Barbara J. Hamby

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Writers’ Retreat

For the last ten years or so I’ve been attending A Writer’s Weekend at the Beach in Ocean Park, Washington every February, with a few exceptions that I missed for various reasons. Writer’s Weekend is a gathering of writers, both novice and more experienced, with published authors leading workshops and critique sessions. Most are Christian writers who are also members of Oregon Christian Writers Association. I am not among that number, but secular writers are welcomed, as well.

I had dreaded the drive to the Long Beach Peninsula for weeks. Last year I drove through snow to get there; several years ago I drove around flood waters in Ocean Park, and my confidence in my driving is not improving with age. I don’t invest in traction tires these days because I just stay home if it snows, thus I was not so equipped.

This year the drive went well even though there were areas of freezing fog to get through. I reduced my speed, but was still able to arrive at the church camp in just under three hours. Knowing that I was tired, after not having slept well in a cold motel room, I took four hours to drive home with two rest stops. Every time there were four cars behind me, sometimes even only one, I pulled over at each opportunity to let them pass. My second stop was in Scappoose, where a highway thermometer registered 70 degrees. The sunshine was beautiful. The teenage counter girl in Dairy Queen had a classic Gothic look that was startling. Is Gothic still in? I guess it is in Scappoose.

The retreat workshops, critique session and networking were well worth the stress of the drive and the cold room. The meeting rooms were chilly, also, and I’d not dressed warmly enough. Next time, if there is one, I’ll add a few more layers. I learned a lot about writing and even more about writers. Because a very courageous young woman with cerebral palsy attended the conference, I learned more about that condition also. I started to call it a disability, but thought she might be offended if she read this. She certainly doesn’t treat it that way. She is writing about her life and, if she can get her book into print, it will be very valuable education for others.

I received excellent suggestions about my memoir story, as well as many ideas for my poetry and other writing. More experienced writers reminded me that sending out stories from a book in progress in advance can create valuable publicity for the book when it’s completed. (That is, if you can get them published). I may give that a shot. I have many stories completed now. One well-published friend suggested that one of my stories could be good for True Confessions magazine by changing the ending and for a murder mystery publication by killing off the protagonist, a mind-boggling possibility. I’ll sleep on that, perchance to dream—or nightmare.