change the world, but hell, if more of us owned up to our true realities, the world might work a little bit better and more of us would get off our asses and try to truly change it.


So I continue to watch Grey’s each night, wondering if by season 3, Meredith will finally get back into McDreamy’s pants. Then again, McDreamy is just that. A dream. He’s not real. In the end, just like the nursery rhyme, life is but a dream. Is it? Really? I sure as hell hope so because this means that one of these fine sunny days in hell, I will wake up to the life I’ve earned and was always meant to have. For now? For now, I’m going to continue to put myself out there even though I’ve decided that all the craziness will make me crazier, but I’m going to do it anyway.

Yours in McDreams, McShit and McDoing the Right Thing,

Cicily

Writing Away Retreats: May 6-10th, 2010

Quote of the Day:
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start,
anyone can start now and make a brand new ending.
---Carl Bard

Current Local Weather:
Soft, beautiful snow with
waves of gut-wrenching pain

Currently on
my iPod:
"Turn Around"
The Bittersweet
David Ryan Harris

Dear friends, family, and my family of friends,

You all are owed a nice, long and info. filled blog about my adventures over the last few months....trust me, I'll get it to you soon. As soon as humanly possible. Really I will.

But, for now, I'm throwing out an advert. for the Spring Writing Away Retreats. Taking place in Breckenridge, Colorado this coming May, this is a great opportunity for writers of all levels to receive feedback from top players in the literary world.

This May you have the opportunity to work with:

Kevin Doughten, Associate Editor with Penguin/Viking
Tim O'Connell, Associate Editor with Random House
Sorche Fairbank, Literary Agent with Fairbank Literary Agency
Linda Rohrbough, Bestselling author and Writing Coach, Editor etc.
Kevin Doughten, Associate Editor with Penguin/Viking



10K word MS critique with each of these pro's is included in the cost...not to mention great food, great company and a great lodge...











Want to give a boost to your career? Longing for a better place to learn the craft of writing? Yeah, got it all right here...

Writing Away Retreats

See you in May...


Yours in Better Career Beginnings, Boosting Your Smiles and Believing in Yourself,

Cicily

Finding a Quiet Place: Writing Away Retreats Wrap Up

Quote of the Day:

The most important thing in life is to learn
how to give out love and to let it come in.
~Morrie Schwartz

Current Local Forecast:
Sudden outbursts of kindness
with the first, glorious snow
on the mountains.

Currently on my iPod:
If Tomorrow Never Comes
"Have Guitar Will Travel"
Garth Brooks

Dear Friends, Family and my Family of Friends,

I suppose this is the most difficult day of the retreats. We have an enormous amount of cleaning, clearing and eating to do today. Our well-behaved stomachs are going to have to give in to gluttony today. Period. End of discussion...aren't you feeling the sudden desire to fed ex some tupperware this way?

But today is difficult for other reasons as well. These twelve days have been some of the very best of my life. The emotionally charged release of finally being around those that understand where you are in life, regardless of where you physically are, but the emotional you...is well, simply the very best recharge anyone can get. Even though I'm physically exhausted and need to sleep for a month, I'm recharged in my spirit. Writers from over 10 states and over 8 staff members representing Red Hen Press, Sterling Lord Literistic, Harper Collins, JaBberwocky Literary Agency, Pike Literary Services, Fairbank Literary Agency, Folio Literary Agency came together. I'm dually impressed with staff and writers that attended this year.

But what really happens here? As I did last May I'm posting a few of the quotes from the "book" on the table. Will blog more about the experience later. I'm so overwhelmed by even reading these quotes that I must take a step back to absorb the words myself.

"Cicily, you take care of us as if we, writers, are the beloved. This retreat was a complete success for me, everyday, every moment. I'll always be a better writer for this gift of time." ~S. Hall (Kentucky)

"This was simply the greatest weekend I've ever had. It's such a peaceful, productive environment, the food is heavenly and the potential is limitless." ~B. Pedas (Colorado)

"I can't tell you how much this experience has encouraged me and changed my perspective. This is truly priceless to me." ~J. McQuade (Oklahoma)

"I have been nurtured and supported in every possible way. I have a much better understanding of the world of publishing. I know the contacts, friendships and more I've made here are of real value when I'm ready to shop my MS." ~R. Rues (Arkansas)

"They said it couldn't be done, but you have opened up the byzantine, enigmatic world of commercial publishing to those creatives who were/are baffled by how it operates. At the same time you provided a retreat where everyone can share with eachother." ~R. Fessler (Maryland)

"These past few days have affected my profoundly. They have grounded me, focused me enormously. Often, I have been moved so beyond words that I thought I might have to give the poor things up...."~K. Sucharski (Colorado)



"To borrow from Justin, everything here is the best thing ever." ~S. Fairbank (Massachutes)

"I am leaving refreshed, renewed, and in love with my project again." ~D. Courtney (Colorado)


All I can say is that I've been paid in riches beyond those that could possibly be seen by the world or the eyes of a soul who needed to be opened again to love.

