Refreshing writers' retreats, BBF winners & epic Ruby Tour starts on Monday!

My writing station
at the Cape retreat

Summer's for vacations and taking time to refill the inspiration flask. I've been going to a small writing retreat in Cape Cod for years now, and I look forward to it, starting in February or March when the ice is thick and slippery and the thrill of winter has worn thin.
Here are pictures from our latest. A few times, I've started entire

Path to the inlet

novels there. This time, I did an 80-page revise on a new adult novella.
There's coffee, shameless gossip and shop talk in the morning, writing all day on the porch, a swim in the ocean at 5 pm. Each night, it's someone's turn to cook, and then we do writers' games. Encore is a big one, and a game we call The Dictionary Game. How to play? Someone picks a very obscure word from the dictionary and writes the definition down. Each player

The guilty parties

And our fave Colombian expat

writes a fake but hopefully believable def of that same word down. The host reads all of the defs and the players guess which one is the real def. Each person whose definition got a vote gets a point. It is a hilarious game, and it's very hard to read the fake defs with a straight face! I challenge you to try.

I've attended retreats in Squaw Valley, Mendocino, the SCBWI cons in LA and in NYC. I know there's a good summer writing workshop in Southampton, LI. Other retreats anyone? Spill!

On another note, I have winners from my Book Blog Fest giveaway. And before I announce, thanks so much to all of my new subscribers! You rock. Okay, drum roll.... winners:
Shannon A wins the $25 Amazon gift card, Krystina B wins a signed copy of Ruby's Fire, Jak C wins The Eleventh Palgue by Jeff Hirsch, Dayna J wins Rick Yancey's Fifth Wave, and C Lee  wins the illustrated Einstein quote poster!

Stay tuned for another epic giveaway when my Ruby's Fire tour with Xpresso Books begins this Monday, July 29! Grand prize? A KINDLE!!!

Random Thoughts for a Rainy Day

I've been drawing a lot lately, having fun imaging the futuristic world of my YA thriller for possible use in a book. I dug out a favorite drawing of mine. I had written and illustrated a futuristic story way back when, which turned out to be the skeleton of my current YA. It's amazing how long an author can chew on a theme! I uploaded this black and white line drawing into Photoshop, where I gave it new breath it with airbrush. It's part of an under-border of invasive vines, which provides a barrier against enemies undersea. Think scary/beautiful like a Venus Fly Trap.

On another note, I am happy to say that I'll be teaching a creative writing workshop in Greece, the last two weeks of June 2012! What a great place to do some serious writing and socializing. I specialize in untangling plot knots, helping people with pacing and characterization, and I believe in giving quirky writing exercises that seem like play, but are actually strengthening writing muscle. Anyone up for a workshop near a white beach? Anyone up for freshly grilled fish? I'll post a link when I get more details.

So, what are you up to this rainy day, turned night, turned cold & beautiful day? Any exciting turn of events in your life? What old story themes have become new again through your magic?