The Louisiana retreat this weekend was great!
We met at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Covington, LA, which is just north of Lake Ponchitrain. It was interesting to cross the causeway, a 25 or 30 minute drive – such a feat of engineering. Of course, there was discussion of the aftermath of Katrina, which is still being felt, particularly as the SCBWI has rebuilt its membership.
We were met by Sister Bernadetta, a nun originally from Italy, but assigned to the US since 1969. She was our hospitality person for the first night and a treat to meet. The facility was great, but the people were better.
16 talented writers concentrating on revising novels – they were an intense, dedicated, hard-working bunch. We marked shrunken manuscripts six different ways and the full-size manuscript another couple ways. They stumped me on the emotional/character arc for a while, but we worked through it in the end.
I’m looking for lots of good news from Louisiana in the years to come.