Yours in Pink Panties, Potential and Pushing towards the Down Under in June 2010.

Cicily

Super Agents: A How NOT to Get One To Save Your Literary Life List

Quote of the Day:
"Writing is the only profession where no one considers
you ridiculous if you don't earn any money."
~Jules Renard~

Current Local Forecast:
Chicken Little was right.

Currently on My iPod:
Sara Smile
Hall and Oates

Dear Family and Friends and my Family of Friends,

Sorry for the delay, my editor hit me up with the expected fly-by first phase of red-ink bombings. More on that later. It wasn't as painful as I had heard it could be, but it's still become somewhat of a Sophie's Choice in the Jazz world and I'm not really enjoying it. Enough of that. Onwards...

This week marks my one year anniversary for WRITING AWAY RETREATS. Not only is this uber cool, but in one year I took it from being a small-ish crowd of coolness over four days to a LARGE crowd of forty peeps coming and going over two weeks. Very excited to meet and greet and more importantly, feed all ya'll. See you all soon. And, for those of you who aren't attending this retreat'o'greatness this year, May will be coming up soon. Contest details and website updates will happen after this one is over. I've already had some folks sign up, so beware. Spots will go fast. Also, we're taking it international in 2011. More details on that soon!

Now...for the meat of the blog. Got your forks and knives? Travis? Let's have a sit down conversation about agents.

First off, let me give a little clip about mine.

Gary Heidt. And, no, not this one:

Yep, you guessed it, Gary is a supah stah agent. I often call him Super Agent G. After all, wouldn't you if he had sold not only your first book, but your first book which happens to be on the impossible non-fiction topic...JAZZ...to that Randomish House chock-full-o-jazz fans? Yeah, so ya get it? Gary pretty much rocks, he saved my literary life from an uncertain and seemingly doomed fate.

But that's not what this is about. Ask him, I can go on and on about his Texas twangy pep talks and editing skills and more...but kids, that's for another episode, this is reverse how to list. I can't tell you exactly how to get one to answer your silent cries and beckon call, but I can definitely tell you how NOT TO...So listen up and pay attention and all those sorts of things. Put down the red crayons and magic marker's that you're writing your query letters with, as I believe that yes, they can be a telephone booth change of undies and tights away for you too!

Here's a top ten list on how not to get an agent : (If it doesn't work, I'll refund the money you paid to read this blog, pronto!)

10. Tell them your book is "just right" for Oprah.

• Really? You know her? Seriously? Can you tell her that I want my book on her list? If you think you're going to be picked out of everyone else in the world to be her latest annointing, then get in line and get a life. Unless, of course, you REALLY do know her. If this is the case, I would have a letter signed by her, and maybe a snap shot of her with you included in your query.
  

9. Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for this opportunity to present to you my Raging Hormonal techno-thriller detective romance YA crossover manuscript known as Old Yeller: the first years, the prequel to Old Yeller.

• A nice, impersonal query letter that doesn't even know the gender of the agent screams, bite me. Plus those "services" that you pay for to query all those agents in those big cities are rip offs. Do your own damn research and find out who's truly right for your project. If you can't do this on your own, then how are you going to do the research on your own when the marketing team from your pub. house sends you a 30 page questionaire for your book's marketing plan? Yeah, good luck.
  

8. Ring them.

• After all, isn't it just so much better than that impersonal email and it's soooo much easier to just talk for fifteen minutes or an hour or two about the cool parts of the techno thriller Old Yeller knock off you just wrote that's still in its first draft, but is sooo perfect rather than just shoot over an email that sums it up in five to fifteen lines, right? Yeah, right. Sod off. That's the nice thing about phones, the hang up is such a greater insult than the delete button. It makes a bigger, louder sound.

7. Set up your novel with the weather. OR. A great scene that opens with:

• He hit the snooze button and a feeling of dread came over him. This is when Little Timmy realized that today would be the day that he would DIE.
  
