Renewal at Glen Eyrie

I thought it was interesting that this month’s theme is renewal and I just spent four days at a writers’ conference at Glen Eyrie, in Colorado Springs.

Even without the teaching, the setting of this conference is filled with renewal. The grandeur of the mountains is totally awesome on this property just north of the Garden of the Gods. Big Horn sheep and wild turkeys are common sights. It is a wonderful place for rest and renewal.

This conference was different than most because it was more a workshop with classes, time to write using what was learned in the classes, fun, and fellowship. There was less pressure than normal because there are no pitches or meetings with editors and agents. Mentors Angela Hunt, Nancy Rue, Kathryn Mackel, and James Scott Bell lead the teaching and bonding sessions. During the general sessions, the mentors talked about re-inspiration, re-newal, re-birth, and re-charge. Below are a few of my notes from Nancy Rue talking on renewal.

New can be a fresh, new slate; something delightful.
New can be uncomfortable; like trying to make friends in a new town or getting use to a new home.

Therefore, we don’t always want to renew. Renewing is a choice. To be a great writer or an effective Christian we must renew.

As discussed in the story of the meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus, the Lord tells us we have to be reborn; we have to be made new.

Renewing as a writer can be going to conferences, talking to other writers, buying a laptop, etc. But you’re not a writer until you write.

As I write this, I realize the describing the process of renewal is even more difficult than living it.

For those who are interested, the dates of this conference for next year are June 12-15.

Time with Friends

I did it again! Totally forgot to blog last Friday. Sigh. My only excuse is that I was out of town doing a bit of renewal myself.

Last year several members of my online critique group had our first week-long retreat at critique partner Kim Vogel Sawyer's home in Kansas. We had so much fun talking writing, doing research (which is more like play!), and having sweet fellowship. So we decided to do it again this year.

One of our group of four was unable to make it this time, so we felt like a three-legged cat (a description borrowed from Connie Stevens). A little awkward and missing a limb.

After another travel adventure for me (go here to read all about it), I finally made it in a day and a half late. Still our days were packed, working (writing/editing) in the mornings, researching/playing in the afternoons, and relaxing by Kim's pool in the evenings. Saturday, Kim had a booksigning at a bookstore's booth at Wichita's homeschooling convention. Connie and I went along to keep her company and to explore the various displays to find some research materials. We didn't buy anything, but I stumbled across long-time good friends manning one of the curriculum press booths. What a bonus for me!

When I flew back to Phoenix—where hubby is still working in over 100-degree heat—I came away from Kim's refreshed, with a renewed sense of purpose for my editing and writing.

Time spent with friends, whether they write or not, is always good for renewing us spiritually and emotionally.

And now I'm looking forward to getting back to Colorado where I can enjoy another source of renewal and refreshment for me—our cabin located at 9000 ft. in the mountains.

I Look On His Creation…and I Am Refreshed

Renewal. What a lovely word. Soft consonants, pleasant vowels. The very word makes one want to lay down in sweet grass and contemplate the clouds.

As you read this, I will be on my way to renewal, which for me translates to camping. All year long, I sit in my cluttered little office and stare at a computer screen. But when the weather begins to warm, my soul knows it will be set free for a season.

The poet comes out in me when I view God’s nature. I’ve compared a valley to God’s thumbprint and a mountain meadow to His sanctuary. If ever I feel dry and wordless, I simply return to His creation for my creativity.

Psalm 104 is a beautiful chapter on our creative God.

¹ Bless the LORD, O my soul!
         O LORD my God, You are very great:
         You are clothed with honor and majesty,
² Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
         Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.
³ He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
         Who makes the clouds His chariot,
         Who walks on the wings of the wind,
⁴ Who makes His angels spirits,
         His ministers a flame of fire.
⁵ You who laid the foundations of the earth,
         So that it should not be moved forever,
⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
         The waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At Your rebuke they fled;
         At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
⁸ They went up over the mountains;
         They went down into the valleys,
         To the place which You founded for them.
⁹ You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,
         That they may not return to cover the earth.
¹⁰ He sends the springs into the valleys;
         They flow among the hills.
¹¹ They give drink to every beast of the field;
         The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
¹² By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
         They sing among the branches.
¹³ He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
         The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
¹⁴ He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
         And vegetation for the service of man,
         That he may bring forth food from the earth,
¹⁵ And wine that makes glad the heart of man,
         Oil to make his face shine,
         And bread which strengthens man’s heart.
¹⁶ The trees of the LORD are full of sap,
         The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
¹⁷ Where the birds make their nests;
         The stork has her home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high hills are for the wild goats;
         The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.^[a]
19 He appointed the moon for seasons;
         The sun knows its going down.
²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night,
         In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
²¹ The young lions roar after their prey,
         And seek their food from God.
²² When the sun rises, they gather together
         And lie down in their dens.
²³ Man goes out to his work
         And to his labor until the evening.
²⁴ O LORD, how manifold are Your works!
         In wisdom You have made them all.
         The earth is full of Your possessions—
²⁵ This great and wide sea,
         In which are innumerable teeming things,
         Living things both small and great.
²⁶ There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan
         Which You have made to play there.
²⁷ These all wait for You,
         That You may give them their food in due season.
²⁸ What You give them they gather in;
         You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
²⁹ You hide Your face, they are troubled;
         You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
         And You renew the face of the earth.
³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
         May the LORD rejoice in His works.
³² He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
         He touches the hills, and they smoke.
³³ I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
         I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
³⁴ May my meditation be sweet to Him;
         I will be glad in the LORD.
³⁵ May sinners be consumed from the earth,
         And the wicked be no more.
         Bless the LORD, O my soul!
         Praise the LORD!

