In April I attended the Western Pennsylvania Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (WPASCBWI) Spring Retreat at Bethany College in West Virginia. It was amazing! The other participants and the two editors, Kate Sullivan and Connie Hsu, were encouraging and insightful. I've been able to go to this event for several years and have learned so much each time. I returned home determined to work on my writing and integrate what I learned.
And, so far, I have. The Monday after the retreat, things at my day job heated up and have been steadily boiling ever since, but I've been writing. So, a gold star for me in that department. I have not kept in contact with my fellow writers from the retreat, so in that department, I'm a "bad webbis" (Shirley Jackson--Life Among the Savages--if you haven't read it, go NOW and get a copy!).
One thing that impressed me at the retreat was how much I enjoyed--craved the contact with other writers. I do not belong to a writing group, not because I don't want to be in one, but because I haven't found one in my area. I know there are on-line groups, and I may look into one of those. As writers, we work in isolation, and we need to do that to achieve our writing goals. But. . .we are also social creatures and contact with other writers can help us become better.
So, my question for today is how do you keep in touch with other writers, other artists?
