Writer's Retreat

Tomorrow I’m heading off to a writer’s retreat in beautiful Grand Lake, Colorado. The retreat is the 10th annual event, hosted by the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver. I've been looking forward to the coming week and wanted to share a little bit about the sessions I’ll be attending.

We check in to the Shadowcliff Lodge late tomorrow afternoon. Shadowcliff is a rustic mountain lodge and I’ll be sharing a room with two other writers. All meals will be provided, but there will be shared bathrooms and some shared meal setup and cleanup. I’m thinking this will be very much like going to summer camp. Shadowcliff Lodge borders Rocky Mountain National Park and the roaring North Inlet Stream. It’s located on a cliff that overlooks Grand Lake Village and the Colorado Great Lakes area.

Dinner is scheduled for 6:00 and will be followed by a welcome reception and a faculty reading. The faculty of the Lighthouse Writers Workshop is impressive!

Tuesday Morning I’ve chosen a session called Great Scenes and Sequences, Part I, taught by Alexandre Philippe.

Lunch will be at noon, followed by a Short Story Book Talk. There were several books to read to prepare for the retreat and the short story selection is Jesus’ Son, by Denis Johnson.

In the afternoon I’ll be attending Write a Great Scene, Part II, led by Andrea Dupree.

Dinner will be followed by participant reading.

Wednesday Morning’s first session will be Dramatic Structure, led by Alexandre Philippe.

After lunch we’ll have a Poetry Book Talk, which I am sure will be led by Denver’s Poet Laureate, Chris Ransick. The poetry book selected is The Wild Braid, by Stanley Kunitz. I believe this book was published shortly before the death of the 100 year old former Poet Laureate of the United States.

The afternoon session led by Jenny Vacchiano is Your Creative Autobiography, followed by dinner and an evening discussion on Movie Deconstruction.

On Thursday, my morning session will be Cinematic Writing, led by the novelist William Haywood Henderson.

Our afternoon book talk will be on the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, followed by dinner and then Game Night and/or Night on the Town.

Friday’s morning session will be led by Jenny Vacchiano on Chapter One (and beyond).

After lunch, we’ll discuss Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson.

Friday afternoon, I’ll be in a session led by Jenny Vacchiano, called Sweating the Small Stuff, followed by dinner and a final participant reading.

Finally, we’ll wrap our week up on Saturday morning with a discussion on the Ins and Outs of Publishing, say our goodbyes and go home inspired.

There is so much that I am looking forward to about this week. It almost doesn't seem possible that I'll be spending an entire week, packed with interesting and informative sessions and discussions with other retreat participants and the talented faculty of the Lighthouse Writers Workshop.

I feel like this experience will mark a turning point.