On Wednesday I returned home from a three-day retreat at the beautiful Monterey Hotel Plaza and Spa hosted by Books & Such Literary Management. The hotel is located right on the bay overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It’s stunning! Besides delicious meals and wonderful conversation, we had workshops in the morning and free time every afternoon. On Monday evening six authors and our agent, Rachel Kent, went out to dinner at the Cannary Row Brewing Company. We shared fries, stories, and a lot of laughs! Tuesday evening all the agents and authors had our traditional bocce ball competition. I was geared up for a long tournament, but unfortunately my team got out first round. There are some fierce players!
Another fun retreat sharing a room with Karen O’Connor.
Another highlight of the retreat was swapping twelve of our own books for twelve from different authors. Here is the list of books I grabbed.
Ten novels:
Chasing Hope by Kathryn Cushman
Lost & Found by Gayle Roper
Love Comes Home by Ann H. Gabhart
Sarai by Jill Eileen Smith
Somebody Like You by Beth K Vogt
The Covered Deep by Brandy Vallance
The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow by Olivia Newport
The Quilted Heart: Three Novellas in One by Mona Hodgson
To Everything a Season by Lauraine Snelling
Wonderful Lonesome by Olivia Newport
And two nonfiction titles:
Mom Seeks God by Julia Roller
Spirit Hunger by Gari Meacham
I can’t wait to dig in! I have no idea which book I’ll read first, but I’m excited to have so many options. Have you read any of these books?
I feel so blessed to be a part of such a great organization. Thank you, Books & Such, for a wonderful retreat!
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I love to write for 8-12 year old girls to help connect them to their faith. I'm also passionate about women's fiction that reconnects lives and brings new discoveries along the way.
Sounds like you all had a wonderful time! I haven’t read any of those books yet, and now I’m too far away to borrow from my favorite Sherry Kyle library! Can’t wait to hear which ones are your faves. You always make great recommendations. I just finished a book I found on my shelf…not sure where it came from (I promise I didn’t borrow it – no name anywhere!) but it was unexpectedly good. Bad Ground by Dale Cramer. Extremely well written and moving. No wonder it won a Christy Award!
Hi Laura,
I wish you still lived here to borrow one of my books. 🙂 I haven’t read that one. I’ll be sure to check it out.
Great post, Sherry. I totally agree with you and I loved being your ‘roomie.’ I’m reflecting on the fun we had with our writing friends and the knowledge and encouragement we shared. Books & Such is the best!
I agree, Karen! Thanks for stopping by.