Imagine… water on stone, sunlight in an eye-blue sky; the dart of a friendly lizard, 
the lurk of a scorpion on a whitewashed wall.
I’ve just spent a week in magical Tuscany – and I had to work, goddammit!
- Angela and Maurice Petch were our attentive hosts: nothing was too much trouble. Sonja Price was the wicked witch of the west, calling us to order with a smile and a daunting exercise: what does this picture say to you? Can you create a piece of scintillating dialogue? What comes after this opening sentence?
It all seemed such a good idea, way back in grey February, when Angela dropped by with some flyers.
‘A writer’s course in Tuscany? I’d love to do that,’ said Himself. I looked at him agape. What, mix with a bunch of writers? Lay the pearls of his hard-core sci-fi before our swinish incomprehension? But I wasn’t about to discourage him.
Getting there involved flying, not something either of us care to do, followed by a gut-wrenching drive over mountainous bends for what seemed forever.
Il Mulino – the mill – made up for it all. An ancient stone building with every mod con imaginable, waking up to the sound of the river, coffee on our own little terrace, morning writing sessions in the garden, afternoons free to develop our own masterpieces. There were wonderful meals taken at home or in local restaurants, sometimes a little too wonderful, with eight or ten or more courses to negotiate – thankfully not every day.
Amazingly, for a group of eight total or near-total strangers, we all got on. We discussed writerly things without feeling self-conscious and helped each other out with tips and wrinkles.
Six weeks ago, struggling with the final stories in my work in progress, I announced to himself ‘I’m never going to write again.’ One day in Tuscany and I was mapping out the plot of a new book. For that, and for so much more, if you ask me if the trip was worthwhile my answer will be a resounding yes.
Love this write-up and we are so pleased that you got something for your writing from Write Away in Tuscany. We are planning another already for 2019, with a few tweaks and the addition of a social media author guru (who also lives in Tuscany). Keep on writing your wonderful words and thanks for writing this blog.
This sounds fab. Wish I’d been there
Good V I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the least. Quite unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, website theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task..
Just wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is simply great and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the rewarding work.