• Little Timmy looked outside and realized that not only he would die, but the sky was cloudy.
  
• Little Timmy was not only a schmuck, but he knew he would die and the weather was really cloudy and humid and he would have a really bad hair day on the day of his death and this made him sad.
  
• Little Timmy said, wow, you write really bad and should have thought out your writing a smudge better before you submitted that first draft to that agent, eh?
  
• Little Timmy realized, just moments ago, before he said that to the writer, that today was the last day of his life. Then a bus hit him and smashed him into little tiny shards of bloody bone and other matter went flying and splattering all over the windows and made a horrendous mess out of what we all knew as this very boring and pitiful life.
  
• Yeah, get someone to critique your writing or get an editor or at the VERY LEAST, DO NOT SEND AN AGENT THE FIRST DRAFT. They're like Vampires and blood and stuff. They can smell a virgin draft a mile away and they want to destroy them as soon as they get their hands on them. (sorry, that was very bad.)

6. Fake it! Works in other areas of life...(ref. When Harry Met Sally)

• I may look like a doctor, but really, I only play one on TV. Yeah, doesn't really help to lie about platform, pub. credits or any other occupation. Go for it...really, I double, no, triple dog dare you.
  

5. So you nailed me for drinks and I asked for more, I want dinner...now what?

• You met the perfect agent. And guess what? He/She gave you googly eyes across the table too! Oh my...text your friends. Text your mom. Text EVERYONE YOU KNOW. Now. Get on twitter. Tell the WHOLE WIDE WORLD that you got a request for a FULL. Follow that with Facebook. Then you cross your fingers that they don't write you back with a, sorry, I found someone else, I was seeing someone else, I think I could be a lesbian and or gay and or bi, or one of those commune dwellers and I'm inviting everyone but you and you wouldn't be the right gender anyway, I think I might just would rather stay home and wash my hair lines or whatever.
  

• MOST IMPORTANT HERE: DON'T TEXT THEM OR CALL THEM OR EMAIL THEM UNLESS YOU'RE ASKED TO. You're not official until they ask you to be official. Just because they ask you for a full, doesn't mean they're asking for literary marriage. That's like calling your date after ONE date and asking for a key to their place. Yeah, not cool. (ref. The Rules.)

4. Go into the job interview with the expectation of becoming the CEO right away. (ref. Mr. McFerrin)

• As the quote up top says, no one expects any of us fools who like to put words in logical order to make money anyway, so what's your hurry. Sure, easy enough for me to say,as I have a contract and this huge lump sum of DEBT from writing my first major book and all the other goodies that come along with it...including the self-imposed pressure of putting another prop. on the market (soon, VERY soon) so I can make up for the last debt and what not. You can't write for money anyhow. Unless, of course, you're already making money writing. Then, by all means, go for it! Share the wealth with the rest of us peons. Regardless, if they take you on, relax, you do your job, let them do theirs and trust them. If they trust you enough to take you on, reciprocate.
  

3. Get rid of your email, your twitter, become anti-web presentable and what not. After all, the more rugged and believable you are as a "real" writer, the more mystique surrounding your actual presence, the better.

• yeah, so not true. No communicato via email, no agent.
  

2. Agent site reads: Taking submissions year round: Historical Romance and Techno Thrillers only. Definitely No Stories about Bambi, was traumatized as a child and have severe PTSD. Please query first as we do not take full manuscripts unless requested. And definitely do not query between August and May each year, we are busy catching up on lunches with other agents and editors and our already established clients. ***Potential client submits: Dear Cool Agent X, I'd like to present my manuscript in full to you titled: Bambi's Mom: Carnage, Conspiracy, Corruption and Capitalists Behind One of Disney's Oldest Full Length Cartoons. The MS is in its first draft at about 9,064,825 words and is ready for publication. THanks for lookin' at it dudes. ~The real murderer of Bambi's Mom... www.Stillsearchingforbambi.com***

• Agent receives the following letter after sending out obvious rejection letter and having to increase prozac and therapy sessions: Dear Sur, CAn you just send me an email explaining why I don't get acceptance from your agency? I plan long time to be accepted by you and even catered to your excitement for Bambi...MAKE SURE YOU READ THE REAL GUIDELINES and writing them back is an extra special dose of terrible horrible no good VERY bad karma! Remember, they're looking for a reason to reject you...they get hundreds of submissions a week and take only 0.01% of those on as clients.
  

