Over the weekend you’ll take part in tailored writing workshops, and be given the chance to participate in some exciting new themed workshops too.
Each workshop is designed to give you a working practical knowledge enabling you to write realistic prose and stories that will sell.
There is also the chance to have fun at a live murder mystery evening hosted at the same venue on the Saturday night.
Writing workshops will be tailored to the individual participants but will cover topics like:
Understanding your readership and genre
Where to start writing
Structuring your plot
Creating your characters
Pace and scene-setting
Writing better dialogue
Self-editing and feedback
Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing
Specialist workshops include:
Writing Romance / Erotica
Writing for Young Adults
Forensic Science for Beginners
Marketing your book
Writing for other media
Writing murder mystery games
Set in 36 acres of stunning Lincolnshire countryside, Healing Manor Hotel is the ideal spot for a writers getaway. The rooms are sizable, all ensuite, and each room includes a desk – perfect for writers! Wifi comes as standard in of all the rooms.
The venue is easily accessible by the train or road, just a 10 minute walk away from the nearest station, and with easy access to the M180.
Meals are all included in the retreat and vegetarian and other dietary needs can be catered for. Just let us know in advance!
There is also a fully wheelchair accessible bedroom available if required.
Healing Manor,
Stallingborough Rd,
Healing,
Grimsby,
North East Lincolnshire
DN41 7QF
Diane Hall
Developmental editor and publishing consultant Diane Hall is the author of three books; she has also ghost-written books for others and created a plethora of content, on more subjects than you could care to imagine, for numerous clients since the beginning of her career. She is proud to have fundamentally shaped series of books and more than a hundred individual titles over the last decade.
Among her editing qualifications, she holds a linguistics diploma, which involves the study of language and speech. Diane employs this knowledge in the forensic linguistic work she sometimes undertakes. Diane has seen the introduction and subsequent rise of self-publishing,and passionately keeps abreast of its disruption of the publishing industry. She is a thought leader when it comes to the future of book marketing, fueled by the poor results authors see when employing traditional techniques.
Jo Smedley
Described by the local press as “a not so serious serial killer,” Jo Smedley is a successful Murder Mystery game author and the Managing Director of Red Herring Games.
A fictional assassin, Jo Smedley writes and develops murder mystery games for all ages and all type of events.
She has written bespoke games for hotels, multi-national corporations, private parties and fundraising events in the UK, USA and Australia, and her games are sold world wide. She was comissioned to write the murder mystery evening for this year’s Agatha Christie Festival, and delivered the murder mystery for TOWIE back in 2012.
She’s just finished her first full length murder mystery novel and is mid-pitch to agents.
Kerry Drewery
Kerry lives in Lincolnshire between the countryside and the sea, in a house filled with books, films and dogs. Before writing full-time she was a BookStart Co-ordinator for BookTrust and got to read picture books to children all day. She was also a finalist in a BBC ScriptWriting for Children competition and has a first class honours degree in Professional Writing. She leads young people’s writing groups for Writing East Midlands and is the co-organiser of the UKYA Extravaganza events.
Her first YA novel, A BRIGHTER FEAR was published in 2012 by HarperCollins in the UK and Callenbach in the Netherlands.
Her second YA novel, A DREAM OF LIGHTS (2013), was also published by HarperCollins and Callenbach. It was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, awarded Highly Commended at the North East Teen Book Awards and shortlisted for the Hampshire Independent Schools Book Award.
She has a new novel Cell 7 coming out later this year.
Anna Sky
Anna Sky is a writer of mostly BDSM and spanking erotica. She lives in West Yorkshire with her partner Stephen, and their unruly hound. Having been an avid reader of erotica for years, she started writing in 2012, and a whole world of naughty words and possibilities opened up. She’s been published by Peaches Press, House of Erotica, For Books’ Sake, Loveslave and more, and has been accepted for multiple upcoming anthology releases. She also self-publishes her own erotica collections, including Naughty Shorts and Wicked Games.
She regularly attends readings and erotica events in the UK but can also be found behind the dim light of her filthy Kindle late into the night, seeing what naughty words her fellow authors have come up with. Apart from that she’s (in no particular order) a geek, red wine drinker, poi hurler, Firefly fan, has a very dirty laugh and loves to perform research for her stories!
