Breakout Novel Intensive: Coming to Kentuckiana Soon!

So, y'all know I'm a (kind of) closet novelist-wannabe. And loyal readers of this blog know that Roommate is the Big Kahuna of Writers Retreat Workshop (WRW), from which I recently returned (We met there, in fact, in 2002, and we've been BFFs ever since).  This year's WRW was especially good-- a great batch of passionate writers, some exciting visiting staff, and of course a core group of returning staff and students that keep this writers' boot camp vibrant each year.  

Through my friendship with Roommate and my affiliation with Writers Retreat Workshop, I've gotten to know some fabulous people in the fiction-writing biz: writers, editors, publishers, mentors, and teachers.  One of the best teachers of fiction-writing I've met is Donald Maass, head of the Donald Maass Literary Agency in NYC and author of a number of books on writing, including Writing the Breakout Novel and Fire in Fiction. His agency's client list features best-selling authors like Todd McCaffrey, Anne Perry, and Jim Butcher. Don is not only an excellent teacher, but he's a really good guy and a good friend.

Lorin Oberweger, writer, program director, and independent editor, is also a dear friend and a fantabulous cheerleader when it comes to inspiring creative-types.  And this year Lorin's company, Free Expressions, is bringing Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel Intensive Workshop to our neck of the woods, September 19-25.

From the website:


This retreat and workshop includes:

• All meals and comfortable, private sleeping accommodations with private baths.
• Morning classes with Donald Maass, geared toward building students’ specific projects using concepts covered in his popular, Writing the Breakout Novel book and workbook.
• A private thirty-minute consultation with Donald Maass, who will read the first fifty pages of each student’s manuscript.
• A private consultation with Editor-in-Residence and Program Director Lorin Oberweger.
• Opportunities to confer with other professional writers on staff.
• Afternoon and evening writing time and voluntary critique groups.
• Group follow–up discussions and pitch practice with Donald Maass.
• Complimentary copy of the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook.

In order to ensure an intimate and productive environment for our students, enrollment is strictly limited to thirty–five writers. Participation is on a first-come, first-serve basis, so please register early.


If you enroll by July 15, you receive $75 off.  For more information, visit the Free Expressions website.

If you're a fiction writer or if you've got a fire in your noggin about being a fiction writer, this is truly an amazing opportunity.  As an aspiring novelist, I can't tell you how valuable it is to have the chance to have a Big Time New York Agent read 50 pages of your novel.  Usually it takes a barrage of query letters (that you've edited and adjusted a dozen times) just to get an agency to give you the time of day (no offense to my agent friends).  For a lot of us, this service is almost worth the price of the entire workshop.

Not only are Don and Lorin a power duo of teacher/mentors, but the always awesome Roommate is on staff too.  If I could take the time off from work, I would be there for the whole thing; as it is, I'm certainly going to try to capitalize on my friendships with these folk to take advantage of some of the after-work and weekend activities.  I hope to see you there.

Brief gripe: How can the Sheraton Louisville call itself the Sheraton "Louisville" if it's in Jeffersonville, Indiana? Ugh, that bites my butt. 

Change Your (writing) Life in Ten Days

I've written about Writers Retreat Workshop before. The last time, it was a bit more nuts and bolts. (Click on the link in the first sentence for that entry) But I'm going to pitch it again because it's such a huge, important part of my life.

Eight years ago (almost), I attended my first WRW. I won the Robin Hardy New Student Scholarship (PDF application) and got to go for free. But even when I found out that I had won free tuition, I was super skeptical. I think I was having a Woody Allen moment: Did I really want to be part of a club that wanted me as a member? But I got over my insecurities, in no small part due to some long and involved email correspondences with one of the staff members: a very patient, very persuasive man who will henceforth be known as "Roommate."

Yes, that Roommate.

WRW is a ten-day, very intensive (think "boot camp") residential program for aspiring novel writers. But in the past eight years, I've seen memoir writers and screenplay writers and short stories writers go through the program and benefit as much as I did.

For the past blue million years (well, ok, the program was founded in 1987, so that's hyperbole), WRW has been held at the Marydale Retreat Center in Erlanger, KY. And honestly, even back in 2002 when I first attended WRW, if you'd asked me what I thought about WRW, I would have said that I had had ten of the most perfect days of my life... except that the facilities were kind of shabby.

So this year, WRW has BIG news. The program is relocating to the Saint Joseph's Retreat Center in Owensboro, KY. And holy cow, this place looks GORGEOUS. And, best of all, Louisvillagers, it's still basically in our back yard!

Listen, WRW changed my life in so many ways. I know I've taken some time off from "serious" writing lately for any number of reasons, not the least of which has been the after-effects of chemo. So I may not strike you as a "serious" writer. But I used to be. Pre-cancer, fiction writing was part of my daily life. And I hold out so much hope that this summer I'll be able to be a "real" writer once again. But before WRW, my writing was a hobby. Like scrapbooking or collecting troll dolls. After I went to one WRW, I felt legit. I felt validated. I felt like I knew so much more about not only the craft of writing but the business of writing. And don't kid yourself, kids, writing is very much a business.

But no smoke and mirrors here: WRW gave me so much more than that. WRW gave me Roommate, my very best friend and partner in crime since 2002. A couple years after I first attended, the founder retired and handed the reins over to Roommate, and he has run it ever since. And I have to admit, when I see Roommate teach the new student classes, I get chills.

WRW also gave me a new family of all of the attendees since 2002 and the core staff. It gave me a built-in cheerleading section for all of my successes since 2002, and a source of support for all of my trials since then.

And, frankly, I think you'd be hard pressed to find an attendee who didn't feel exactly the same way.

Do you need a "name" to attract you to program? How about this one: Michael Palmer. Palmer is the author of 14 medical thriller novels, some of which have ended up on the NYTimes bestsellers list. Palmer and his son, Daniel, a debut novelist, will be there teaching classes. In past years, the program has featured teachers/guests (both in person and via teleconference) such as Dean Koontz, Ayelet Waldman, Nancy Picard, Gregory McDonald, and Trish McGregor.

Folks who have been through the program and gone on to success include: Janet Chapman, Christine Goff, Jack Getze, Kimberly Frost... and many more.

You fancy yourself a writer? A fiction writer? A novelist? Gosh darn, kids... I promise you, you won't regret attending the Writers Retreat Workshop. You just won't. Expert advice. Thoughtful guidance. Good damn people. Always.

You want to know more? Email me at lou (at) loueyville.com. I will answer your questions and give you more personal testimony.

In the meantime: This year's WRW is June 10-19 in Owensboro, KY. I'm 99.9% sure that the new student scholarship is still accepting applications. Pass this along to your writer friends. I would sure love to welcome them into MY WRW family.

Visit the website at: Writers Retreat Workshop