Last Weekend at Marietta House Museum & More Books

[two-image collage: on the left, an outdoor scene with a "Marietta House Museum EVENT sign next to a blue door that leads to a lower level conference room; on the right, a "Manifest a Writerly Life" worksheet with a Marietta marketing postcard arranged on top]

[two-image collage:on the left, an arrangement of 7 books* - Women Without Kids, Flashpoint, The Burnout, Taking Initiative, Christa Comes Out of Her Shell, A Run at Love, Waiting for Friday Night - spread across the cushion of an outdoor loveseat; on the right, a long-distance view of the same outdoor loveseat with a striped area rug beneath it and a white chair with striped seat cushion and part of a table in the foreground]

[two hardcover books: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood face-up and Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner spine-up]

Last Sunday Heather Brooks, founder and co-host of The Write Women Book Fest who writes as H.L. Brooks, hosted her "Manifesting an Author's Life" day retreat for women at Marietta House Museum. She offered encouragement and practical insights with these highlights:

Prioritize yourself and your writing.
Write down your thoughts and ideas without judgement or editing.
Don't compare yourself, your writing or your progress with the journey of other writers.
Consider what writing success means for you.

Heather discussed overcoming doubts, how to start writing, some basic guidelines for writing and understanding how the publishing business impacts a writer's strategy for moving forward. After that, attendees ate lunch then started writing! So many shared that they completed short pieces and/or made progress on ideas they'd been carrying around in their heads.

Heather and I are hosting "Make Your Idea Into a Manuscript - A Workshop for First-time Authors" from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 21, 2025 at Marietta House Museum https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/make-your-idea-into-a-manuscript-a-workshop-for-first-time-authors-2

Hope to see you there and check out Heather's The Write Women Network Facebook group.

Happy creating!

*Books shown borrowed from Prince George's Memorial Library System and Anne Arundel County Public Library.

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