There we sat, sixteen sisters gathered together in the cool basement of the "Dodge Ranch house," hoping to not only bond, but to encourage and be encouraged by the classes and the sharing time. In my view, this was a major success! The classes and the friendships formed were great! We had time to relax, talk, laugh and enjoy everybody's friendship and the articles they wrote and shared.

We sat in a circle and chatted while Harriet taped beautiful works of art around her walls. We were amazed at her talent as one by one these works of art were put up for us to gaze at and share. Our assignment: take one picture of our choice and write a story just from looking at a picture she had painted.

What an awesome assignment! We all got up and went to a favored picture and took it to our little nook to seek our inspiration. We had twenty minutes of creating time, then we read our creations aloud. All of the stories created were amazing!!! Which taught me a vital lesson: all we have to do is look at a picture and we can create!

We learned that we need to stop and picture our story from start to finish in order to be able to write it. How can we write something we can't picture? How can we expect our prospective readers to be able to picture something in our book if we can't?

Harriet gave a very insightful lesson and taught us that we can create amazing stories even when we have a case of that dreaded "writer's block." Just look at a picture and make yourself imagine yourself there and what's taking place. Once you do that, you can then go to your computer and begin writing to your heart's content.

I, for one, was amazed at the story that came to my mind from the picture I chose. It helped me to realize that I do need to sit down and think about my story and picture it in my mind. I am so glad that I went to the retreat and learned the valuable lessons from the great teachers we had there to glean knowledge from. Harriet was a great hostess and her home was lovely. I truly enjoyed her class and the time we shared with her and her lovely daughter. Thanks!