I’m back home after an amazing four days at John Wayne’s Waterfront Resort on Sequim (pronounced “skwim”) Bay, Washington. Organized by west-coast agents Mandy Hubbard, Kristin Vincent, and Bree Ogden, Camp D4EO was attended by a dozen writers and Mandy’s New Zealand assistant Claire.

The week was ripe for reflection and professional growth. We wrote outside among the calls of gulls and scent of salty ocean air. We dove into contract clauses, how to work with librarians and booksellers, and spaces for success in domestic and foreign markets. We pow-wowed about current projects and plans for our careers.

We set aside our laptops and explored. We hiked sloping woodland trails and walked marina docks. We fed bread to bison, yaks, reindeer, and elk. We lifted tide-washed rocks and uncovered scuttling crabs. We tasted sea beans fresh-plucked from the shore.

We feasted on chili, burgers, seafood, French pastries, Tim Tams, jícama, and American and Kiwi s’mores. We drank our weight in coffee, wine, beer, and Diet Coke.

And we told stories. About our books and publication journeys, our hometowns and our travels, our first loves and forever loves, our trials and our triumphs.

We became friends.

Thank you Mandy, Kristin, and Bree for bringing us all together for this retreat. Sequim Bay will forever be the setting of this writer’s heart.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

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