RETREATING FROM THE REAL WORLD...with Alison Rose Knight


It's my absolute pleasure to welcome Alison Rose Knight to my blog today! Not only is Alison a very good personal friend of mine, she is also one half of the Imagine Creative Writing team who run writing workshops and retreats throughout in Wiltshire, Devon and France. Over to you, lovely lady...



Don’t you wish, sometimes, that you could retreat from the pressures of ‘real life’ and immerse yourself in the imaginary worlds you create in your stories? Wouldn’t it be lovely to be able to forget about the day job, the housework, the food shopping and the cooking?  Unfortunately, most of us need to keep on top of all of these before we can even think about writing. But, every now and then, an opportunity arises – a chance to leave everyday concerns behind and just write! Welcome to the world of the writing retreat.

The first time I took myself away to write, I wasn’t even aware that writing retreats existed.  I simply booked into a quiet hotel in Devon and wrote.  I didn’t have to worry about meals, work, the school run or the ironing. No one asked me where their favourite top was or what was for dinner. All I had to think about was my story.

How did I manage to escape? Well, I’m fortunate that my other half is a keen cyclist.  We struck a deal – he would go on a cycling holiday and then I got to have a few days away.  This started a tradition of Mummy and Daddy taking separate holidays. Don’t worry, we do also have family holidays! We found that by giving each other permission to go away and do what we really love, we come back refreshed and appreciative. 

I love my retreats so much that I now organise them for other writers. Next month, there are two retreats planned in wonderful locations. Why don’t you come and join us?

From the 8th - 12th October, Rachel will be joining author Jenny Kane and I at our writing retreat at Northmoor House, near Dulverton in Somerset. This is a splendid Victorian mansion with lots of original features.  On two evenings we have guest speakers – Kate Griffin, who writes bestselling Victorian crime novels and Dan Metcalf, a successful children’s author.  You can come for the whole retreat, or for a day, or for an overnight stay – whatever suits your busy schedule. You’re guaranteed to be inspired!

From the 11th - 17th October, I’ll be leading a retreat for writers at the beautiful Chez Castillon in SW France.  Chez Castillon is owned by writer Janie Millman and actor Mickey Wilson and is popular with many best-selling authors who go there year-round for some quiet writing time when deadlines loom. During this week, I’ll be on hand to offer to support if anyone needs to talk through plot points, character development, structure, or to discuss your ideas. It’s a great place, perfect for writing and also for exploring this picturesque corner of France.

So, if you’re looking for the chance to retreat from ‘real life’ and to spend some concentrated time working on your story, then come with us! For more details, see 


ALISON ROSE KNIGHT, AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY



Alison has been a legal executive, a registered childminder, a professional fund-raiser and a teacher. In her mid-forties she went to university part-time and gained a first-class degree in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and an MA in the same subject from Oxford Brookes University. Her first book was published a year after she completed her master’s degree.

She has been an exchange student in the US, trekked the Great Wall of China, helped build a house in Thailand, visited coffee-farming communities in Honduras and walked across the Sinai Desert. She finds inspiration in her travels and in everyday experiences. She writes women’s contemporary fiction as Alison Rose and time-travel adventures as Alison Knight. Due for publication in 2019, is the second of her time-travel adventures, and a drama set in London based on real events that took place in her family in the 1960s. Her current work in progress is an epic story set in Mallorca in the 1940s and the present day.

Alison teaches creative and life-writing at Wiltshire College; runs workshops and retreats with Imagine Creative Writing Workshops, as well as working as a freelance editor and proof-reader. She is on the national committee of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and is a member of the Society of Authors and the Society for Editors and Proof-readers.

She has two grown-up children and two grandchildren. She lives in Somerset with her husband.

BOOKS BY ALISON ROSE KNIGHT




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