Thank you thank you thank you! I spent the majority of my plane ride back scheduling writing time so that I don't get too caught up in work. My piece for Elephant Journal (the one I wrote on retreat…!) should be up today! I will send you a link as soon as I have it. And now I have a book in my head... a memoir even(!)I am writing a slam-tastic testimonial for the retreat this weekend. OH thank you both so much.
Catie Webster, Montana. 

I'm having retreat withdrawals!  I came into retreat feeling blocked, distant from my writing, and rudderless. When I came out, the intense work and deep nourishment of retreat had lifted me out of my busy life and grounded me again as a writer. All important to the weekends' work was the skillful and gentle shiatsu bodywork I received. My mental and physical blocks literally eased up. I felt better and wrote freely. Retreat was entirely nurturing and allowed me to be my best writing self. Now I have a plan for my manuscript, agent interest and a surefooted way to move forward—Kate Baldwin, Massachusetts.

Suzanne has been my guiding light and inspiration. Dede is positive, and keeps me energized. Since working with them, my story has been highly praised by the best editors at major media outlets and some of the top publishing houses in NY considered my memoir for publication. And…at this last retreat, I just signed a book deal for my memoir The Widow and the Hijacker! We toasted with champagne on Friday night, and I couldn't be happier –Kathleen Murray, New York,

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I will definitely be back on retreat.  It's amazing to hit it off and make a connection with so many fascinating women. I was really blown away meeting you and spending time with you. You are even more beautiful of a person than I imagined.  I learned so much, made some lifetime friends and had a blast on retreat and thanks to you I am writing like crazy! I'm in the flow, getting so much down, my mind working faster than I can type.  No more blank page.— Kim Griffin, Texas, the novel she was stuck on, started talking to her BIG time at retreat and she read parts aloud to our stunned (and ecstatic!) praise. Dede and I are sure Kim is on her way to being a big part of the highly-acclaimed southern literary tradition.  Kim, you are beautiful...

I miss you guys already. I just wanted to thank you for your smile, encouragement and the amazing experience of being in a room nestled, among incredible writers and feeling safe to share without embarrassment. Thank you for making me listen to the positive things being said about my writing.  My new outlook is going to be viewing through the lens of positivity, start with what is working about a piece, the relationship, the thing I am struggling with and say it out loud.  THANK YOU!-- The gorgeous Lindsay Agne whose work on motherhood and marriage was domain-changing for us retreat women, made us laugh AND cry.  Want a sneak peek? Come visit her Full Circle Fertility blog. 

Writing is lonely work, joyful and doubt-ridden.  We come to Retreat alone.  We write and listen and read our words aloud.  Dede sits, covering her face with her hands, and when you finish reading she looks at you and her eyes proclaim, "You did it."  Suzanne is pure generous energy.  She says "You are amazing", until you know you are. We leave Retreat no longer alone—Sueann Pugh, North Carolina.  Dede got to read 50 pages one morning and said it is in the process of becoming an award-winning manuscript.   Sueann is two weeks from finishing now…  And I am so excited to read it.

When we’re writing-- we have something akin to the frothing three-headed dog of Hades guarding the entrance, spinning razor sharp swords. I have a ten-foot tall bust of my father, rolling his eyes at me.  How much fun is it to have Suzanne, (I call her the girl from Ipanema), blazing the trail past these knee-crumpling menaces,  making sure our bodies are warm, our bellies full of hearty soup, leaving trails of treats in case we are stuck and the only recourse is to coax out our spirits with chocolate. The brilliance of Suzanne’s methodology is barring the critical voice.  This makes sense to me as a practitioner of the health field. All the things we write about come from the tender spots in our hearts, we all feel deeply, have myriad memory and story and heartbreak. Understanding this, Suzanne perceives the beauty and vulnerability in all her students who continue to grow and develop their own signature voices.  Margie Pivar, retreat shiatsu therapist and author of Fourth Uncle in the Mountain and founder of Shiatsu School of Vermont.