Monday, June 29 to Sunday, July 5. Your weekly line-up of events, activities, and deadlines for writers who crave inspiration, motivation, accountability, and the support of community.
Jun 29, 2026
Highlights
BIG CHANGE TO THE WRITE ON THE RAILS NOVEMBER SCHEDULE! For the first time since 2017, I have to move the date because the train is already sold out (5 months early!).
Write by the Pool 2026 is filling up on Saturday, but Sunday is wide open for those of you who just want to get away for the day to make progress on your WIP, make connections with other women writers, and make friends with your creative identity. Saturday has one seat open, so comment or email to make sure there’s room before paying. Friday, July 31 + Saturday, August 1 + Sunday, August 2, 2026 at the Bay Club / Marriott Renaissance in Walnut Creek, CA. Friday is free when you pay for Saturday, Sunday, or both. Newbies welcome! Email me ASAP: Bronwyn.Coach@gmail.com (repeat retreaters can text me). Click for pricing.
Only two precious spots left! Butterfly and Be Wellness and Writing Retreatspots are limited this year, so tell us now if you want to join us on this long weekend centered on treating yourself with the grace, kindness, and respect usually reserved for strangers and loved ones who aren’t you. Pilates trainer and wellness coach Janet Salsman shows you how to nurture the physical side with food, movement, and lessons in good sleep hygiene. I show you how to nurture your inner self with journaling, wild writing, and lessons in storytelling for self-discovery.
Have you tried writing in the company of other writers? Membership in To Live & Writegives you access to two free in-person and two free virtual writing meetups every week (membership is also free). Give it a whirl. See what you think. There is room for you, and you are welcome.
https://bronwynemery.com/events
Need a coach to help you through the tricky bits or set a pace and make a plan that fits with the natural rhythms of your life? Drop me a line. The first consultation is free.
Hey. Psst. This is Super-Secret Squirrel! Don’t tell nobody! But also tell everybody: I do the Camp MEG exercises for myself every single time. Shhh!!! What?!? You betcha. Shocking, right? But you know what? I also need help and a little heft to my motivation to make scary things happen—just like you and just like everyone else who does these MEGs with me.
MEG stands for Month of Extraordinary Goals and I do them four times a year—one 3-month Club MEG at the top of the year, two 4-week Camp MEGs over summer break, and one November Situationship right as the holidays hit (for people who don’t like the word goal but do want to maintain momentum).
I am an incredibly busy woman, every day, in all the ways. And I like it like that. Maybe it’s the way I’m programmed. Maybe it’s a learned way of being. Who knows? Maybe it’s healthy. Maybe it’s not. One thing’s for sure: being busy keeps me from being bored. So, thumbs all the way up. HOWEVER.
It can get a little messy if I forget to prioritize.
I’m constantly juggling events and activities and responsibilities and creative projects and family and friends and fur babies. I’m also in and out of learning new things and unlearning old things and stopping on dimes and turning on dimes and O to the M to the G: it can get a little messy is right. Things can get complicated.
I thrive in my own organized chaos (not yours, no thank you, keep that over there), but things can get chaotic in a bad way when I use my busy-busy to avoid doing the things that scare me—like actually doing the work to change the end of my book, actually seeing someone about the foot injury that still fucks me up 5 years later, and actually taking a leap of faith and trusting myself to figure out how to do this next thing I have wanted to do for literal years.
This is why I need Camp MEG for myself. I set myself a goal and a deadline. Do The Thing By The End Of Camp, Dammit. Then, I do the exercises and find my focus and figure out my fears and do the work to move through them. Because it is work. Achieving any goal requires some amount of mental, emotional, and physical labor. It just does.
And I usually find out pretty quickly that the monster endeavor I’ve been afraid of is really a kitten in a dinosaur suit. Of course it can bite a bit and even draw blood (kitten teeth and claws are sharp as fuck), but it would rather be soft and sweet and easy to cuddle with. Approaching the tiny dinosaur (meRowr!), whatever it is, feels tricky and scary, but in the end the results are 98% pleasure 98% of the time—and yes, 98% of that pleasure is the fact that the deed is done and is no longer looming.
Within ten days of the first Camp MEG of the summer, I had taken a good, hard look at the overwhelming fears that have held me back from making The Thing I Really Want a real part of my real life. I worked my exercises and I had no less than three significant breakthroughs this week alone. Those breakthroughs flipped fear into excitement and anticipation.
And by breakthroughs, I mean practical solutions to problems that felt like impenetrable barriers (but turned out to be smoke screens). Now, I’m working on an action list of steps to take to make my dream real. And I’m working out the pace for working through this list.
Pacing through a project is a fairly new concept for me. I’m getting used to it, although it can make me anxious to not be in Power-Through-It mode at all times, especially when I’m bringing something new to life.
Anxiety hack: I collected a bunch of different kinds of coloring books, sketch pads, and puzzle books at the beginning of the year and restocked my colored pens, pencils, markers, and crayons at the same time. And I have been using them at bedtime to interrupt the workaholic cycle of addiction. The idea I'm addicted to is that I’m not working enough if I’m not actually working. It goes hand-in-hand with the knowledge that I can do just one more thing if I just stay up just one more hour … But now I’m addicted to turning off my office lights by 10 or 11pm so I can spend an hour sitting up in bed at my little lap desk, listening to a book and playing with low-stakes art. Five stars. Highly recommend.
