Fondue Friday #3 - Retreat

Fondue Fridays

- where everyone dips in, and everything comes up cheesy -
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With deadlines (both self-imposed and contractual) looming on the horizon, we set out for Santa Barbara for the first ever Disco Mermaid Writing Retreat. We stayed at an inn with a beautiful patio view of the Pacific Ocean and spent the weekend cranking out future bestsellers. At one point, a mermaid said, "Hey, we should blog about what this experience is like." So we placed a laptop on a Lazy-Susan, flexed our fingers…and got bloggin’.

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Jay: Okay, let’s start. But we gotta do this fast cuz Robin and I gotta drive home…while Eve crashes for one more night.
Robin: We had a very successful first retreat! What did we get done? Well, I kicked butt on my young adult novel and I’m actually just one chapter short of finishing it. Perhaps if I had stayed out of the hot tub this afternoon I would’ve finished. But…it’s a hot tub! And…we’re Disco Mermaids!
Eve: I can’t lie; I did not kick as much butt as Robin, and am a lot more chapters short of finishing my YA. However, I got a TON done, and learned a lot of little known facts about my fellow mermaids. Did you guys know that Robin only eats “limpy fries”… no crispy ones! Who knew?
Jay: Or that Eve doesn’t poop! Who knew?
Robin: Or that when Jay poops, he has to go down the hall because there wasn’t a strong enough fan in ours. Who knew?
Eve: Okay, what are we blogging about here? But seriously folks…I really don’t poop, and I am gasless. That said, Jay and Robin gave me some really nifty plot suggestions over breakfast this morning, and it changed my whole perspective on what I’m doing. I also got inspiration by staring out at the beach, and wrote some really HOT love (not sex) scenes with my characters sitting on the beach. Woo-hoo!
Jay: Just gotta say, I wasn’t the first mermaid to discover the bathroom down the hall. But yes, this weekend was amazing. For me it wasn’t as creative as for the two of you. Mine was mostly busy work. I took an entire middle grade novel I’d already written and changed it from past-tense to present-tense. Somehow, that simple (yet time consuming) switch improved my manuscript immensely! I can’t wait to send it to my agent later this week.
Robin: And yes, I was the one who originally discovered the joys of hallway bath rooming. Interestingly enough, I had a bit of an emotional reaction to the final chapters of my book. After writing a very heart wrenching moment, I stood up, ran to the bathroom (the one in our room wasn’t in use very much), sat on the toilet and bawled my eyes out. I came back out after a few minutes expecting my fellow mermaids to be sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to support me in my moment of vulnerability. Jay said, “Did you light a candle?” And Eve said, “Shhh! I’m sleeping here!” Love you guys. Really, I do.
Eve: I’m so sorry! But I wasn’t sleeping. I was deep in thought. It’s my creative process. Seriously, we probably had more fun than any mermaid should ever be allowed to have in a lifetime. We laughed, we cried, we became one. It’s amazing how well we support each other…I mean, who else could I sit with in a room for three days straight, while listening to Nickelback and Benedictine Monk chants at the same time, and have no dialogue for 8 hours straight except for me occasionally asking, “what’s another word for phlegm?” As a bonus, I just got a message from my agent who LOVED what I’ve worked on so far and called it “FANTASTIC!”

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Very unflattering pictures coming soon...