7/16/26: OOPS!!!

And so this week’s moment of happiness despite the news…

Oops. I kinda forgot. But I forgot for a good reason! Really!

Today is the first day of the AllWriters’ Annual Retreat, which is my creative writing studio. We’re international – and we offer online and on-site courses and workshops in every genre and ability of creative writing, as well as coaching and editing services. I’m the director and founder. This is our 19th retreat. It would have been our 21st, but we didn’t have one in our first year, because we were just too new. And we didn’t have one in 2020, during the pandemic. But we’ve had one every year besides those.

Writers come from all over the country (this year, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas) to spend four days fully immersed in the writing life. They have already written work put through critique, and they work on new writing without interruption. They’re in the middle of a community…which I would also call family.

And I’m the head of all of it.

This is a massive event to plan and a complicated event to put through its paces. It’s gotten harder without Michael to make sure the background is running smoothly. But I have the support of two of my faculty, Carrie Newberry and Ross Hightower, plus the generous help of my students. By Sunday, I will be depleted…and happy.

So I’ve been running all day, getting students settled, unpacking, putting things where they’re supposed to be, making sure everyone is happy, and giving a lecture. And just now, when I sat down and became aware that I was feeling happy, I remembered the blog.

Oops.

So this is my moment of happiness: that I was too immersed in my life and in what makes me happy to even think about it.  It was just what my life is supposed to be.

Whew.

And yes, that helps. Despite. Anyway.