MCRW Retreat 2005
by Jody Wallace, February 2005
(Click on photos for more detail.)

Starting out Friday night, February 25, 2005, when 31 MCRW members plus special guests crammed into the "party suite" to dine on catered Macaroni Grill lasagna, bowtie pasta and spaghetti, the 2005 MCRW Member Retreat featured enthusiastic participation at every level.

	Mary Varble kicked off the educational portion of the retreat by explaining the theory behind book collaging, and Jody Wallace incited members to participate in the "How Not To Plot" round robin.  Then Sherri Kenyon spoke on editor and agent relations before releasing members to their magazines and glue sticks.
Saturday morning dawned lovely and bright, which surprised all of us who expected nasty weather since we were, after all, at the member retreat. Sessions held in the conference room through-out Saturday included Dianna Love Snell and Annie Oortman on brainstorming in small groups, Annie Solomon and Beth Pattillo on characterization, Anna DeStefano on character arcs, and Cheryl Zach on plotting.

There were two editor and agent panels with our industry guests, Rose Hilliard, Assistant Editor at NAL, and Michelle Grajkowski, owner of 3 Seas Literary Agency.  One was at the beginning of the day and one at the end.  Let's just say the atmosphere in the second Q/A session, after everyone had spent the day exercising their brains and eating their heads off, was slightly less formal than the initial panel.

During all this, members took breaks to work on their collages and wander about the grounds of the hotel, basking in the 60 degree temperatures and sunlight.

Periodically attendees were called away throughout the day to have their appointments with Rose and Michelle.  They placed several requests for partials, although rumor has it someone with the initials LM got flustered halfway through her pitch and started pitching the work of her critique partners instead.  No, she received no cash reward for that service.

Sunday morning lots of folks had to depart early, but the remaining ones attended a casual collage display.  Member Terra Manasco got the award for biggest collage (a small army of authors could have hidden behind it); member Tammy Carpenter got the award for most appropriate collage backing (it was on a cutting board to represent her chef heroine); and member Page Pennington got the award for smallest collage (she pasted hers on the pages of a tiny notebook). 

All in all, a successful, if hectic, retreat.  To top it off, everyone was unfailingly friendly to our special guests, neither of whom were natives to the South.  I would say unfailingly polite, but country ham and grits were spotted on the plate of agent Michele Grajkowski at the urging of an unnamed MCRW member (not Maybelle!), and I personally don't consider that polite.

If you're an MCRW member, you can see more MCRW Retreat Photos here!

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Coming next month:  The results of the "How Not To Plot" Retreat Round Robin!  We're leaning on some members to help wrap up the many conflicting, contradictory story lines or, failing that, add their two paragraphs to our mess.

If any of you enjoyed participating in the round robin, there's a certain begging-to-be finished round robin on the website many new members have never had a crack at.  If you're interested, read over the episodes online (Round Robin Link) and contact Secretary Jody Wallace or Newsletter Editor Mary Varble about submitting the next 1000 words.  Unlike the Retreat round robin, you're allowed to read what came before and encouraged to be consistent.  Who sent that Mystery Date game?  That's for you to decide!