Back Again: Highlights of My Second Highlights Retreat

They say it’s never as good as the first time, but my second experience at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center was as magical as my first one! This time I took a personal retreat, sponsored by a The Brown Bookshelf Highlights scholarship, rather than participating in a structured course.

It was a wonderful three days of resetting and reenergizing as a creative and getting started on some new projects. I was also able to network with other talented and inspiring writers on property, which is always a plus.

My adventure started on Tuesday when I checked into my cozy cabin. I was excited to find a copy of Stephen King’s craft book/memoir, On Writing, on a bookshelf next to my bed. I’ve been meaning to read it for eons and was happy to dive in. Too worn out from travel to write, (My flight left my home in Houston at 6 a.m., and I arrived around 3 p.m.) I started the memoir that afternoon and finished the next morning. It was a fantastic read, and I’m amazed I focused and completed it so quickly. Usually I doze off when I start on craft books, but there’s something invigorating and magical in the Highlights air!

That evening, I enjoyed snacks at the nightly happy hour before a delicious dinner and met a few of the other authors on property. A couple of groups were there for personal retreats that they’d organized. One has been meeting at Highlights for fifteen years and the other has come for six years. Many of these authors are award-winning (Kristy Dempsey, Heidi Stemple, Kristi Call) and have multiple, published books.

Through Wednesday morning and early afternoon I started and completed the first chapter on a new middle grade novel and got down some ideas for a new picture book. Before dinner, Angele McQuade, a life coach as well as non-fiction and children’s author, hosted a fabulous one-hour, “Your 2023 Reset,” reflection session, which got me thinking about my accomplishments to date, my future goals and what I need to do to achieve them.

On Thursday, I did more writing and completed a couple of activities on a virtual Lyrical Language Lab poetry course I’d signed up for. The time flew by, and I was sad when it was time to pack up to leave after breakfast on Friday. On my next trip I’d like to stay at least four nights. I was on property for a full five days on my first trip and that was ideal. Until next time Highlights!