That’s a shot off the deck from the house I rented in Lincoln City, Oregon last week, up on the bluff in the Nelscott area—a gorgeous four days spent writing, recalibrating, setting goals, and, for three consecutive nights, discussing the business of publishing with a dozen smart professional writers, most of whom were from Oregon, but several who came from as far away as Canada. Some stayed in a house together. Others rented their own individual hotel rooms. The beauty of this “parallel play” approach was that the days were spent however people wanted. With the exception of the nightly discussions, it was up to each person to turn their stay on the Oregon coast into a worthwhile one. No stories were critiqued. No fees were charged. These were all professionals doing amazing things in the business, all there to learn and share. I came away with a notebook full of topics to research further.
After years of pandemic-enforced isolation, it was great to talk face to face with savvy creative people again.
I set a goal to try to get one hike in a week over the course of the summer, and while I didn’t quite get that, I came close, ranging over much of the state. Sometimes family or friends accompanied me, but usually it was just me and Rosie, my intrepid Irish Setter. Silver Creek Falls, Mt. Jefferson, Smith Rock, Thunder Cove … There were a few busted hikes along the way (one because of multiple flat tires, another because an out-of-shape friend found he’d overextended himself), but there were many, many highlights. I was reminded again and again why I love Oregon so much. A couple favorite photos:
The temperature topped out at a very pleasant 80F the last few days, but Fall is definitely coming. While the leaves haven’t begun to turn yet, I can feel it in the air. We got our daughter moved back into OSU over the weekend, so the house is a bit quieter. Now with an apartment with a 12-month lease, and a new job near campus that offers year-round employment (a dream job for her), she probably won’t be home for long stretches quite so much in the future, but who knows, life being what it is. In the thick of a new Karen Pantelli novel, so looking forward to getting in some long writing days. That was actually my biggest takeaway from the writing retreat, how important is for me to stay off the Internet the vast majority of the day and just staying in that creative space. It does wonders both for my productivity and my peace of mind.
