You may already know that a lot of writers don’t write full-time. Some of them squeeze in an hour in the quiet moments before their children get up and the day starts like a runaway train. For others, it’s a full-time job outside the home that keeps them away from their home computer and folder full of story ideas.

I often wonder if I’d like to write full-time. I love to write fiction. It’s hands-down my favorite thing to do for a “job” that’s much more than a job. (Meaning, it’s been a passion since I was 10!)  But I’ve always been the kind of person that likes to do several different things.

Along with that, if I sit in front of a computer too long, I become a less-comfortable version of myself. For example, I get so antsy, I start thinking that cleaning the kitchen floor or grocery shopping sound appealing. (Or I start pacing like a caged lion . . . looking for something else to eat.)

That being the case, during this time of Covid when I and so many others haven’t had much choice, I’ve adapted better than I thought I would to the electronic-homebody lifestyle. I teach French online. I write my novels on my laptop. I work on my travel blog (even though no one is traveling.) I even visit with friends online. At times, it seems like my laptop is a part of my body! How about you? How have your rhythm and contact with electronics changed?

Because it’s hard for writers to devote time to their writing, some of them go on a writer’s retreat. Now, granted, only full-time writers are able to do that. Or is that just a stereotype? Once a year a group of writers I know rents a house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to have a writing retreat. Most of them are not full-time writers. This isn’t a retreat with speakers and seminars, but a getaway, an escape from daily home pressures and tasks, just for writing.

This year, I had the chance to go along with six other writers—traditionally published, aspiring, indies, a playwright— a wonderful variety that was inspiring to say the least. We spurred each other on in our different projects. Here are some photos to give you the feel, imagine you’re there with us. (By the way, the banner photo of this post is from that trip!)

What was I working on during the retreat? My current project is my Julia De Luca book. If you’ve had the chance to read Marissa Rewritten, the novella featured on this website for those who are subscribers, you know that the Marissa book is the first in a series of four. In Marissa Rewritten, you meet four women who’d been friends in college twenty-five years earlier. They rediscover friendship and mutual support in mid-life. Each woman has her own story, her own struggles, and her own book.

After the death of Julia’s mother, she realizes she has no living family . . . except long-lost relatives in Florence, Italy. I hope that gives you a little wanderlust to read Julia’s story, which should be available in January.

As this sad year trudges toward its conclusion, my prayers for you are joy in the small things, thankfulness always, and certain hopes for a great future.

Kyle