What’s the best thing about being a writer? The writing? Heck, no!!!!! (Please wait a sec while I subdue the urge to add more exclamation points…)
No, the best thing about being a writer is hanging out with other writers! Getting to preview their new books before anyone else! And going on retreats where you learn new things, and meet inspiring people!
A Mini-Retreat
Take, for example, the mini retreat I attended hosted by award-winning and USA Today best selling author Mindy Neff. (Does it sound like I’m name dropping? Cuz I totally am.) Mindy (or Mind, like I like to call her) is one of my Besties. In fact, she’s among the top five (maybe even number 1!) on my Besties list. (The other four? Well, you know who you are and where you’re ranked…)
Mindy’s retreat was rejuvenating. Not only did we eat delicious food, float in her sparkling pool, and snuggle her pets, Mindy also let me read (hot off the presses – or her laptop, in this case) the first book in her new Cowboy Elite series. She helped me convert my books, Domesticating Luc and The Reluctant Nerd, into audio for Amazon and Apple; and we discussed cover art for my upcoming Tangleweed series in depth. Lots of writing stuff got done, people. Seriously. (That is, not all the stuff was serious, but rather stuff seriously got done.)
But the most inspiring thing for me about Mindy’s retreat, was meeting Robin Goetz and April Goetz, fellow booklovers with artful occupations.
Robin loves all things vintage, antique and unique. She sells curated items out of Space #3 in The Antique Depot, 155 S. Glassell Street, Orange, California, 92866. If you (like me) appreciate objects “with a history,” Robin is a joy to talk to.
Robin’s daughter, April Goetz, is an artist who specializes in anime—the hand-drawn and computer-generated artwork influenced by Japanese manga comics. April (who looks like an anime character herself with her big eyes, willowy figure, and pink hair) has just released her first coloring book, Best Friends by Apochi. To my surprise, Best Friends features characters who look exactly like me and Mindy! (If we were magically transformed into sweet, big-eyed, anime kids who live in a book and “explore life together from playing at the park, drinking hot cocoa by the fire, to caring for animals on the farm,” that is).
I’ve already bought Best Friends (who doesn’t love to color?). If you want to buy it the link is https://amzn.to/45NNVqi Also available for the season (I nabbed this one, too) is Best Friends: Spooky & Fun Halloween by Apochi at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FSLKYGY9/ref=sr
I managed to get a sneak peek at April’s next coloring book titled Brides by Apochi as well, and I can’t wait for that one to come out, too, because (you guessed it!) the brides also look like me! (Again, if I was magically transformed, etc.)
So, although writing is fun (cough—not really—cough, cough) the absolute bestie thing about being a writer for me, is all the amazing, creative people I get to meet and all the best friends I’ve made. Hope your Besties List is super long, too.
