The Gift of a Writers Retreat

A weekend in Canada with writer-friends gave me time and space to finish final edits on my next novel

I spent the last weekend of January at a cottage in Canada on the shores of Lake Huron with four writer-friends. Wow, what a great experience! Not only because we made fantastic meals and told great stories and got to know one another so much better - but because we made time to prioritize our writing and support each other in that endeavor.

I spent the whole time - THE WHOLE TIME - making final edits on my next novel. CAVE OF SECRETS has been in the works since 2022, when I first started researching Jews in Scotland during my writing sabbatical in the Highlands. I spent a month plotting out the novel, and two months writing a messy first draft.

Then, I printed the manuscript, read it through, made edits by hand and set about making the book better. There were two more rounds of revisions before the manuscript went to two final readers. And then, it went to my editor.

But this time, because the book includes a character who grew up in a fundamentalist religious community, which he flees to live freely as a gay man, I asked a sensitivity reader to take a look. Her feedback was incredibly valuable, and I spent the weekend working on edits recommended by my sensitivity reader and my editor.

The book is finally finished!! Woo hoo!! And just in time because I’m ready to plan out the next novel, meet new characters, weave a different story.

What made this weekend extra special is that usually, I’m the one leading a retreat rather than participating in it. The focused time away to do nothing but write plus the freedom of it to do yoga, walk along the frozen lakeshore, drink wine and talk late into the cold night were so energizing.

Especially because writing is such a solitary pursuit that I need ways to commune with other writers.

These women are part of a group I’ve been meeting with monthly for a really long time, and we critique each other’s writing. You’d think I’d know them well. But honestly, this weekend deepened our understanding of one another, and ourselves. We connected. We laughed. We grew close.

It was so great to spend a weekend on Lake Huron in Canada with four of my writer-friends. That time away gave me the perfect focus to complete final edits on my next novel

It takes a community for a novel to come to life. Yes, I write alone at my desk, my fingers on the keyboard, my brain swirling with ideas. But I need friends - and so many others - to make it a book worth reading.

If you’ve never been on a writers retreat, maybe this is your year to do it! I’m offering 3 retreats in 2024 - learn more here and apply. (Just announced: weekend writers retreat in Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 28-30!)

There Are No New Stories

CAVE OF SECRETS, my forthcoming novel, is a story of four interconnected characters grappling with identity, ancestry and belonging. Sam fled an Orthodox Jewish upbringing in the 1980s to come out as a gay man and raise his daughter, Eve, in an accepting place. Eve goes to Scotland on an archival fellowship and falls in love with Mac, unaware that his family history will intrude on the potential for their future. Mac’s mother, Mags, fled a poor childhood to marry an aristocrat, and she holds on so tightly to her new status that she nearly loses it. And when Eve finds some historic letters in a cave on a Scottish hillside, she breaks open the mysteries of the past to pave the way for a brighter future.

This is a story of strong Jewish identity against insidious antisemitism and homophobia, community, culture and the bravery to not let the past limit the future. There’s a bit of magical realism thrown in, too.

When I saw this poster in the Honolulu airport a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but feel that it was speaking to me.

Lessons from the past are the key to the future. Looking around the world today, it seems we haven’t learned anything from the gruesome past. As a writer, I’m fascinated by story and the idea that there are no new stories, only new ways of telling familiar tales.

How do I come up with the focus for my novels?

I interrogate questions I am curious about and dig into research to learn more. When I spent a month in the Scottish Highlands two summers ago, I wanted to learn about Jews in Scotland. There aren’t many, but I looked for something to inspire a story. And I found it.

CAVE OF SECRETS is fiction and all the characters are creations from my imagination, inspired by place and history. Timeless stories endure - especially since stubborn humans resist learning anything. I’ll be sharing details about the process of publishing this novel in the months to come, including launch dates, a cover reveal and lovely blurbs from some pretty great writers.

New Classes

Announcing new online classes!

Creative Writing for Beginners

Finding Your Voice

February Book Giveaway

Congratulations to paid subscribers Erin Sim and Carol Roehrig who are the winners of the January book giveaway! They received The Cracks Between Us by Caitlin Moss and Brunch and Other Obligations by Suzanne Nugent, incredible books by friends of mine.

I write the Rebel Author Newsletter to offer value and insight into the writing and publishing life. If something speaks to you in here, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, or commenting on or sharing this newsletter. Paid subscribers qualify for monthly book giveaways and are invited to bimonthly live writing coaching calls.

Thanks for reading! Love, Lynne