Lake Atitlan in central Guatemala with author Joyce Maynard and wonderful new friends.
In March 2025, I took a draft of my untitled novel to Joyce Maynard’s well-known “Write by the Lake” writing/yoga retreat at her spectacular resort on Lake Atitlán in central Guatemala.
Though it wasn’t evident at first, the input I received there turned out to be exactly what I needed. I returned to Ann Arbor a bit downtrodden, with pages of notes, questions and new ideas. I had no idea how to proceed.
About midway through the second night of rewriting, I decided that my novel-writing experiment was over. I told myself that what I had been working on for the previous four years was for an audience of one—me. And I was done.
I boxed it all up and cleaned my office.
For the next two days, I walked around my home feeling sad. Sofia, my main character, was no longer in my life. I told the women from Guatemala in our WhatsApp chat, and many encouraged me to keep going. I went to bed and pulled the covers over my head.
Then Abigail, an amazing storyteller, called from California. We had become fast friends at Lake Atitlán, and she wanted to talk about Sofia.
In less than two hours, she helped me see the problem. The story I initially set out to tell was buried under layers of superfluous scenes and situations that had taken me off course. The true story needed to be excavated.
I had to start over.
One year later, I took an entirely new manuscript—nearly completed, but for the ending and title—to another writers’ retreat, this one in Portugal. The women writers and artists there were equally dynamic and talented.
I went to these retreats to work and learn. Which I did.
But I never expected to come away with a bunch of new girlfriends.
I am blessed to have many lifelong friends and former colleagues in my life. I didn’t think I needed more. And quite frankly, at this stage in my life, I didn’t believe I could form tight and lasting new bonds.
But I was wrong.
I have come to know the women I met in Guatemala and Portugal in ways I hadn’t expected. We cheer each other on as we begin and complete various writing projects. We giggle at cute pictures of grandchildren and applaud family milestones. We hold each other, figuratively, through difficult phases of life.
We are girlfriends.
