Second Annual Women’s Writing Retreat in Santa Cruz
Friday, June 29 to Sunday, July 1, 2012
Cost: $545 double/$595 single, if paid by May 1.
$100 deposit due now to hold your space. Contact Laura if you'd like to join us for this wonderful weekend at our oceanfront retreat. Only 10 rooms reserved; first come, first served.

Come spark your creativity and enjoy the camaraderie and support of a wonderful group of writing women. We’ll stay at an ocean front retreat center, which will provide our meals and take good care of us. Come create, relax and rejuvenate! Includes workshop sessions, accommodations and meals.

Writing Retreat in Tuscany
Friday, September 28 to Friday, October 5, 2012
Come write and celebrate the sweet life in Tuscany and Umbria — la dolce vita!
Deposit ($500) due by March 1 to guarantee your space.
Pay in full by March 1 and save up to $500.
Click here for details.

One-Day Workshops

The Write Way to Heal from Loss
Saturday, February 11, 10 – 4 pm
Marin location to be announced.
Cost: $105 if paid by January 28; $135 after that.
Co-led with therapist Susan Pease Gadoua

Writing is a powerful way to bring peace with the past and remove blocks that keep you from living a full life after loss. This workshop will give you tools to close the gaps between the person you were, the person you are, and the person you want to become. You'll learn how to gain insight and perspective through instruction, creative writing exercises, and discussion.

Get Into Print
Saturday, February 25, 2 – 5 pm
Book Passage, Corte Madera
Cost: $60
Contact Book Passage to register call 415.927.0960.

This practical "How To" workshop will give you the tools you need to get your writing published in magazines, newspapers and other media. We’ll look at writer’s guidelines from various publications, where to send your work, and how to get editors to read your submissions (and accept them!). We’ll discuss sending query letters instead of completed pieces, writing cover letters that work, formatting your piece for submission, and more. Learn how publishing pieces can build your platform, portfolio, and bank account. A former student raves, "Laura’s Get Into Print workshop was invaluable in helping me through the maze of magazine and newspaper publishing and certainly contributed to my piece being accepted by a top-tier magazine."

Personal Essay and Memoir
Saturday, March 24, 2 – 5 pm
Book Passage, Corte Madera
Cost: $60
Contact Book Passage to register at 415.927.0960.

Using your life as the source for personal essays, stories and memoir, you’ll learn techniques to access and shape your material and approach it from new angles. Focusing both on the creative process and essay structure, this class is ideal for beginning and more experienced writers who want to learn new creative writing techniques and review the elements of personal essays. Whether writing for yourself, your family or a wider audience, you’ll learn how to craft engaging, compelling pieces. The workshop includes instruction, in-class writing and feedback. Deutsch will cover topics from character development and dramatic tension to story arc and epiphanies. She will also touch on how and where to get your essays and stories published

A Breath of Fresh Air
Saturday, April 28, 10 – 4 pm,
at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, Muir Beach.
Cost: $85. To register, call the Green Gulch office at 415.383.3134.

A writing practice can bring us into the present moment, help us wake up and be receptive to inspired creativity. In this one-day writing retreat, we’ll share techniques that will allow us to tap into our stories, memories, and imagination and give voice to what is most important in our lives. Our schedule includes teaching, creative writing exercises and feedback, and several short meditations to awaken awareness, spark creativity, and make our writing come alive. For writers of all levels.

Beginner - Intermediate Class
Wednesdays, 3 - 5 pm, Mill Valley

Session I: Six weeks, January 10 - February 14
Session II: Six weeks, February 21 - March 27  
Cost: $300
$150 deposit due December 27 to hold your space.

Class format is similar to the Tuesday class, with instruction, writing exercises and an opportunity to read your writing for feedback. The focus is on how to craft personal essays, memoir and fiction, rather than writing for publication. Class size is limited.

Advanced Class
Tuesdays, 3 - 5 pm, Mill Valley.

Session I: Six weeks, January 10 - February 14
Session II: Six weeks, February 21 - March 27  
Cost: $390 for each six-week session. $195 deposit due by December 27. Sign up for both sessions by December 27 and save $60.
This class focuses on first person writing (essays, stories and memoir) and fiction, and includes instruction, writing exercises and an opportunity to read your writing for feedback. Class size is limited.