Shadow Alley Retreat

Hey everyone! Wanted to give everyone a little update. So this past Fourth of July weekend, my wife and I held the second annual Shadow Alley Press Retreat about an hour away from our house in Kentucky. We hold the event for our authors and other publishing contractors (editors, project managers, directors etc) both to celebrate the year and to help everyone recharge. To be inspired for what we've manged to do and where we are plan to go.

It was smaller than last year's event, due in large part to Corona, travel restrictions, and health concerns for some of our authors, but nevertheless we had a wonderful time. We had about fifteen attendees in all, and we hunkered down in a huge cabin in the woods where we talked shopped, did writing sprints, shared meals, sung bad Karaoke, and played DnD until the early hours of the morning. We also celebrated our infamousˈSHādē Awards--a Dundee-style event (for those of you familiar with the Office) that is equal parts praising and joking. Here are the winners (not all of whom were able to attend) in no particular order (most of these are inside jokes, but still worth sharing): 

Emily Godhand, Achievement Unlocked: Ultra Healer
Cebelius, Nomadic Smut Peddler
Kelly Ferguson, Hey you finally got the FoNt right
Nat Paxton, The Juggernaut
George Rangel, Luscious Locks
J.D. Astra, Master Gourmet: Dungeon Edition
Aaron Crash, The Prettiest Boy at the Ball
Mark Stallings, I Know a Guy...
eden Hudson, The Not a Compliment Award for Excellence in Writing
Jay Taylor, Newb With Skillz
Dakota Krout, People Wear My Glasses
Bethany Risley, Dragon Smut Connoisseur
Zack Risley, Dance Til it Hurts
Nathan Ameye, I Like Big Outlines & I Cannot Lie
Jason Maskell, The Crowbar is Too Short
Kenneth Arant, I Kill It With ...
D.J. Bodden, International Man of Mystery
Jake Goodrich, Audio Books Make My Nipples Hard
Sam, Chuck Tingle of Harem 

Although the mood was somber at times, we had an absolute blast and I wanted to share some of the pics with you all.

^ This is before the retreat proper started -- Jeanette and I took some of the early arrivals out for a steak dinner at the Kentucky Castle, which was an amazing experience. It's a legit castle in the middle of rural Kentucky and boy oh boy do they know how to cook a steak. 

^ Here's the crew in all their assorted glory, that's me in the back center and to my left is my good buddy Dakota Krout, author of Divine Dungeon and the Completionist Chronicles. He's come out for both years as one of our special guests, both because he has great info and because he's so much fun to hang out with and we always have a blast. 

Also in the back (from left to right) is Nat Paxton (the Alchemic Weaponeer), Cebelius Writes (Celestine Chronicles), Emily Godhand (Upcoming Author), Kelly (Shadow Alley Director of Operations), Mark Stallings (Business Consultant and Author of the upcoming Silver Coin Saga), Zack (Project Manager and Acquisition Editor), Jay Taylor (Project Manager). Then in the front row (left to right) is the fabulous eden Hudson (Rogue Dungeon Co-Author, Path of the Thunderbird), J.D. Astra (Firebrand), Jeanette Strode (my wife and the Director of Shadow Alley), and Beth (proofreader).   

^ This is Jeanette and I presenting the ˈSHādē Awards.  

^ Dakota giving a super helpful lesson on author branding and marketing. 

^ Here's Zack and Beth celebrating the 4th in absolute style. 

Then, on Sunday after we left the retreat we came back to our place for a Barbecue and water gun fight! We teamed up (as Crimson Alliance and Imperial Legion, of course) and played capture the flag with scads of water balloons and water guns. Then, once that was over we had a crazy-good time on an adult sized Slip N Slide! There will be some great videos of that forth coming soon (including Dakota and I going down the Slip N Slide in tandem). 

Anyhoo, that was the retreat. How was everyone else's fourth? Let me know what y'all did in the comments below!