Dear friends,

Thank you for waiting an extra day to read this so that I could reset after our Writer’s Retreat and come to this newsletter with good energy.

The retreat was so successful. I’m so grateful to the writers who attended. They were kind, playful and energetic. Seeing new connections form, hearing writers talk through challenges and witnessing the way people hype one another up is what B&B is all about.

It’s got me thinking about how play and joy can give us momentum and sometimes we just need a little push to reinvigorate our child-like wonder.

So grab a snack, make sure you have your fuzzy socks and let’s chat! I am, as always, so glad you are here.

I came across this photo about five years ago. My dad, in addition to being a wonderful writer, is a talented photographer. He captures candid moments. I wonder if he knew when he took this photo that he was freezing in time, a pure look of child-like wonder.

Since finding this photo I keep it on my desktop. I also use it in my intro slides when I facilitate trainings for work and, most recently, at our Bold & Bookish writer’s retreat.

It’s not just because I want everyone to think I’m cute (but like…I am. I’m really cute.) It’s because I need to remind myself, consistently, to rediscover and relentlessly hold on to my sense of play.

I was blessed with a lovely childhood. It was not pampered but it was privileged. I was safe, messy, I had permission to play and I was protected.

I call those privileges because it feels ignorant to reminisce about these things without acknowledging that I can open my phone and see images of children here and all over the world being denied not just their most basic human rights, but their right and chance to be children. I won’t take us on a tangent, but it needed to be said. 

As a safe, messy and protected child I was a world builder, a costume-maker, a character actress. I spent days, weeks, months in my own head and I never really came back. When I sit down to write, I seek to tap back into that. 

This past weekend at the writer’s retreat, I asked writers to lean into their child-like wonder. We created a scavenger hunt where writers collected different items from around their space and built a setting from their book. The challenge was to build it in detail until time ran out; to keep building even when you thought you were done.

This is an activity my former team members at George Street Playhouse Education created when we switched to virtual learning. Children in our programs came alight transforming their spaces. Going into retreat I didn’t know how adults would take to it. I was delighted to find that they leaned in and really got a lot out of it. 

During our closing circle, one writer said, “These activities reminded me to keep having fun when I write.” 

I hope this article can be an invitation for you to play a little bit more, whether in pursuit of something creative or just to fill your life with a little more joy. Play is not just fun, it’s catharsis, it’s connection, it’s a backroad into vulnerability and it’s respite.

For the last few months I’ve been talking about our Bold & Bookish programs. It’s been a while since I shared updates on my own writing. 

Once I decided to self-publish my book, I did what any good Virgo would do and made a spreadsheet that covered all the steps I would need to get to my end goal. And then like any good Virgo/Educator I made a visual aid to share with yall. 

Currently my book is in the hands of my editor, Christine. She is helping me work through the pacing and order of chapters. The book is told from multiple points of view so there are decisions to be made in terms of moving between the story lines.

Christine is also cataloging all the world-building elements of the story which is an enormous task. This means that whenever a character or setting or rule of the world is introduced she puts it into a spreadsheet to make sure it stays consistent throughout the book and the entire series.

While all this is going on, I am drafting the second book in the series. Which is mostly fun and a tad terrible, but more on that next month!

I want to end with gratitude. I’m so moved by the number of friends, family and followers that reached out to wish me luck with the writer’s retreat and who checked in to see how it went. I don’t take your support for granted and it really does give me encouragement to keep taking risks and trying new ideas.

I’m so glad you’re here with me. Have a good week. Check on your people, take those deep breaths and find some time to play.

Much loves,

Cat