Fairwood Press’ Rainforest Retreat was a smashing success for the twenty-eight writers who met on the Olympic Peninsula near Seattle, on the weekend of March 22 – 25. Patrick and Honna Swensen were the perfect hosts, and guests Jay Lake and Barb and J.C. Hendee were a wealth of information and inspiration. Sessions included plotting the novel, synopses and, of course, readings by our guest authors. In addition, Susan Matthews ran a fascinating session on runes. However, the main reason to go was to get away from it all and write.
The location was perfect: beautiful, with no cell coverage, no internet and no sunshine. Over 77,000 words were written by the participants. And, when our fingers became too stiff from typing, there were communal meals and down time to get to know one another and swap stories about the writing business.
One of my big thrills was to meet David Levine, winner of the 2006 Hugo for best short story. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.