{"id":2413,"date":"2016-02-04T22:24:43","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T22:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/?p=2413"},"modified":"2016-02-05T15:25:19","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T15:25:19","slug":"a-day-of-renewal-friendship-and-writing-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/?p=2413","title":{"rendered":"A Day of Renewal, New Friendships & Writing Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"HeronHouseMainImage\"<\/a>
Heron House in Mountain Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Counting my blessings today. \u00a0My book, Moving to Atlanta: The Un-Tourist Guide<\/a><\/em>, went to press today and I should have plenty of copies for my Feb. 21 book launch party.<\/p>\n

\"Writing<\/a><\/p>\n

I also met with a great group of women as we kicked off a new Writer\u2019s Group. Heron House, a nearby venue, in Mountain Park, is \u00a0a 501-c3 non-profit center for sacred studies nestled in a wildlife refuge on the dam between Lake Cheerful and Lake Garrett in the City of Mountain Park.\u00a0Upon walking into the space it immediately feels restful a<\/span>nd spiritual, and defi<\/span>nitely l<\/span>ives up to its name as a \u201cSacred Earth Sanctuary.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is just the setting I\u2019ve been hoping for to return to writing and editing my debut historical novel, Torrential. \u00a0<\/em>I\u2019ve missed immersing myself in my characters, including Kieran, a traumatized Irish sailor who must confront his past when a massive flood threatens his life and those he cares about.<\/p>\n

My group includes old friends Mari Ann and Carolyn, who I\u2019ve known from our writing group days \"HeronHouseDoorEngraving\"with Jedwin Smith, and three new friends: \u00a0Kathleen, June and Marla. \u00a0Our group\u2019s philosophy and approach honor writing mentor Rosemary Daniell and her Zona Rosa<\/strong><\/a> (meaning the “Pink Zone,” or the “Women’s Zone” in Spanish) workshops. In fact, Rosemary plans to offer a one-day writer’s workshop this spring in the Atlanta area (I will provide more details on my blog\u00a0once the workshop date is firm).<\/p>\n

A writer and a teacher of writing, Rosemary is known for her provocative poems and personal memoirs.\u00a0Rosemary’s book, The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: Writing and Living the Zona Rosa Way, grew from her teaching<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Rosemary<\/a>
Rosemary Daniell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

and writing experiences. “Support, stimulation and standards of excellence are the three attitudes that make Zona Rosa work,” Rosemary writes. “Make sure that you receive all three in any writing group in which you participate and in any discussion of your work. Insist that your strengths be supported, your weaknesses, while you are still conquering them, be treated with respect. Remember that what is commonly called criticism can be positive, and experienced as support.”<\/p>\n

Each member of our writing group brings\u00a0\u00a0different life experiences and is at a\u00a0different phase in our writing\u00a0journey. We all, however, share a common hope — to \"HeronHouse1\"connect and grow in our craft while making a genuine connection. The quality of the readings today bode well for our group. I\u2019m going to learn a lot and am thankful to once again have a supportive circle\u00a0to share my writing with, especially as I tackle the hardest part of my manuscript revisions around voice\u00a0and pacing.<\/p>\n

As we finished our first session, I asked each person to share one word that most describes how she felt about being here. Here\u2019s what each woman\u00a0said:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Marla \u2013 Courage<\/li>\n
  • Anne \u2013 Sacred<\/li>\n
  • Carolyn \u2013 Inspired<\/li>\n
  • Mari Ann \u2013 Peaceful<\/li>\n
  • Kathleen \u2013 Flying<\/li>\n
  • June \u2013 Leaping<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    These are powerful sentiments and are indicative of feelings of friendship, acceptance, growth and excitement that can lead to transformative writing! As Kathleen notes, referencing a Walt Whitman quote from the movie, “The Dead Poet’s Society”:\u00a0 “The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.’ What will your verse be?\u201d<\/p>\n

    I can\u2019t wait to see\u00a0where we go from here \u00a0and the stories we will share.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Counting my blessings today. \u00a0My book, Moving to Atlanta: The Un-Tourist Guide, went to press today and I should have plenty of copies for my Feb. 21 book launch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[395,763,219],"tags":[907,906,905,904,908,377,909],"class_list":["post-2413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","category-storytellers","category-writing-resources","tag-author-support","tag-critique-groups","tag-heron-house","tag-inspiration","tag-rosemary-daniell","tag-writing-groups","tag-zona-rosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2413"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2440,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413\/revisions\/2440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}