Where Have I Been?

I get that a lot? What have you been up to? Well, I work most of the time and I play some of the time. I also pray a lot. But sometimes I combine all the things!

Recently, I put together a Gulf Coast Christian Writers Retreat and had fourteen women join me at the beach between Ft. Walton and Destin, Florida. We spent time doing the things I love most–Eat, Pray, Work, Play!

We rented three huge condos to hold twelve people (four in each) and we had three more attendees in their own condos who joined us for our writing discussions and devotional time. We tried to eat dinner together as much as possible, too. We had a morning discussion session each day and a devotional and another discussion every night after dinner. That gave us from eleven in the morning until about four in the afternoon to write or plot or play. Most of us did a little of all those, and we even managed to walk the beach several times and check out the lazy river and other pools at the complex. I wanted this to be a working retreat and it was, but I also wanted these women to take time for some fun and fellowship because sometimes you learn more from talking to other writers in an informal environment than you do getting all dressed up and stressed trying to hit all the workshops at a big conference. Both are great, of course. But since I’ve moved to Florida, I like the more laid-back retreat style of being a published author. It was a great week and I made new writer friends. We already want to do it again next year, and we have a waiting list! I want to showcase the names of these women and encourage you to find their books or check them out on social media. Most of them are on FB, Twitter, and Instagram. We all write, so there is a large variety here for readers. Our books are available online and in bookstores.

• Laurel Blount
• Missy Tippens
• Marilyn Turk
• Allie Pleiter
• Tracey Lyons
• Tracy Fredrychowski
• Tanya Agler
• Jenelle Hovde
• Janet Ferguson
• Izzy James
• Virginia Vaughn
• Heidi Main
• Betsy Iler
• Lindi Peterson
• and me–Lenora Worth

My friend enjoying a latte!

More fun photos of work and play time! I don’t have everyone here, but we had a great time and got some work done! Next blog, I’ll highlight several other great writers who have books coming out!