1. Have simple mistakes on your manuscript and/or your query letter and then fail to follow MS submission guidelines.

• Dear Mr. Agent,
  

I have the perfecet querey letter for you. Not only is thsi novel the best thing ever, it falles in line with the last one your agency represented and got your cliente a novel piece prize...If you'd like to see it, let me know. It's realley cool and I thnk you could like it forever.

~Potential client perfecto.

Yeah, not so much.

• Regardless, in order to get an agent to really pay attention, you need to write well, know your materials, your genre, and act cool. As fun as stalking may be (not that I would know) it's not cool in this situation nor will it win them over as a potential literary love interest.
  
• Make a big impression in a small way. Again, play it cool. Give them your very best voice, characters and or proposal. The bulk of your work should already be done before you even THINK about hitting one up for representation. If you're just beginning a proposal or novel, IT IS NOT THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE MONEY, THE REPRESENTATION OR THE FAME! (*a note on fame...yeah, right?! Keep dreaming) Take the right kind of time to build your platform and let it fall into place. No one walks into the position of super star without hard work and persistence and years of crafting their craft ahead of time...trust me. I'm still WORKING hard at it every single day.
  
• Once you land one, they can be your strongest and most trusted ally in this world known as publishing. If they say to keep your mouth shut and listen to them or to let things happen and be cool, then for god sakes listen. If they give you a gaggle of edits to do on the proposal and its the last thing you want to do, do it anyway. Writing is not a job for those who want to only work a few minutes or hours a day. Writing, is well, as G-man says, fun until it becomes work. It's always work, and it's always fun in some way, but sometimes that way is only when you have great people to lean on and those that become an unexpected champion that get you through the tough times.
  
• Agent's no matter the personality or the house they land you in or how you got them to say yes to your characters and your writing project, are in the end, people too and need to be treated as such because they work very hard and their success depends on your success and your career can be made or laid to rest by their hands in some cases. It's up to you to cultivate and work that relationship into the place it needs to be from the very beginning on.
  

Yours in Agents, Auspicious Beginnings and Always Being the Best You Can Be,

Cicily

Shin Splints, Split Ends and Heavyweights

Quote of the Day:
The leading cause of death of fashion
models is falling through street grates.
~Dave Barry

Current Local Weather:
Fall. Air. Crispy and cool with a renewed
sense of self blowing in from the NW

Currently on my iPOD:
"Wake Up Call"
Maroon 5
Won't Be Soon Before Long

Dear Friends, Family and my Family of Friends,

Yeah, yeah, it's been a bit, but take pity on me and my poor wrists. The MS, as you probably guessed by my last post in August, is done. I'm awaiting a fly-by red-inking gift from my editor and last I heard from her the edits were going slow but well. I guess that's good, right? Someone? Reassurance please? I still worry that she'll come back with a...hmm, not quite what I wanted, either redo or get out. Upon asking Super Agent G if this had happened to anyone he knew or had represented he said, well..not yet.

What have I been up to in the meantime?

1) Trimming split ends and waxing brows. Learning how to regain that thing called self-esteem and wearing more than pajamas around the house.

2) Learning how to walk again. What? I have two legs? They move? WTF? Who invented this? Amazingly enough, when you sit on your a** for a few weeks, rather 9 months or so, your muscle mass goes out the window. I used to be able to run a 5K a day. Now, walking over 30 minutes a day produces the most awful shin splints in the world. So I'm doing sit ups and more and walking, etc. Must get back in shape.

3) Dieting. When you sit on your a** as mentioned above, your a** gets calories and late night snacking or say early 4am snacking or your fifth breakfast of the day snacking benefits on an almost exclusive basis. Now that I've won the a** the size of Montana contest and can wear that crown with pride, I'm going to have to fork it over to some other hapless writer on a deadline. Starting NOW.

4) Refocusing on a new project or two...or four. Yep, they're coming at me like crazy. Can't say it's a terribly bad thing to be a writer who has working ideas or works in progress... I know, I know, I'm a fool for starting up already, but life is WAY TOO SHORT to not do this. One includes a much anticipated cook book that will be self-published and sold as a fund raiser for my scholarships for the retreats. Look for it around the Holidays.

5) Forging ahead with the last minute logistics for the retreats. This October is going to be a MUCH needed break and FUN. That little three letter word that I used to know. We actually used to be friends! I've got a GREAT group of peeps joining me in the mountains and a staff to be reckoned with. Looking forward to hanging with each of them and getting to know them.

6) Working on school presentations for the Rocky Mountain Author Fest. This should be great. I'm presenting lessons on communication and listening using jazz to 87 fifth graders and a gaggle of high schoolers during the first week of October.

