Recording & website launch
OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER | 2025 writing & yoga retreats now open for bookings. Take advantage of our exclusive launch discount (until September 13) and book your spot.
Hello friend,
It’s always a joy to meet my community face-to-face and I was excited to see such a great turn-out for our workshop Writing Place - Setting The Scene.
There is never a time slot that will suit everybody, especially when your facilitators are at opposite ends of the world, so here is the workshop recording for those who missed out. Click on the button to access:
We free-wrote to two writing prompts, talked about how to use setting effectively, launched our new website (more below) and listened to a handful of brave souls who shared their writing with the group.
Sharing your unpolished flow of consciousness pieces can feel very scary, but reading your writing out aloud, even when it’s raw and less than perfect, is a way to grow as a writer. It helps to find and consolidate your voice.
I hope you’ll join us for the next workshop (details tbc).
Here are some examples of what came up to the prompt ‘What is Home’:
Home is the thick walls that hold me safer than any arms ever have; that whisper ‘I love you’ when I walk through the door..
Home is where you shed all your clothes and not feel naked…
Home is breath, I can always return to the breath to feel home…
Listen to the recording, then return to the August newsletter for more prompts. Feel free to share in the comments what came up for you. Hearing from my readers gives me so much joy, so please share away!
And now on to the big news
Drum roll please, sparklers and fireworks… we’ve officially launched www.transformationalwritingretreats.com and we’re offering newsletter subscribers a one-off 15% discount on our international retreats in 2025 (valid until September 13)!
Now open for bookings:
Heavenly Hoi An (February 10 - 16, 2025)
Blissful Bali (June 23 - 29, 2025)
Incredible Italy (10-17 October, 2025)
Your 15% one-off disccount will be applied on your invoice. Offer valid until September 13.
Feel free to ask us about payment plans.
We’re still working out the details for Beautiful Byron Bay (7-12 November, 2025) and will let you know as soon bookings open.
What started as an idea between two busy besties has grown into a registered company, a solid partnership with the formidable Edwina Shaw, and a brand new website.
I’ve surprised myself. Goes to show that it’s never too late to do something new, to follow your passion and live a life you love.
Isn’t it time you did something for yourself? Time you put yourself and your writing first?
From Bali in Indonesia, Hoi An in Vietnam and Tuscany in Italy, to Byron Bay in Australia, there’s a destination for every writing dreamer who wants to free their creative voice and write with abandon.
Wherever you are in your writing journey, this writing retreat is for everyone. Emerging, mid-career or professional, there is something to be gained personally and professionally. For me this retreat offered an opportunity to connect with creative and intelligent co-writers who share a passion for story-telling, in an inspiring location. The facilitators were warm, dynamic, generous, authentic and engaging.”
– Kylie Ryan (Heavenly Hoi An, 2024)
Why go on a writing retreat?
Travel takes us outside of our comfort zones and makes us see the world through new eyes. Writing in a foreign location helps sharpen your powers of observation, inject your writing with renewed vibrancy and allow you to grow and transform, both as a writer and as a human being.
Taking time out to write in the comfort and seclusion of a beautiful resort with everything taken care of for you, immersed in the soothing lushness of nature, having time and space to create and follow your passion, will infuse you with new creative energy.
You make friends, you share your fears, you challenge each other to grow and you come away saturated with inspiration and confidence in your own creative potential, feeling restored, relaxed and ready to fly!
To help our guests focus on their writing, we’ve created exclusive retreat packages that include all meals, daily writing workshops, morning yoga, afternoon breathwork, cultural excursions, 1:1 feedback and much more.
We have selected unique properties for our exclusive use in stunning locations. We enjoy long-standing working relationships with our hosts so that our guests can relax, write and…eat! Because home-cooked, healthy meals are one of the highlights of our retreats. So come with an empty stomach and enjoy the cuisines of Vietnam, Bali and Tuscany.
You’ll be guided through it all — the nuts of bolts of writing, your doubts and fears, the rice paddies of Bali, the lanes of Hoi An, the culinary highlights and autumnal landscapes of Tuscany — by two experienced writing coaches and retreat leaders who are at home in the places we visit.
I hope you’ll join us on retreat in 2025 or at our next live workshop (dta).
“This retreat has been incredibly healing for me and it certainly surpassed all my expectations.
It was more than just a writing retreat. It was a very soothing and therapeutic experience.
What made it super special was the mix of writing, yoga, pranayama, vision boards, ceremonies and rituals.”– Patrizia Pisano (Bali, 2023)
I’ll be back in your inbox in September with new writing prompts, answers to your writing questions and other news.
I love answering reader questions because it gives me something to write about, and because I’ve asked exactly the same questions. So feel free to press reply and ask me about writing (or about retreats, or anything else).
Oh, and before I forget, while I’m in Germany I am happy to post copies of my book to readers in Europe (it’s 20 euros inclusive of postage within Germany). Reply to this email to receive a copy of my book.
Wishing you a great writing week.
With many blessings,
I am resuming this column next month. Here are two (edited) reader questions I’ll be answering in the next newsletter:
I am retired and decided to write a book about the interesting life I’ve led. Some days I feel I am going nowhere because I have no dialogue to include, because the events are so long ago, I can’t remember what was said. What do I do to create dialogue?
I'm not famous, but my life has been ‘one for the books’ and I’d like to write about it—so many facets in many places and various careers along with meeting famous and regular people. But how do I find a title?
PPS: It’s 6 months since my book was published! Another reason to celebrate. In Australia you can order my memoir Loving My Lying Dying Cheating Husband (Affirm Press, 2024) from Abbey’s bookshop or listen to the audio version now out on Audible (worldwide), narrated by the wonderful Jo van Es, or on Kindle. Readings ships hardcopies worldwide. If you’re in Germany (or another part of Europe), reply to this email and I can send you a copy!
If you’ve liked my book, please leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. It doesn't have to be polished or very long, but it would mean the world to me! Thank you so much in advance. Many thanks to the wonderful readers who have already done so!
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