WRITER’S LOG: TOKELAND HOTEL

(For some reason, this post never went live, so I’m reposting because I want to restart my writer’s log series. The OP also didn’t have these photos. SCATTERBRAINED MUCH, TAMARA? lol)

SEPT 7-10, 2021 WRITING RETREAT, TOKELAND HOTEL

Reading: Magic for Beginners (Kelly Link)

Where I spent most of my time

Writing: Revisions of “Eminent Domain” (intended to be part of the TRUST FALL collection); added around 1,800 words to overall length. 

Workshops: Had planned for 3 workshops and one mastermind, all of which did not come to pass due to wonky connectivity issues at the hotel. Thankfully I have transcripts and recordings to consult later.

Researching: Road trip to Willapa Bay to take photos, observe land structures, details of bridges and estuary structures, etc.

Model for Caster Farms and Bear Creek. If you know, you know.

Also, more details about beaver pelts, characteristics of fresh-to-saltwater bodies and endangered species.

Goals moving forward: Need to make more passes through (using printouts) for working details, thematics, consistency, pacing, atmosphere, sensory layer, and to cross-compare to my original notes and outline/s. Less concerned about the length now, more concerned about it reading like a full story with strong magical realist overtones.

Yeah, maskless folks can go find somewhere else to play boardgames. I seriously bogarted the game table when I had to work inside, and I’m not sorry about it. #WearAMask

Real-life for perspective: Small hotel room with no desk, limited lighting, and a shortage of outlets in the shared spaces during a statewide mask mandate means working outside in foggy, cool situations or while fighting off wild bands of mosquitoes. Still managed to average 6-8 hours of work on the days I wasn’t traveling. People in the game room did not like it that I was working on a computer in the one desk space where there happened to be the best lighting.

Oh well. First come, first served.

 

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