That's it for now I guess...I'm off to do an interview for the next book..more on that soon. For all of those who asked about what it was like to finish the book and see it through to this stage...well, it wasn't easy. Actually it was MUCH more difficult than I had anticipated it being. I like to compare it to moving. You've got the truck all packed and you're ready to go, you stop back in the house to do one more round of odds and ends and you realize you have a whole truck load of those odds and ends to pack hiding in corners. I still feel like I have things that are missing or edits I overlooked or pieces missing etc. At one point I was looking over the draft and realized I had left out 30 artists that I had cut out to edit and put back in but failed on that last step. OOPS.

They made it back in...

The other difficulty I ran into is the coordination of the book. Hundreds of jazz artists, their managers, mailing legal forms and whatnot was a task I had grossly underestimated. I would have hired ten assistants had I known what it was going to be like those last few weeks. I was to the point where I would sleep for thirty-forty minutes and get back up and write for 4-6 hours and then repeat it. Everyonce in a while I'd sleep for 6 hours and then stay up for 24. I'm still tired.

But it's done.

DONE.

DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE.

Except for edits, of course.

How are you guys? Something more informative and fun next time, will rap on the Vail Jazz Fest and my adventures with Wycliff, Super Agent G and Gal Pal Deb.

Yours in Slight Disorientation, Shotty Blogging and Sunny Days Ahead,

Cicily

MAY I REPEAT MYSELF?

Writing Away Retreats: Official House and Details

**FINE PRINT: THIS IS THE GREAT ROOM OF THE HOUSE YOU'LL BE SPENDING A WEEK OR SO IN OCTOBER. WORKING ON YOU, YOUR MS, AND THE REFRESHMENT OF YOUR SANITY.**

Quote of the Day:
There is no harm in repeating a good thing.
~Plato

Current Local Weather:
Swells of rainy weather, bringing in
views of paradise all at once, causing massive
confusion among the natives.

Currently on my iPod:
'Cemetery Walk II'
Mantis
Umphrey's McGee
(yeah, if you haven't heard this band, you're missing out)

Dear friends, family and family of friends,

This is a repeat brought to you by our sponsor, Writing Away Retreats.

In desperate search for cheap/free advertising earlier this week I googled writing groups, writing critique groups, groups for writers, and almost every permutation of these words I could think of. What I found was an endless supply of websites for writer's groups across the country. AKA: Free advertising for my retreats. I have been emailing the webmasters, presidents, head cheese, head boobah's of such groups etc and asking if I could help their groups out by offering them a glance at my retreats, a scholarship opportunity and more on their list-servers. Oh my. The response has been overwhelming! Here are some of the ones that have responded in the last twenty-four hours:

MWA Writer's Resources Page
Southbay Writers
Colorado Author's League
Pikes Peak Writers
The Writer's Center
For Writer's .com
Prescott Writers
Cheryl's Musings (Blog)
Write Bastard (Blog)
Gently Read Literature (Blog)
Mark Weichman's blog on Myspace (Blog)
Jamie Cat Callan (author and Writer's ToolBox Creator)
Living a Life of Writing: Rebecca's Book Blog
Things about Transylvania
Nebraska Center for Writers
Southeastern Writers


These are GREAT resources in your community and on-line. I suggest you check all of them out. Join them if they're relevant for where you're at in your process or where you're at geographically. I'll be adding a list to the side of my blog of these names as well for writing resource sites. And now...for the part you've all been waiting for! The slide show of the house I've settled upon for the retreats for the rest of time.

*Isn't this where you need to be about now? How about October??*

Picture this:

10K sq. ft. 13 bedrooms, two of which you wouldn't be able to find without a guided tour of the house. The linens...oh the linens. I asked the woman what a particular door led to, as I genuinly felt lost throughout the guided tour, the house was so huge and she said, oh, just a linen closet. Uh, yeah. I could have lived in that closet! Rows, upon rows of down blankets, plush towels etc. We're not talking your average run of the mill thin coverlets from the Super 8. Down blankets for as far as the eye can see, thick downy textures everywhere! Where there's carpet..your feet sink down into it! No wonder they are a NO SHOE policy place!

This house was once named one of the very best Bed and Breakfast in the nation, drop off to the door from the airport, PLENTY of nooks and crannies throughout the house for great conversation with literary agents, editors and authors!

