I’m Out of Excuses, Part Two

Note: Previously, I described the events leading up to the start of the Writing Excuses Retreat 2016. For those of you who are behind the times, you can catch up here.

And now…

Words are hard to find, sometimes. The flit through my mind, sometimes landing for a moment, resting. I’ll mull them over, consider them. Some, I’ll discard. Some, I’ll keep. Those I keep, repeat over and over until insecurity arrives to tell me those aren’t the right words.

Two month – almost three – words have come and gone, ebbed and flowed against the shore of creativity: words to describe the indescribable.

How does one capture change as it is still happening?

How can the caterpillar describe the butterfly it’s going to become when it is still cocooned?

That is what the Writing Excuses Retreat did for me. I entered, a caterpillar, not sure what to expect, knowing no one, thinking I knew more than I knew. Since I left, I’ve entered metamorphosis. I’m not a butterfly yet. I think it will be a long transition and I’m not sure what type of butterfly I will become, but I do know that I am irrevocably changed by the events of that cruise, and for the better.

If not for the cruise, I would not have written the stories I’ve since written. I would not have worked up the courage to submit some of those stories for publication. Without Writing Excuses, I would have continued to make excuses: “I’m not good enough yet,” “I’m not ready,” “I’ll wait until the New Year to do that.”

And then there are the people, the community of writers and industry professionals to which I now belong. I’ve made so many new friends, so many new connections. When I went to World Fantasy Convention in October (blog to come eventually), not only were my friends from last year there, but there were Writing Excuses Alumni as well. I felt so much more connected to the convention community than I did last year.

The community is widespread and warm and welcoming. In November, I was in Boston, and I stayed with a friend from the retreat. We met up with another Boston-based cruiser and played board games and ate Indian Food and it felt like we were back on the cruise, as though no time had passed (only November in New England and September in the Carribean have some major discrepancies in temperature, to say the least).

And last week, I was in Seattle and visited with two other friends from the cruise. We hung out in cafes and played board games and went to a Brandon Sanderson reading together and had a fantastic time.

But the biggest thing to come out of the cruise is my present relationship. I met someone. Our first interaction was a game of Werewolf (like Mafia, but with more lycanthropes and angry villagers), our second a discussion of our outlining processes. We got together after the cruise and have now been traveling. We went to DC, to Seattle, and now we’re in New Zealand, ready to embark on a two-week road trip of the North Island.

I think it’s safe to say that the Writing Excuses Retreat changed my life and even now, nearly three months later, it’s still changing my life. I can’t wait to see where things go from here, both on a personal level and with my writing career and I most definitely can’t wait for next year’s cruise.

Thank you for Reading.