The Cielo Journal

Back from a wonderful "retreat"

It's been four days now since I returned from Edenfred, the wonderful place in Madison, Wis., where writers and others can spend time alone and work on projects. I didn't know what to expect, and it was far more than I expected. Besides the executive director, who prepared a great gourmet meal for us Tuesday night, there were only four of us there. Two were other writers who had won first place from the Council for Wisconsin Writers and the fourth, besides me, was a painter from Hawaii.
Because we were working in our own 'suites,' we saw little of each other, though we all enjoyed the gorgeous, beautifully decorated house, built in 1916. It was a terribly hot week, too hot for me to go into the swimming pool, but the others did.
I needed the time to focus on the sequel to "The Cielo." I thought, at best, I might write four or five chapters. Instead, the atmosphere and the isolation kept me going and going and when I left on Saturday, I had completed ten chapters -- the final part of the book. I have to add that much of this was very rough, little more than outlines, but I wanted to get the story down, and I did that. This week I'm working on revising, adding and, yes, eliminating.
I can't thank Edenfred enough for this experience.

Off for a week of writing at a retreat

When the Council for Wisconsin Writers awarded "The Cielo" first place for fiction last May, part of the prize was to spend a week at Edenfred, an "artists retreat" in Madison. Well, I waited until now for that week and I'll be going to Edenfred Sunday, returning on Saturday.
This is very exciting. There will be two other authors who won first-place awards, plus someone we're told is "an artist from Hawaii."
There are only four guest suites, so this will be an intimate surrounding for us to pursue our projects. Mine? Well, I've been hard at work on the first draft of the sequel to "The Cielo" and I hope to do more there. I'm at a crucial point in the narrative now, so it will be good to be able to focus hard on this.
And besides, the place has a pool.
As you can see from the photo, Edenfred is housed in a large mansion. It's in the "Highlands" of Madison.