Ragdale Magic

Last weekend I returned to Ragdale. I was last there for a 2005 residency with a primordial project that’s now a book manuscript called Reconstruction: First a Body, Then a Life. I thought at that time that the whole narrative would be about my stay in the ICU and would focus on my delusions during my medically-induced coma. Although that original narrative is an important part of the story, the story was really not complete until after my scooter journey last year. That journey didn't give me exactly a Hollywood happy ending, but it certainly left me with a newly constructed life.

Ragdale worked her magic with me once again. When I was there in 2005, I wrote about the two hallucinations that had been hardest to articulate; they required my complete and total concentration. Unlike the rest of the book, these two vignettes remained almost entirely intact after the second draft editing. At this last StoryStudio retreat, I successfully reworked a section of the book that involved translating six weeks worth of emails into narrative and then incorporating missing story elements. I wasn't sure it could be done and was ecstatic when I did it!

The writer’s retreat at Ragdale last weekend was sort of a book-end experience, as we are completing the manuscript that started there six years ago, eleven years after my exit from the ICU. The decade between these visits (along with the ever patient editorial guidance of my husband Michael) grew me into a real writer.

My illness took away my physical ability to perform my choreography and photography. Trapped behind my laptop, I began writing by default. As I prepare this project for a literary agent and publisher, I have been forced to reflect on the last few years. I was surprised to realize that… well, I’ve been doing more writing than I realized. I have written three different blogs (79 posts in all), an article in GET magazine, and an essay in a literary journal.

While back at Ragdale responding to a countless variety of writing prompts, I discovered that I can now write about anything. I had a chance to see that, as a writer, I have a unique viewpoint. I tend to write about things that have meaning for me, things that I hold sacred and the psychology or relational underpinnings of experiences.

Now, my dear followers and friends, you can help me with the next step. I've done my homework and decided that the Liza Dawson Literary Agency is the one for me and this book. So, if any of you know her or know anyone at her agency, I'd sure appreciate a proper introduction. This is important or I'm going to be reduced to trolling the sidewalk outside her office wearing a sandwich board.