Unworkshopping

 

I went on a writer's retreat last week! Three author friends and I packed up our manuscripts, left our families behind, and headed into the northeastern Pennsylvania wilderness. Our destination? The Highlights Foundation farm.

Yes, Highlights, as in Highlights Magazine for Children, the publication I so eagerly looked forward to each month as a kid. Founded in the 1930s, Highlights and associated children's literature publisher Boyd's Mills Press is still going strong in Honesdale, PA. The Highlights Foundation, down a country lane about twenty minutes out of town, is the site of wonderful workshops children's authors and illustrators. (Check out the workshop schedule here.)

 

 

So, I don't exactly write children's books! Luckily for me, whenever there's extra space at the Highlights farm, any author can sign up for an "Unworkshop." This includes a private room, three gourmet meals a day, and very spotty cellphone reception. In other words, the perfect setup for getting a lot of writing done!

Here are some pics from my Unbelievable Highlights Unworkshop!

  

 

 

The Barn, where workshops and meals happen

 

 

The Lodge, where I stayed

  

 

 

 

Individual writers' cabins

 

The Night Everything Fell Apart

Here's the cover for my upcoming paranormal! Isn't it cool? :-)

 

They appear human

The Nephilim, demon descendants of fallen angels and human women, walk among us. These powerful beings play a deadly game, battling for control of fractured Nephil magic and the mastery of the human race.

He should be dead

Arthur Camulus is the heir of Merlin Ambrosius, the most powerful Nephil ever to walk the Earth. Merlin’s vision—a world in which Nephilim and humans live in peace—is a radical notion, one Arthur has risked his life for. But now the ancient magic he’s inherited is driving him insane and threatening Earth’s balance of power. Forces both dark and light seek his destruction.

She’s his one link to sanity

The moment Cybele Herne saw the grieving boy the Druid clan alpha brought to Texas from England, she knew he was different. Seven years later, Arthur is her best friend and lover. He’s risked everything to give them both a chance at freedom, but the price is steep. If Arthur can’t tame his wild power and destroy their enemies, Cybele’s dormant Nephil magic will be usurped by rivals. She’ll live out her life as a thrall.

With time running short, Arthur and Cybele search for a way out of the maze of treachery. One fateful night, a beacon of hope shines. But when Arthur reaches for it, the forces of Heaven and Hell collide.

And everything falls apart.

Read an Excerpt