Writing Connections

Florence Williams is our guest for this final episode of season three. She is the author of Heartbreak , The Nature Fix , and Breasts and numerous articles for Outside Magazine and other publications. She is also a public speaker and sometimes-podcaster and leads retreats in the U.S. and Europe. In this episode, Florence shares her insights about leading and attending retreats as well as her enthu...

Our guest for this episode, Nikos Dimitriou, is a former world traveler and current host of bespoke writing retreats in Evia, Greece. In our conversation, we discuss how he and his wife explored the globe for seven years before returning home to start their hospitality venture Writers' Retreats | Greece. We explore his writing journey and discuss the importance of community and connection at...

This month's guest, Erin McGuire, is a former academic and global research leader whose career has centered on equity in agricultural innovation systems. In 2025, when shifts in U.S. government priorities abruptly cut her federal research funding, Erin faced a pivotal moment. Rather than retreat, she chose to build. What had begun as quiet conversations about creating space for women to rest...

In part 2 of my interview with Chelsea DesAutels, we talk about doing the work in terms of facing rejection and creating community out of crisis.  Chelsea DesAutels is the author of A Dangerous Place (Sarabande Books, 2021), which was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and described by Publishers Weekly as a “lush and transformative debut” (starred review). Chelsea writes and teaches extensive...

Chelsea DesAutels is the author of A Dangerous Place (Sarabande Books, 2021), which was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and described by Publishers Weekly as a “lush and transformative debut” (starred review). Chelsea writes and teaches extensively and is the founder of Freshwater Writing, which offers writer-focused, community-centered retreats, writing circles, and mentorships. In Part 1...

In this second half of my interview with Shannon Vesely, we take a broader view on writing connections and talk about how to make the most of them. Shannon gives advice on both attending and offering retreats, and we discuss what to do with rejection. Ultimately, Shannon shares her successes and failures as a writer and the importance of creating your own path.  Show Links: Shannon's blog San...

In this first episode of 2026, I interview Shannon Vesely, a poet, writer, and educator. This is the first half of our interview, where we discuss Shannon's writing process and her experience with writing retreats.  Show Links: Shannon's blog Sanctuaries Shannon's book The Way of Things Shannon's book Keeping Watch on Soap Creek Soaring Gardens Artist Retreat application portal...

In this episode, Laura discusses her history with all kinds of writing retreats, her vision for this podcast, and her infatuation with inchworms—perhaps the most acrobatic of all earthbound insects. 🐛 Tune in to catch the new name of the podcast and to hear us gush about its future! Show Links: Laura Walker's website Inchworms doing their thing ! Laura's instagram @laura_isa_walker ----...

I was excited to talk to this week’s guest, Laura Walker about the upcoming changes to this podcast. We delved into my mission for it when I started it and how excited I am to have Laura, who is amazing, take the reins and keep it growing. Today’s episode is part 1 of that interview. Tune in in a few weeks for part 2 to hear more about Laura’s vision to help more writers feel supported, inspired a...

 Welcome to Season 3 of "Your Writing Retreat Connection." In this episode I share what's in store for the next chapter of the podcast. ------------------------ Connect with me online: On Instagram @writing_connections_podcast or @laura_isa_walker On my website: lauraswalker.com Through my newsletter Additional Resources: Get the latest information about promoting or finding a writi...

Thank you for supporting the "Your Writing Retreat Connection" podcast during season 2. We had great episodes chatting with writing retreat hosts and writers from around the world.  The show is going on hiatus for the summer and will be back in September 2025.  All the previous episodes have great information for writers and writing retreat hosts so I highly recommend going back and list...

I was excited to talk to this week’s guest, Christine Sheehy, about her experiences hosting and going on writing retreats. We also had a great chat about why she decided to host writing retreats and become a book coach. Like so many of us, she just followed the path the experiences in her life were taking her. I loved hearing how Christine’s writing retreats started as a way to give writers time a...

This is a great episode with Ralph Fletcher, who's involved in the writing world as a writer and writing teacher. He has authored books for young readers, novels, poetry, memoir, picture books as well as nonfiction books for writing teachers to use with their students. And, since last year,he’s added writing retreat host to that list. We had a great conversation about how he and his co-host G...

To set the stage for this interview, a few months ago I did a solo episode about how I thought book coaches could benefit from adding writing retreats to their business offers. Then I started thinking about how people who are leading writing retreats might want to become book coaches to help more writers. I wanted to do a deep dive on this topic, so I went straight to the expert - Jennie Nash, the...

I can’t say this enough - please don't assume what anybody can't or won't pay for your retreat. Believe me, if they really want and need your retreat, they'll find a way to pay for it.  Even though you have no idea what someone can or can’t afford, or what they want to spend their money on, you still have to do the work to make sure people see the value of purchasing a spot in...

In this solo episode I talk about the three reasons you should plan a writing retreat even if you don't think you're ready: Just because you start planning a writing retreat doesn’t mean you have to set a hard date. But thinking about the steps can get you more excited about it. No one get everything perfect the first time. The only way you’ll know if you’ve missed something or if someth...

Arden Coutts is an author and writing retreat host who makes community building a huge part of their writing and writing retreats. I was thrilled to have them on the show to talk about their 1-day virtual writing retreat coming up in May. They've thought of so many small details that will help writers feel immersed in the writing retreat experience. We also chatted about: The positive influen...

My guest this week is  Amy Goldmacher, a published author as well as an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach.  We chatted about: Why she decided now was the time to lead her own writing retreat after being an instructor on someone else’s. The many ways she helps writers with nonfiction books - ones that help people with your experience, method or message as well as memoir. And the Cruise Writin...

I was thrilled to chat with author and writing instructor Nina Hart because of the many amazing ways she’s supporting writers, especially those whose style of writing or writing process doesn't fit into neat boxes. In this episode we chatted about: her Writing from the Top of Your Head program and how it really changed her life. the amazing writing retreat she's holding in Scotland. how...

People aren't going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on your writing retreat if they don't even know if you can help them reach their writing or publishing goals. In this episode, I share how to build a ladder of offers to show writers the value you bring them through your free or low cost services. It will make therm feel more  comfortable going on your writing retreat because...

If you’re in the early planning stages of your writing retreat, you may be thinking about who you want your retreat to help most. I’ve talked a lot about the importance of figuring this out so when someone sees your messaging on social media, in your email newsletters, and on your retreat info page, they know if your writing retreat is the best fit for them. In this week’s episode, I’m going to gi...

In this week’s episode of Your Writing Retreat Connection, I talked about the three ways you can set expectations so writers will know how your writing retreat helps them. Get clear on what you’ll offer and how your writing retreat helps writers. Create and communicate unified messages for those to use on different platforms. Get creative with ways you can talk about how you help writers and where...

In this year end episode of the podcast, I reflect on how far the different aspects of my business--the Writing Retreat Directory, Your Writing Retreat Connection, and Plan A Writing Retreat--have come and what my vision is for 2025. Wishing you a happy and healthy year to come! Show Links: If you're interested in being a guest on this podcast, please fill out this form I'm using to keep...

There's an aspect of pricing your writing retreat that should be considered, but is often overlooked - how to include the intangible value when deciding how much to charge for your writing retreat. These are things that affect your guests’ experience, in some ways even more than the things they can see or actively be involved in, but are much harder to put a price on. In this episode, I cover...

If you're planning a writing retreat, there are 4 types of activities you can include: Welcome Activities Writing Activities Non Writing Activities Farewell Activities In this episode I talk about each of these and give you examples to help you decide what to include in your writing retreat. ------------------------ Connect with me online: On Instagram @writing_connections_podcast or @laura_i...