Don't forget! We have two scholarship contests currently running! Entries for the partial scholarship for either the five day or eleven day retreat are due in on June 15th to the creativelivesworkshop@hotmail.com addy and the full scholarship stories/essays/poetry are due in on July 1, 2009. DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS OPPORTUNITY! Full details for this are online at the website.

Yeah, it's all here. I have a saying, there are two sides to every success. Let me be the one that makes it possible for you to write your success story out the way you've always pictured it.

Wrap your senses around this:
In our society, we tend to nourish the very young and very old...where is the room for this with our generation?

Right Here:

Soak in the comfort of knowing you're going to be welcomed with open arms; regardless of genre, region and/or publication past. I foster a strict policy of nurturing and loving the arts and artists in this world.

Writing Away Retreats is that ideal environment. Appealing to all senses, I take great pride in being able to bring forth my contacts throughout the literary world, a strength and desire to nourish my peers with loving hands and heart, so that I may be one that allows you to succeed.

I have hand-picked an unprecedented team of faculty that are kindred spirits. I've spoken at length with them, either via phone or email and know that they're on the same wavelength as I am. Please let go...It's time to say goodbye to stress, pitch sesssions, crappy hotels and fast food that are all things synonymous with anonymous writing conferences of the past. Let me show you what it means to be truly taken care of. You won't be sorry.

Take this fall and learn what it means to set-aside the time to
invest in your success story:

So, where will you be in October? Will you be seated at my table:

with Scott of Folio Lit, or Robert of Sterling? Maybe sharing a hot tottie with Kate or Michael? Wrapping up a long hike in the woods with Signe or Sorche? Throwing another log on the fire before hopping into the hot-tub outside to enjoy conversation with the finest people you'll ever meet?


Hmmm...Hopefully wherever your thoughts are now, you'll find them resting at my piece of Literary Heaven once the fall crisp leaves are hitting your door step.

Yours in Writing Thoughts, Waiting for Your Registration Forms, and Wanting More For You,

Cicily

Finding Home

Quote of the Day:
I long, as does every human being, to be at home
wherever I find myself.
~Maya Angelou

Current Local Weather:
Cloudy skies with long faces,
swollen feet and a goal hopefully finding
its home in the 10 day outlook.

Currently on my iPod:
#41
Under the Table and Dreaming
Dave Matthews Band

Dear friends, family and my family of friends,

I waited to give myself some distance and time to blog on the happenings at the retreat last week. This was my second full fledged Writing Away Retreat. Let me give you an expanded version and run down of last weeks stats:

9 writers, 3 staff members, 3 spouses (all of which had their own muse and charm and left me with a lasting feeling of warmth) and me.

• Location: This House; Arroyo Seco, NM: Average number of words written and NOT deleted throughout week: 10K/writer
• Average number of calories consumed per meal per writer: enough to expand your thinking cap and waist line.
  
• Average number hours staff spent with writers one on one and with MS critiques: 2.4 for consults and 1.2 on the MS critique prior to the retreat
  
• Average number of meals consumed including hot totties and snacks on any given day: too many to list.
• Average number of sighs, smiles and slight but distinct measurements of contentedness: innumerable
• Average number of times we heard Doug Crandell mention his gorgeous and talented wife Nancy was going to leave him for me due to my cooking...and then proceed to walk downstairs to fetch a beer or three: too numerous to count
• Number of times non-native English speaking sweetheart and artist extraordinaire Nathalie Vogel and I pounded Random House/Vintage editor Tim O'Connell, Literary Agent Gary Heidt, and Writer Heather Fowler into the wood of the dining table with our vicious Scrabble skills: 1 (they declined another game.)
  
• Number of times Karma bit me on the ass for gloating over my success in Scrabble by jacking up my foot, knee and poise as I got out of the hot tub and slipped on the stairs, pretty much face first with a** in the air: 1 (I am the quintessential klutz, if you haven't met me, just ask those that do know me.)
  

And so on and so forth...needless to say, I feel blessed to have had the will power, know-how and staff to back me up to make this dream a reality. Yet there is something else that went on at this retreat...

A bond was formed.
This is the power of a home.

I have the feeling we could have been in a walk-up in Brooklyn and still made this happen with the people we had here, but being secluded in western paradise surely doesn't hurt.

So the story goes: I was cooking up some sauce or other when I overheard a conversation in the kitchen, less than a few feet away, between one of the couples at the retreat:

Dude: "You're back." (backstory: Chick had just gone out into the town or somewhere to do some sightseeing and shopping or whatnot.)
Chick: "Yeah, was fun. Got lots of pictures."
Dude: "Glad you made it back home safely."

