John Joseph Adams, Daryl Gregory, and Nancy Kress join Tachyon boss Jacob Weisman at Rainforest Writers Village, Quinault, WA, February 19-March 8.

The first writers retreat was held in February 2007. The idea was to create at least one time and place in the year where all but writing was put aside. The objective was to create an annual writers’ gathering that focused on:

solitary and community writing…

in an isolated environment…

supported by a collective of contemporaries of like mind and pursuits.

Writers gather at a location of minimized outside interference or influence, ready to spend an intensive four or five days on their own work, with others involved in the same who were present for support and interactive development of written creative work as art, craft, and science. Balanced against this is a schedule of events aimed at supporting this process, with the number of retreat guests and attendees kept to a limit.

The Rain Forest Resort Village is situated on Lake Quinault, nestled in the Olympic Pennisula, and the Quinault Rainforest. Local populations are small and centers of civilization are approximately 50 miles from the resort. Close enough for those who wish to seek them out, and far enough for others not to have to seek escape from them. The resort has no phones in the rooms or cabins, and has spotty cell phone service. It is its own little village, with a restaurant, general store, gift shop, lounge, post office, and laundromat on site.

Participants get writing time free of work and daily social life. They get professional advice from, and interaction with, guests who have had success in the writing business.

Rainforest Writers Village

There are many events throughout the retreat including four featuring Tachyon authors and editors.

Thursday, February 27 3:00 pm
“MORE of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Publishing”
Presented by Jacob Weisman.  Jacob Weisman, founder and editor of Tachyon Publications, was here in session two three years ago. He’s back to answer questions and discuss publishing. He doesn’t mind because the questions he gets at any of these change year to year, depending on the state of publishing or the writers in attendance. Ask him about a press, about e-books, the business side of publishing, and so on.

Friday, February 28 11am
Discussion: “Organizing Sentences, Paragraphs, and Scenes”  
Presented by Nancy Kress.  Sentences, Paragraphs, and Scenes. (Oh my!) So what should go where, and why? Nancy will talk about organizing these things and let us know that the order of things matters. Besides lecture, there will be handouts and exercises.

Saturday, February 29 11:00 am
Discussion: “Nyarlathotep is in the Details”
Presented by Daryl Gregory.  Daryl’s spent the last few months rewriting a novel top to bottom, touching almost every paragraph, trying to sharpen the dull sentences and find the right details to bring scenes to life. He’d like to share the pain. Through some close reading of great writing and a writing exercise, we’re going to figure out what details to include, some interesting effects of leaving details out, as well as how to make gestures and dialogue effective.

Thursday, March 5 11:00 am
Discussion: “Editor & Publisher Q&A” 
Presented by John Joseph Adams.  John Joseph Adams knows a few things about the publishing world. Okay, a lot of things. He’s the editor of his own imprint at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, he’s the series editor of the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy series, editor of numerous anthologies, and editor and publisher of Nightmare magazine and the Hugo Award-winning magazine Lightspeed. Oh…and a producer for WIRED’s The Geek Guide to the Galaxy. So….do you have any questions about publishing? Yeah, I thought so. Bring them, and he’ll answer them for you!