Just a quick journal to note that I made it back home early Monday morning, around 1 a.m. Ouch.

But it was all worth it to get home to see Elizabeth again, and then see Drew and Mitch again the following morning. Holy cow, those kids grow fast! Mitch didn’t know what to think of me at first, but he got over that fast.

At least the flights were all on time — it was a full day of traveling. We left Lincoln City at about 7:30 a.m., got to PDX by 10, then onto the plane for about six hours…

Fortunately, I’d printed out (single-spaced and double-sided) copies of both my YA novel and my baseball novel, so I could skim them both and scribble notes all over them on the long flight from Portland, Oregon, to Atlanta. Now that was a long flight, but I had a great time working on those two books. Between naps, that is.

Here’s a shot of the Pacific from one of the early mornings of the Master Class:

Yep, that’s the full moon up there. Very cool. Pretty soon I’d be too busy to take a short walk on the beach. It was 15 of the most intense, creative, analytical, and fun days I’ve ever had.

We had 2-3 daily writing assignments, 3 stories to write (and those all in the first week!), 4 novel proposals and endless novel pitches to slap together, fast; 6-8 hours of lecture or discussion every day (including weekends), and a whole lot more that I’m too brain-fried to remember.

I sorta felt like a big piece of driftwood by the end of it. Like this:

I ended up writing about 75 pages of fiction, and that’s not counting all the pitches and proposals and assignments. My little Dell laptop was smoking by the end of it. I even had to create a couple spreadsheets to cover all the various financial stuff we were covering.

I also met a baker’s dozen of the finest writers you could ask for — people who made me think, made me laugh, and made me push myself. And the teacher, of course, were simply amazing. Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch lead the lectures, giving us an amazing perspective on both editing and writing (they’ve each done both, extensively). And Loren Coleman lent a huge hand with the marketing side of the workshop, and providing us some much needed comic relief from our stress-filled days.

Big thanks to all the teachers and other folks who lent a hand. Thanks for kicking our butts for 2 weeks.

As I’ve told everyone I’ve talked to about this workshop, I felt like my head exploded about 10 times. New ways of thinking, myth-busting, and simply new knowledge. All in my little, tired brain…

So, was it worth it?

Hell, yes! I’ve got 9 stories out to editors right now, and hoping to start a new one soon. And I’m putting the final touches on a couple novels, and plan to get those out into the mix soon. Then, it’s more stories and novels. Getting out of my way and just WRITING. What a great feeling.