Robin Yocum at Word Lovers

FICTION WORKSHOP -- Writing your best words in fiction means paying attention to background descriptions, careful characterization, vibrant dialogue, and keeping the reader engaged with tone and voice. Participants will create a scene using proven techniques and hear stories about the first draft, the rewriting, and getting books published. ROBIN YOCUM is the author of Favorite Sons, The Essay, Dead Before Deadline . . . and other tales from the police beat, and Insured for Murder. He owns a public relations and marketing firm is a former crime and investigative reporter.

2013 Word Lovers Weekend - Details!

2013 WORD LOVERS WRITING WEEKEND

IDLEWYLD BED & BREAKFAST AT LAKESIDE

Friday, May 31, through Sunday, June 2, 2013 

Igniting Possibilities announces the 2013 Word Lovers Weekend at the Idlewyld Bed and Breakfast in Lakeside. Our theme is Writing Your Best Words. 

Come early on Thursday evening or Friday to work on your writing projects and find time throughout the weekend to commune with the muse. Relax and enjoy and open up.

Before you can begin to Write Your Best Words, you will want to Choose Your Best Projects.  We’ll start the formal programming on Friday night as we explore how to choose what it is you want to do with your writing time. 

Our Writers-in-Residence are novelist Robin Yocum, freelance writer Mary Mihaly, and poet/dancer Mary Bodnar, who will each lead workshops on Saturday (descriptions are on the next page). Novelist Les Roberts, a Word Lovers favorite, will be available for critique sessions on Saturday. Time to write is penciled in at Saturday intervals, Friday arrival, and after the Gathering on Sunday.

THURSDAY              Arrive in Lakeside at Noon (Optional)

FRIDAY                     Dinner at the Idlewyld/Choose Your Best Projects – 6:00 PM

SATURDAY              Breakfast Served – 8:30 AM
                                    Yocum Workshop – 10:00 AM
                                    Lunch -- 12:30 PM
                                    Bodnar Workshop – 1:30 PM
                                    Mihaly Workshop – 3:00 PM
 SUNDAY                   Breakfast Served – 8:30 AM
                                    Weekend Gathering – 9:30 AM

Lakeside is a great place for walking, watching sunsets, seeing a starlit night sky, and relaxing. Stress falls away the minute you enter Lakeside, which provides the scene and background against which we will create, rejuvenate, and connect with our writing, our muse, and each other. Make Lakeside your weekend escape to get some work done in the company of other writers. Find your “tribe.”

Weekend Fees are $169/weekend without room, $239/weekend for shared room, and $329/weekend for private room. Thursday’s overnight stay is $50. All meals Friday noon through Sunday noon, except Saturday dinner, are included. Reserve your space by contacting Claudia Taller at claudia.taller@yahoo.com or at 440-554-6406. A $50 nonrefundable fee will hold your space until May 1, with the balance due by May 15. Late cancellations are subject to penalties. Sign up by April 15 and save $25. Payment should be sent to 26408 Chapel Hill Drive, North Olmsted, Ohio 44070.

Come Into the Garden with Claudia, Joan and Mary

DATE CHANGE -- SATURDAY, APRIL 27, from 9:30AM to 4:30PM

Gardens range from formal to informal, ordered to wild, well-groomed to disorderly. Every daffodil craning its neck to the sun and every fern uncurling is beautiful and full of promise. Everyone has his or her own inner beauty, a secret garden, a place where the soul hopes, where the heart loves, where the spirit strives for faith. The world can be cruel, but we can find peace within, sometimes making it a haven away from reality. What is the best path to follow along this garden path? How do we tend this secret garden, this beautiful place within, known only to us, and to God?

Riverside Retreat is in the midst of a natural space along a meandering river in Dundee, Michigan. It’s the perfect place for renewal and for finding out what the heart wants. When Mike and Susie Clemmer found it, they knew it was special, and they’ve made Riverside into a retreat center in the woods. This is where we’ll come into the garden.

 9:00 AM –         A wholesome breakfast and discussion of our gardens, inside and out
 9:45 AM -         Dance performance by Mary Bodnar
10:00 AM –        Awaken the body and spirit with yoga, prayer, and chanting with Claudia Taller
10:30 AM –        Zendala meditation and keepsake art with Joan Barris
12:00 PM –        Capture nature in photos and drawings
12:45 PM -        Lunch
 1:15 PM           Share photos and drawings and the garden within
 2:00 PM -         Dance workshop with Mary Bodnar
 3:00 PM –         Write Your Song, a spiritual poetry workshop with Claudia Taller
 4:15 PM -         Plant Your Garden, an herb garden to take home

Riverside Retreat, on Lloyd Road in Dundee, Michigan, is two hours from the Greater Cleveland area. Photos can be found on Facebook.  Bring a cot or blow-up mattress and stay overnight on Friday.  If you prefer a hotel, group arrangements have been made at the Dundee Quality Inn if you make your request by April 13.

The cost is $75/person or $120/couple for supplies and presenter fees (yes, men are welcome). Please pre-register by APRIL 15 by sending your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address with the workshop fee to Igniting Possibilities, 26408 Chapel Hill Drive, North Olmsted, Ohio 44070. Contact Claudia Taller for more information at 440-554-6046, claudia.taller@yahoo.com.

“When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator’s creativity within us and our lives,” Julie Cameron said. Let’s get creative and wander through our secret gardens together.

So, You Want to Be a Writer?

Lots of people want to be writers. Where to begin? With reading, paying attention to the world, making connections, then putting words on paper. On Saturday, February 23, I began a workshop with the Cuyahoga County Library System by asking that question. And then we all started thinking like writers. If you write, you're already a writer, but you can hone your craft and get inspired at a Word Lovers retreat. This year's event  takes place the weekend after Memorial Day, in Lakeside. Reserve your space today!