I couldn't have felt better than in that very moment. If nothing else had happened the whole week, just hearing those words made my retreat a success. Dude, he called it home.

That's my goal.

I've said this before, I'm sure, but let me emphasize why I do this: In this society we pride ourselves on pampering the very young and the very old and tend to ignore those that are working day in and day out with no rest or relief in sight except for the occasional vacation. This is where I come in. Why not take time out of your life to invest in yourself. You only have one of you. If you have more, please...please tell the rest of us how to get another one so we can get more done. We tend to emphasize overworked, overstressed, overeating (well, okay, that one is okay for a week a year) overkilling our supposedly most vibrant and active generations. By golly, we deserve a break too. Making an investment in what you want to do, creating something beautiful for the world in yourself, is never something that should be looked down upon, rather something that should be applauded. Come find your home away with me. Find out how good food can taste, how well your words work and most of all, the feeling of rest at its best. No stiff clothes allowed, no stress allowed either. Just comfy, all-round, good natured life. I stress to my writers that we are not to impress eachother with our clothes or our outside world, just our wit and our smiles.

I think is the key to creating this nurturing environment is to bring the writing conference/clinic/retreat life into a more natural environment. A home. I don't know about you, but I work best when relaxed. whether it be my home, my folks, a bed and breakfast etc. To make things better, I work even more efficiently when that home is in order (anyone know how to make that happen at my place?) with cleanliness lining the walls, aromatic charm (not mothballs) and peace. But this isn't about direct comparisson because all ventures in writing that offer writers feedback and time away is valuable. I'm just a different bird, well a dead bird, soaked in orange sauce, wrapped in bacon and stuffed with flavor. :)

So how do you find time to make your house a home so you may write? Slow down and figure out how to do this for yourself. Even if you can't make it to one of my retreats, it's vitally important for you to do this in your writing space and time. As a nation, we're hurting for a surround of beauty. How are you going to ensure we build that for the ones that come after you and then after them? Let's get away from the mass-marketed strip malls and fabricated, made-in-china walls. Paint your world with all of your senses and make it a place where you can say, I'm glad I'm home.

One more thing before I close. Some of us in this world are not safe. My dear friend Daniel Casey runs a blog titled: Gently Read Literature. I read it on a weekly basis. He has reviews, art, all things beautiful, including himself. He's one man who is diligently creating beauty in this world by educating the next generation, ensuring that good books are read, shared and freely available and art is recognized by even us jaded digitized fools. But, what he posted this week alarmed me and took me aback. Made me sick really. I want to make you all aware of this. And please, please, help if you can.

This is a direct copy off of his blog, I don't think he'll mind.

FIND CRAIG ARNOLD

May 2, 2009

by Daniel Casey

Our dear friend and an exceptionally talented poet, Craig Arnold, has gone missing on the small volcanic island of Kuchino-erabu-shima while on a creative exchange fellowship. AS OF 4/30 the authorities are on the fourth day of searching for Craig, and are Japanese police on the ground are searching. We greatly appreciate the efforts of both the Japanese and American governments in searching for Craig–lots of people are on the ground working to ensure Craig’s safe return. The response from the U.S. government and from the Japanese authorities have been overwhelmingly positive and we are enormously pleased and grateful for their expanded and extended efforts. Our prayers and thanks are with them as they search.

With the assistance of the University of Wyoming, a fund has been established to support the search efforts to find Craig. Even the smallest contribution would be of use. If you would like more information about the fund including specific information about what the fund will be used for at various stages, please see the post on the discussion board. The link directly to the fund is here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5149253

Here’s the link to a Facebook group that can also give more information: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=74254019683&ref=nf

If you can help at all with this or have any information, please do not hold back. ALSO: PLEASE REPOST ON YOUR BLOG. NO EXCEPTIONS. Let's all help Craig find his home.

As always, thanks for reading.

Yours in Home, Helping Hands and Heartfelt Love,

Cicily

Writing Away Retreats Feedback and Announcements!

Quote of the Day:
Odd how the creative power at once
brings the whole universe to order.

~Virginia Woolfe

Current Local Forecast:
Successful downpours and showers of love, affection
and beauty from all angles. Glowing Smiles expected to last
all afternoon, possibly into the next year or so.

