Wow! The only thing that could make the Founders Workshops better would be a massage and a facial.

I went to the Editing for Writers workshop taught by Stephen Roxburgh.

I’ll be posting some of what I learned over the next couple of weeks. For today, I just want to sing the praises of these wonderful workshops.

I can’t remember ever being so pampered. From the time David picked me up at the airport, to the time he dropped me back off five days later, I was served by people who acted as if there was nothing they wanted more than to give me an enjoyable retreat. Actually, it started before I even got there with Jo taking care of all the details and getting everything scheduled. Once there, I was wined and dined in first-class fashion. A Highlights editor took us to dinner one night. Marcia, the cook who fed us the other nights, has one of the most beautiful smiles I’ve ever seen—the woman glows—and it is heavenly to be fed by someone who seems so genuinely happy to fill you with good food.

Any of you who know me, know I wouldn’t use the word heavenly lightly. I am dead serious when I say it is heavenly to be served. God serves us at great expense to himself. He wants us to serve one another. This loving, giving, serving stuff is very much a part of the business of heaven.

So, yes, I thought sitting before a meal Marcia made and seeing the smile on her face that said she enjoyed serving people good food, was a foretaste of heaven.

There was more to love than eating and drinking, though. You all know I’m a conference junkie. I love mixing it up with writers. And I will always love big conferences with plenty of talented speakers to make me laugh and lots of agents and editors to meet. But if I had to pick, I’d have to say the Founder’s Workshops are much more my speed. In such a small group you are treated as if you’re a real writer (as opposed to writing conferences where the poor editors and agents are stalked and so they have to throw up protective barriers to keep the unwashed masses off their backs and out of their bathroom stalls). You also meet other real writers–intelligent, creative people–and you have plenty of time to talk to them.

Besides that, you have a lot of one on one time with the instructor–he’s looking at your writing and that is so beneficial. So often I’ve read some bit of advice, but I’ve not known how to apply it to my own work. This opportunity to work with an editor who has read your work and sees the blemishes–like characters who churn in place with endless rhetorical questions–is hugely helpful. Sitting around listening to some of Stephen Roxburgh’s publishing stories was a lot of fun, too.

Stephen is a smart man and a good editor. I highly recommend his workshops, but I’m pretty sure that all the instructors at these workshops are great. Two out of our group of five were on their third workshop and they both said they got a lot out of each one.

I’d like to give a balanced review. I’m sorry…I just can’t think of one negative thing to say about this experience.

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