New King James Version (NKJV); Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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Kathleen E. Kovach is an award winning author, leader of the local critique group JOY Writers, and the Rocky Mountain Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers. A mom and grandmother, she lives in northeast Colorado with her husband of over three decades. Visit her online: www.craftcinema.blogspot.com, www.kathleenekovach.blogspot.com, www.KathleenEKovach.com.

Sunflower Prose

In my vision for the near future there are huge sunflowers smiling in a long line against the back fence of my yard. It's a dream that could happen. My youngest and I spent an hour or so planting seeds. I'll know in a week or so if they have sprouted. Seeds need a while to germinate before they burst through the soil.

June's topic of the month on the Inkwell is "Renewing Creativity." As I thought about my own struggles with the creative process, I realized I've fought to renew creativity when renewal wasn't needed. Creativity wasn't dead, it was just resting. Some writing stalls just require patience and germination time.

Germination is the process in which a plant bursts from a seed and becomes a sprout. It first spends time underneath the ground collecting nutrients. If left dry, it will never sprout, but if it is safe in a dark, quiet environment and given plenty of water, a root miraculously breaks from the seed. Soon the skin splits and smaller roots and leaves emerge. With enough sunshine and water, a mature sunflower plant produces brilliant yellow blossoms complete with a rich brown center.

Writing, too, needs germination time. I once heard Anne Lamont, author of the famed writing book Bird by Bird, speak. Of all the wonderful, insightful comments she made, the one with the greatest take home value for this writer was: "If you're going to be an artist, you have to stare out the window."

How freeing! My artistic soul craves long, quiet retreats. Sometimes they include praise music and a journal. Other times, like yesterday, my retreat is an afternoon alone with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and the Pride and Prejudice mini-series. When I can I like to stroll a mountain trail and breathe in the sweet pine scent. Often my retreats include a novel or Bible study. Sometimes the best retreat is simply being still, musing about life, whispering with God, and watching fresh green-leaved branches dance in a cobalt sky.

For an artist, these staring out the window times--times when our emotions are stirred, beauty is inhaled, and our thoughts allowed to wander and ponder--are germination times. They are the safe place that causes something that barely exists, like an idea or a thought, to expand from its small existence to something much greater. We often don't even know it is happening. But then we're loading the dishwasher or brushing our teeth and we realize a new plot line has formed, a character has been birthed, or that we possess a new devotional insight that has to be expressed.

And this happens because our creative seeds were allowed to germinate, safe from our fretting, prodding, and pushing. We gave ourselves permission to stare out the window.

When huge yellow faces brightened my weather-beaten fence last year, I was amazed at how their fresh loveliness took something worn and sad and made it beautiful. With enough resting, enough prayer--enough staring out the window--I dare believe our writing will reach the barren, beaten down places of the soul and call forth its beauty once again.

A writer, speaker, and homeschooling mother of four, Paula Moldenhauer is passionate about God’s grace and intimacy with Jesus. Her website, Soul Scents, offers a free weekly devotional, and you can visit her blog at GraceReign. Paula serves as president of HIS Writers, the north Denver ACFW chapter. A devoted Pride and Prejudice fan, she loves good conversation, peppermint ice cream, and walking barefoot. Her greatest desire is to be close enough to Jesus to live His fragrance.

One Thing Leads to Another

It is with pleasure that I welcome Mary Davis back to the blog rotation. She is now serving WWW, the Colorado Springs chapter as treasurer.

The conference debate. Do I go to this conference or that conference? Or not at all.

~~After all I haven’t had anything published.

~~I’m between contracts.

~~I don’t have anything to show an editor or agent.

~~I’m not ready.

These and many other excuses keep writers from conferences. I don’t know that anyone is actually ready for their first conference. I know I wasn’t. I don’t know that you can be ready for a conference until you’ve been to one to see what they’re about and get a feel for them.

Going to a first conference prepares you for the second which prepares you for the third and fourth and so on. At each conference you learn and are more prepared for the next one.

Conferences are more than just about going to workshops to learn and hunting that elusive contract. They are about connecting with people. Connecting with other writers, making new friends. Friends that make you do things you may not be ready for.

My trip to conferenceland started with a friend who made me take the first step to get us in a crit group. One thing led to another and I was in another crit group with someone who told me about a conference.  I was so green and unprepared to go to a conference, but I went and met a woman who told me about better conference that she said I had to go to. I went. I was still very green and didn’t know much.

My new friend was there and sat at a table with a particular editor that she knew I needed to talk to. Then she abandoned me. I was scared to death. Somehow I managed to say enough intelligible words that the editor told me to make an appointment with her. Eventually that editor gave me a contract for my first book.

Conferences aren’t always about writing either. Some conferences I’ve been to the Lord has taught me some life and spiritual lessons. Sometimes going to a conference is about reaching out to another person with help or encouragement.

You never know what road the Lord will lead you down, what twists and turns there will be on your journey, but if you don’t journey, you will never get there.

So ready or not, go for it and see what the Lord wants to teach you.