Currently on my iPod:
Sexy Lady from Rumba Palace
Arturo Sandoval

Dear friends, family and family of friends,

You know the saying...if you do something you love, you'll never work a day in your life? Yeah, that one. I am again, over and again, awe-struck by the feeling of success and love from my retreat. The May retreat in Arroyo Seco, NM was an utter success. Stats: 9 writers, 3 staff members, 3 spouses/significant others and me. Approx. total words written between all of us: 100K between all of us.

Let me throw out a new contest:

If you REALLY want to go but can't afford it and don't want to enter the fiction/essay/poetry contest you can do this:

DISHES Scholarship!!

60% off the total cost whether or not you go for 5 or 11 days.
All benefits of being a writer included, MS consults and all.

Catch: You have to do the dishes and clean up after each meal.

How do you get into such a fortunate position?

Send me at creativelivesworkshop@hotmail.com your best and most creative top 10 list of why you should do the dishes of writers, editors and agents. Entry fee: A whopping ZERO dollars.
Deadline to enter: June 1, 2009
Winner announced on July 1, 2009.

Fiction/essay/poetry contest:

Winner receives full ride to Writing Away Retreats for their preference of a 5 day or 11 day retreat in October, 2009.

Theme: Burning Down the House
Limitations: 5K word max, essay, short story or up to 3 poems based on theme.
Deadline to enter: July 1, 2009
Winners announced: August 1, 2009

Entry Fee: 20 dollars.
Once entry is accepted at creativelivesworkshop@hotmail.com ( attach as a .doc file) you will be sent a paypal invoice for the 20 dollars.

With this fee comes a 10% discount to the retreat.

Judged by Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Agency and Mike Signorelli of Harper Collins.

Get creative with your works. Doesn't have to be a literal translation of the theme!

Hope to hear from you soon.

I'll close this post (and of course I'll post more detailed accounts of the retreat soon) with some blurbs from attendees of Writing Away Retreats, May 2009:

"My mind and body have been nourished and renewed. My creativity enriched and my spirit fed. I'm indebted to Cicily. She's one of the most engaging, nurturing and talented and connected folks I"ve met. Writing Away is one of the most invigorating experiences I've had."

~Nancy Brooks-Lane
(Spouse and Attendee with Author Doug Crandell for May 2009 retreat)


"I will be forever grateful for this retreat. As a new writer tackling the most ambitious project I could dream p, this was an invaluable opportunity to get some great feedback early on from people in the "know" with respect to writing. Even better was all of the enthusiasm and intelligent conversations, so thank you! You are definitely giving back to the world."

~Todd Chaney
Writer Attendee for May 2009, Writing Away Retreats

"What a brilliant concept you have in "writing away retreats." The good food combined with the warm and nurturing atmosphere made this the ideal escape for writers. My retreat has been a mind-opening experience. The community of like minded individuals combined with an excellent quality of life and your incredible generosity of spirit has pampered and renewed me. I wish you the best of success and hope to see you again soon."

~Audrey Harris
Attendee of Writing Away Retreats
Senior Publicist for Harper Collins

"I'm honored to be a part of this. In talking with the participants, the environment created here is vastly more conducive to productivity than others they've attended. The atmosphere you created for these writers was perfect. Even though I was a member of the staff, I never felt like I was working. Truly a productive experience for everyone involved. You are an inspiration in your work ethic and your kindness. I wish you the best of luck with this and f you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Great food, mountains, wild chasing dogs and vicious scrabble...what else could an editor ask for? "

~Tim Oconnell
Staff for Writing Away Retreats, May 2009
Editor for Vintage/Random House

"Easily the best of the writer's conferences/retreats I've attended. Attendees were happy and relaxed and thinking only about the works they were working on. The food was great, the staff and attendees-top notch. Thanks so much for having me along."

~Gary Heidt
Lit. Agent with Signature Literary Agency
Staff Member of Writing Away retreats, May 2009

"There isn't anything out there for writer's like this. You're respectful of adult intelligence, you have created a huge opportunity for writers when presenting them with this time with an agent, editor and author is unprecedented. Where else can a writer do everything they need to and want to do to improve their career? The food alone was worth the admission and everyone around just kept saying they couldn't believe they were there."

~Doug Crandell
Author of Flawless Skin of Ugly People, Hairdo's for the Mildly Depressed (Virgin Books), and a soon to be out True Crime book through Penguin Books.
www.dougcrandell.com
Author and Staff for Writing Away Retreats
May 2009
Hope to see you there soon! Website updated very soon...stay tuned.

Yours in Rest, Retreats and Rendered Speechless by the love and kindness of others,

Cicily