Here's one article from 2019. This is interesting because the author says she paid a deposit for the Ireland workshop and learned of Anna March's duplicity before the workshop. I don't know how, because I didn't learn of it until AFTER the Ireland workshop. BTW, I was comped both the France and Ireland workshop, so I didn't lose money. She did fail to pay me about $800 for writing I did for her online journal ROAR. I figure I came out even. I know others who did not. Link: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/11/5/20947909/anna-march-allegations-literary-scammer-grifter
I loved this post. What a life you have led. I have never done this, but now I really, really want to. Also, I’m pretty curious about that scandal. What a well of stories you have.
Sandra, you have had the most varied and wonderful sounding places to nurture your writing muse. Even the perhaps a little too rustic cabin, may have served the purpose of keeping you focused on your writing, to avoid the cold if nothing else.
Not sure what the going 'off season rates' are for Cannon Beach, or if that would appeal to you. Some years ago, my sister and I spent a few days there around Thanksgiving while we looked for a place to have a wedding anniversary celebration for our parents the following August. Summer rates were too high for what we wanted to do. But we really enjoyed ourselves while we were there in late fall in a very pleasant, clean and quiet unit near the beach with cooking facilities and many nearby eateries. and a visiting seagull at the kitchen window! 😊
I had the extraordinary privilege of spending a month at a respite/residency for political organizers on a ranch in Montana over 20 years ago. It was a wonderful break, a mix of undemanding community with peers and time for solitary reflection. it took a rich person funding it to make it possible ... and there's the rub.
Yes, I can no longer afford some of the residencies I did in the past. I think it's important for writers to have uninterrupted time away to think and write, and I still long for that. I'm so happy you had that Montana experience.
I loved my self-designed, self-financed residencies at a silent monastic community, Lebh Shomea, on the southern Texas Gulf coast. The cottages were clean and comfortable, the meals substantial and silent, the library inspiring, and the wildlife always interesting. I went every couple of years for more than a decade, usually stayed for 3-4 weeks at a time, with a specific writing project to work on. One community phone at the time and no cell service (that was then, likely different now). It became an important part of my writing life.
Those residencies sound great and so important. I think a lot of writers don't realize how important it is to pull away from the every day. Yes, supposedly I now "have all day to write" at home. But there are so many interruptions that it's hard to find even one or two hours some days.
Agree about writing at home, Sandra. With a residency, there's a strong intention and a commitment to focus. At home, that's diffuse, necessarily, given all the competition for our time and attention. Thanks for this post--it prompted me to think about some rewarding times.
Here's one article from 2019. This is interesting because the author says she paid a deposit for the Ireland workshop and learned of Anna March's duplicity before the workshop. I don't know how, because I didn't learn of it until AFTER the Ireland workshop. BTW, I was comped both the France and Ireland workshop, so I didn't lose money. She did fail to pay me about $800 for writing I did for her online journal ROAR. I figure I came out even. I know others who did not. Link: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/11/5/20947909/anna-march-allegations-literary-scammer-grifter
Thank you for sharing all this. I’m so curious.
I’m pretty interested in people who pretend to be people they are not.
I've done a couple of them. In general, I think of them as a vacation from writing if they're in an interesting place.
But I did do one that was the classic scenario: "a mountain cabin in the woods" and it really was as advertised.
https://open.substack.com/pub/blakenelson/p/joseph-oregon-2008-the-real-west?r=dbfvg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thank you for sharing your link. Interesting piece. I like that you reveal your younger self.
I loved this post. What a life you have led. I have never done this, but now I really, really want to. Also, I’m pretty curious about that scandal. What a well of stories you have.
Here's how I first learned of the scandal: https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ca-jc-anna-march/
Sandra, you have had the most varied and wonderful sounding places to nurture your writing muse. Even the perhaps a little too rustic cabin, may have served the purpose of keeping you focused on your writing, to avoid the cold if nothing else.
Not sure what the going 'off season rates' are for Cannon Beach, or if that would appeal to you. Some years ago, my sister and I spent a few days there around Thanksgiving while we looked for a place to have a wedding anniversary celebration for our parents the following August. Summer rates were too high for what we wanted to do. But we really enjoyed ourselves while we were there in late fall in a very pleasant, clean and quiet unit near the beach with cooking facilities and many nearby eateries. and a visiting seagull at the kitchen window! 😊
Thank you for the suggestion, Sandy.
I had the extraordinary privilege of spending a month at a respite/residency for political organizers on a ranch in Montana over 20 years ago. It was a wonderful break, a mix of undemanding community with peers and time for solitary reflection. it took a rich person funding it to make it possible ... and there's the rub.
Yes, I can no longer afford some of the residencies I did in the past. I think it's important for writers to have uninterrupted time away to think and write, and I still long for that. I'm so happy you had that Montana experience.
I loved my self-designed, self-financed residencies at a silent monastic community, Lebh Shomea, on the southern Texas Gulf coast. The cottages were clean and comfortable, the meals substantial and silent, the library inspiring, and the wildlife always interesting. I went every couple of years for more than a decade, usually stayed for 3-4 weeks at a time, with a specific writing project to work on. One community phone at the time and no cell service (that was then, likely different now). It became an important part of my writing life.
Those residencies sound great and so important. I think a lot of writers don't realize how important it is to pull away from the every day. Yes, supposedly I now "have all day to write" at home. But there are so many interruptions that it's hard to find even one or two hours some days.
Agree about writing at home, Sandra. With a residency, there's a strong intention and a commitment to focus. At home, that's diffuse, necessarily, given all the competition for our time and attention. Thanks for this post--it prompted me to think about some rewarding times.
You're welcome. Wouldn't it be wonderful for all of us to be together at a residency/retreat? We could have that communal dinner and share our days.
Interesting choices they make.