This is the time of year where I and four writer friends make our annual pilgrimage to Trudy Hale’s The Porches, a writer’s haven in Nelson County, Virginia. Porches is in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, near the James River, but haven is absolutely what it is. Each room and a tiny house on the property is beautifully decorated with books being the biggest theme and set up with a desk, power strip, a comfy chair, and a great view. Truly a writer’s sanctuary.

The five of us write, cook, talk writing, drink, and write again. For seven, blissful days.

We generally work in our own rooms or on the porches that give the house its name and come together at meal time. We share the cooking, each of us making a signature dish. (One writer’s Shepherd’s Pie is to die for.)

Some may think this is unproductive, that a true writer’s retreat is where you get away from it all, including people.

Because each of us is so dedicated to our work, we quite often lose track of time until someone announces dinner is ready. Yes, we talk, but it’s almost exclusively about writing. In the evenings, we share a bit of what we’ve written during the day, like a critique group. We’re all so attuned to each other’s writing style and genres, that this is probably the most helpful part of the week.

Porches, as we call it, is something we look forward to with a zeal only a writer can describe. I mean, a couple of attendees drive down from Cape Cod to do this. That’s zeal.

This year, however, each of us had life issues that meant travel and the expense of Porches (though it’s cheaper than a hotel or AirBnB) forced us not to attend. The disappointment was so profound, that one of us wondered if we could do it virtually–Virtual Porches.

I have a paid ZOOM account, which means I can have as many virtual meetings as I want and for as long as I need.

So, we made a plan–we’re writers; we’re a bit OCD about planning.

The people with day jobs would take their vacation time for the week we’d usually go to Nelson County, and we’d work from home like we would at Porches. We’d have a ZOOM check-in at noon, with our lunches so it would “feel” more like Porches, work again in the afternoon, then meet again via ZOOM in the evening to do our read/critique thing.

We had a plan. I scheduled all the ZOOM meetings, and off we went.

As much as I needed to “see” and “be” with my peeps, my brain kept nagging at me that this was quite possibly going to be a big disappointment. I kept a brave face and went with the flow. Trust me, I’m at an age where I don’t fight much except over politics.

Four days done, and I’m happy to say my brain was wrong. Now, is it the same as sitting around the same table and eating food we’ve made together and drinking whisky (remember, writers), knowing that no one will bother us?

No, but it’s really, really close. It’s going much better than I anticipated, and the others agree it’s a good substitute. One issue the others have that I don’t is that they have families, so they had to elicit promises from said families to respect their writing time. They have wonderful families who agreed to respect that writing time. And if that didn’t work, some of them were equipped with door placards that said essentially “Leave me alone unless you want to be written into my novel and killed off.”

We writers have great senses of humor. But we’re also damned serious about writing.

Our daily check-ins feel like Porches, we’re doing the same thing from home that we do at Porches, and it’s like Porches.

But it’s not Porches.

On Day Two, we all decided, no matter what, next year at Porches!

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If you’re looking for a writing retreat with others or by yourself, check out The Porches HERE.