I’m holding a weekend writing retreat in Lake Arrowhead, California November 6-8, 2009. This is a workshop for anyone who has always wanted to start writing but has no time or courage to begin on their own, and it’s also for those of you who are working on a memoir, essay or fiction but need more concentrated time for your writing.
The retreat will be at the UCLA Conference Center and the total cost for the weekend will be $660.00. This includes a private room and bath, three meals a day, beginning with dinner Friday night and ending with lunch on Sunday, plus the writing workshop which will begin at 1:00 on Friday and over the course of the weekend will include thirteen hours of inspiration, instruction, discussion, and thirty minutes of workshop time for each participant to read and to get feedback from the group, plus have a one on one with me.
I met with the staff of the Conference Center last week and was given a tour – and I think it’s the perfect location for a writing retreat. The main building was built in the early 1920's – it's charming, quiet and has wonderful views. Your room would be in a two story unit with a fireplace and one bedroom and a bath on each floor. The meals include full breakfast and lunch buffets and a four course dinner by candle light. Check-in time would be at four o'clock on Friday and check out time after lunch on Sunday. (I’ve rented a meeting room – a room with a view and a fireplace – for an extra three hours Friday afternoon, so you’d come directly to the workshop at 1:00.) The Center also has a fitness room, Jacuzzi, pool, hiking trails around the lake, wireless internet in all the rooms, on going coffee service, and free parking. The Center doesn’t sell alcohol but you can bring whatever you’d like to drink and they’ll do ice and set-ups, and I’ll provide wine for dinner and the social hour. There’ll be other groups up there at the same time, but our group would sit together at meals and we’d have our own room to socialize in before dinner.
I’ve signed up for ten spaces but could possibly go to twelve. The deposit for the retreat is $180 (one day’s room and board) which I’d need as soon as possible in order to guarantee you a spot. This could be refunded if you canceled within 120 days of the retreat, (by July 9th ) After that you would be able to get a refund only if someone on the waiting list could take your place.Thirty days before the workshop – October 7th – I would need to receive the rest of your payment, $480. This again would be non-refundable unless someone could take your place.
I’ve had a cabin in Lake Arrowhead for the past six years and I’m excited about the possibility of sharing this beautiful lake and town with other writers. Arrowhead is less than 100 miles from Los Angeles but feels like a thousand miles away. The Conference Center is on the other side of the lake from the village with no shops, no television etc. In the 1920’s, when it was a private club and speak easy, the only way to reach it was by boat or horseback. You can get there by car now, but it’s still quiet and isolated - and all you have to do is write.
Email me if you have any questions or want to sign up and I'll send you the address for the deposit. (B.Abercrombie@verizon.net) And check out the UCLA Conference Center website to see more pictures of this wonderful place – www.uclaconferencecenter.com (FYI: It’s owned by UCLA and I do teach for UCLA Extension but the retreat is not part of the Writers’ Program in Extension.)
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