Back to the point …
Pacing myself means that, having done the emotional work of clearing out the fear and flipping it into anticipation in the first half of this Camp MEG, I’m ready to work the action list and do the groundwork required to set up The Thing in the second half—and pull the rip cord on the last day of camp.
The next Camp MEG will see me grappling with another fear: Spreading the word on the socials. UGh. Oof. Blerg. It feels like so much work. It feels daunting. It feels like I don’t have the right face, the right voice, the right photos, the right lighting, the right anything to do what I need to do.
But then again, it’s all meRowr! isn’t it?Kittens in dinosaur costumes. Right?
30 Days to finally do the thing that needs doing. You wanna do it with me? July 22-August 19. Weekly Zoom meetings for group inspiration, motivation, and accountability (also kudos). Weekly private sessions for personal inspiration, motivation, and accountability (also kudos as well).
What’s your thing? Social media? Submission deadlines? Revisions? Organizing author events? There are certain perks and benefits of doing Camp MEG with me that don’t get the spotlight in the advertising, usually because I don’t advertise them. Let’s just say you get solid support for what you’re doing the entire time you’re “at camp” with me.
If you write for any reason, you are welcome in ourcommunity. Let our voices drown out any negative voices holding you back. We are all about support and encouragement. We see you. And we would love for you to join us.
This is the link to the Facebook group To Live & Write, where you can hang out, check us out, and move into engagement at your own pace, on your terms. You don’t have to be in there to join us for Write Ins and Write Alongs, but it’s a good place to start.
Not on Facebook? Let me know in the comments where to find you or email me for easy ways to get in on our gatherings. Newbie or professional writer, let’s chat about your needs, how I can help, and how you can benefit from membership in To Live & Write. My email is bronwyn.coach@gmail.com.
Hyper-local, super productive, 4-hour writing retreat
There’s nothing quite like quietly writing in the company of other writers, with someone else facilitating time and responsibility to really feed your creative need. Come delight yourself with what you can get done with us on a Saturday morning.
Comment to request membership in the RSVP text thread*
2. Elevenses
Join our weekly in-person gathering to discuss writing, the writing life, and your WIP with people who know what you’re talking about, feel your pain, and delight in your success.
Tuesdays: 11:00am-1:00pm PST. Members only (membership is free)
Jump online to write in the company of other writers. Borrow their focus and flow, lose yourself in parallel play, and benefit from body doubling without having to leave your home. Join when you can, leave when you have to.
Tuesdays: 7:00-9:00pm PST. (excluding the 3rd Tuesday of the month))
Comment to request membership in the RSVP text thread*
4. The Wednesday Write In
Start your day off with a hot cup of coffee and put some strong writing energy back into the middle of your week.
The Top Secret Write Along is an online writing session where we gather to write quietly in each other’s company without having to leave the house.
Fridays this summer:
July 3 and July 10: 12-3pm PST
August 21 and August 28: 12-3pm PST
If you’re a paid subscriber, comment for membership in the RSVP text thread*
6. Proof of Write
Wrap up the weekend (and kick off the week) with positive feedback.
This online gathering is a safe place for women writers to share up to 5 minutes of raw, rough, or polished work written the previous week. Every participant must give - and then sit still to receive - positive feedback.
Proof of Write
8pm on Zoom Sundays (meeting ID provided with RSVP text or email)
Paid subscriber perk! This is your chance to listen to how your words land in a reader’s mind and mouth, where the text flows, where it stumbles, whether your voice and tone hit the way you wanted, and more.
The Bay Club / Marriott Renaissance in Walnut Creek, CA.
Saturday: FULL
Sunday: $259 (three spots left)
Saturday and Sunday: $459
Friday is free when you book Saturday, Sunday, or both.
Prices include poolside cabana, cabana perks (food and drink ordered from and consumed in the cabana, up to $50/person), and full access to the Bay Club Walnut Creek amenities (pools, hot tub, sauna, workout equipment, exercise classes, lockers, showers, cafe, etc.). Prices do not include other meals, parking, accommodations, or incidentals.
And then: Butterfly and Be Wellness and Writing Retreat
Aug 14-16
This retreat is a collaboration with Janet Salsman of Butterfly Wellness Garden and Recess Physical Fitness. I bring the journaling, the wild writing, and lessons in storytelling for self-discovery. Janet brings the movement and exercise (designed specifically to support the writer’s body), healthy food prep demos, and lessons in the ROI of good sleep hygiene. Did I mention wine tasting Friday afternoon? Cloverdale, CA. $499 - includes meals but does not include accommodations. Email me for info (this is a pilot retreat so there are no website pages to link to yet): bronwyn.coach@gmail.com
Labs & Workshops
Now:
Camp MEG - Wednesday nights, June 17-July 15
Next:
Camp MEG - Wednesday nights, July 22-August 19
Inspiration, Motivation, & Accountability!
For writing tips and habit hacks from your friendly neighborhood writing + creativity coach (hey! that’s me!), sneak peeks at what’s going on in my workshops, examples of my own writing, and exclusive invitations to secret writing situations, consider a paid subscription.
Gratuitous Kitty Shot!
One can never have enough photos of the perfect cuddle. Squiggy is the perfect squishy, the perfect cuddler, the perfect emotional support zebra. Find your Squiggy. You’re worth it!
*Group text threads are for women and non-binary writers.
