The Napier Work Retreat (Featuring Sweat, Wine, and Manifestation)
Last week I escaped to Napier with my partner in publishing crime, Andrene Low. It was less of a “retreat” and more of a “sit at the kitchen table until your back seizes up” kind of getaway. Between the two of us, we managed to turn that table into the nerve centre of our indie author empire – laptops open, notes everywhere, coffee cups replenished on rotation, and a massive whiteboard from Kmart tracking what we’d achieved (or hadn’t!).
The goal? Tackle our never-ending to-do lists. Because if you’re an independent author, you’ll know that the list never stops growing. It’s like one of those mythical beasts that sprouts two or three new tasks for every one you tick off. Editing, formatting, lodging copyright, wrangling translations, creating social media content, researching new technologies, critiquing work, and planning new titles. All before lunch.
Afternoons were for “continuous study”, which is a fancy way of saying we were trying to keep up with whatever new publishing finish line the industry had moved overnight by listening to the latest podcasts by Joanna Penn, James Blatch, and an old 20Books to 50K conference speech by Shawn Inmon (still relevant, still insightful).
And, of course, there was wine. Plenty of wine. It’s practically a publishing tool in itself – loosens creativity, helps with formatting-induced rage, and makes planning sound wonderfully ambitious.
Andrene even dragged me to the gym. Voluntarily. Apparently, a healthy body equals a healthy mind, although I’m not sure that philosophy extends to sore muscles and protein shakes. Still, I survived.
New Zealand time travel author Kirsten McKenzie at a gym in Napier.
Somehow, in between all the spreadsheets and sweat, I also managed to fit in a couple of delightful literary catch-ups. I had lunch with the fabulous Catherine Robertson and finally got her to sign my old copy of The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid. Even though it was first published back in 2010, it’s still her most popular book in libraries around New Zealand – proof that a good story never goes out of style. Then there was afternoon tea with fellow author Tina Clough, who gifted me a copy of her book Perfect Silence, which, like Catherine’s book, happens to be about a romance author. Is the universe trying to tell me something? Like… that I should be writing romance instead of wrangling vampires and time travellers?
New Zealand author Andrene Low manifesting some money, honey!
In between all the spreadsheets and sweat, we managed a spot of money manifestation. There’s even photographic evidence – Andrene clutching a copy of Show Me The Money, Honey like a woman ready to manifest an entire fortune. (I suspect the universe heard us, but it might take a few more gym sessions and glasses of wine to deliver.)
By the end of the week, we’d achieved a surprising amount – and plotted even more.
Because that’s the joy of being an indie author. You never really clock off. You just close one tab, pour another glass, and open the next project.
