MountainTop Writers Retreat
Earthshine Lodge, Lake Toxaway NC
Welcome! MountainTop Writers Retreat is a long-weekend retreat crafted to suit writers and creatives at varying stages in their careers and journeys. Hosted at Earthshine Lodge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Winter MountainTop was created with one goal in mind: to give writers space and time in which to write. But perhaps more importantly: to offer the opportunity to create in a place of peace and seclusion — in a natural, awe-inspiring setting.
Winter MountainTop is a retreat for writers and creatives in need of quiet and time, with an optional itinerary of activities, including brainstorming/mentoring sessions and craft talks with visiting authors, yoga, hiking, mediation, and more. Perfect for writers of all stages who are working on new or continuing projects. Though we will share communal spaces in the Lodge, and some meals, any and all time spent with other writers and visiting authors is by choice. Our goals are quiet, coziness, productivity, and inspiration. This is your retreat!
January 30 – February 2, 2020
Check in: 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, January 30th
Checkout: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday, February 2nd
Winter 2020 MountainTop
The Winter 2020 MountainTop Retreat is hosted in the Lodge at Earthshine, a rustic-elegant mountain lodge available exclusively for our private retreat use. Each room in the Lodge has a queen bed, a loft with two twin beds, and a private, ensuite bathroom. Rooms are furnished with art, lighting, and linens from local artisans and manufacturers. Made to serve as an oasis for creatives, all rooms have private balconies offering views of the gorgeous Earthshine property.
Your writer's package includes:
Your package will include 3 nights bed and continental breakfast in a private mountain lodge, 2 evening meals on-site (Friday and Saturday nights), 2 boxed lunches delivered to your door (Friday and Saturday), yoga by the Lodge fireplace, a guided hike, a guided creativity mediation, and access to coffee and tea at all hours. At night there will be time around the fire, complete with wine, cheese, and chocolate to share. You’ll enjoy solitude and quiet, time to write, read, and relax, access to all communal areas of the Lodge (including lounging before two giant, stone-hearth fireplaces), and the ability to explore Earthshine’s 76 acres of meadow, forest, and trails.
Your package also includes one private, 20-minute mentoring and/or brainstorming session with Katherine, and a Saturday afternoon workshop and craft talk with a visiting author Kimberly Brock. Katherine and Kimberly will also be available in the evenings, fireside with wine, cheese, and chocolate, for informal fellowship and conversation about the writing life.
In Addition,
In addition, retreat participants will have access to a microwave and communal fridge where you can store food and drinks to share. Groceries are available in Cashiers (30 minutes away) or Brevard (20 minutes away), with gas station/country store options 10 to 15 minutes away. There are also several restaurant options in nearby Sapphire, Lake Toxaway, Cashiers, and Brevard if you’d like to leave the property to dine.
Founder & Retreat Director: Katherine Scott Crawford
Katherine’s parenting and outdoor life columns appeared weekly in newspapers across the country, including USA Today, The Detroit Free Press, and many more. Keowee Valley, her debut historical novel, was published in 2012. A true epic, historical adventure, Adriana Trigiani called Keowee Valley “a glorious debut from a gifted author,” and Pat Conroy said Katherine’s was “a name to be remembered.”
For more about Katherine, visit http://www.katherinescottcrawford.com.
Visiting Author: Kimberly Brock
Kimberly Brock is the author of the award-winning modern Gothic novel The River Witch, an Amazon bestseller. A guest lecturer and multi-genre essayist, she was the Blog Network Coordinator for SheReads from 2012-2014. She’s the founder of Tinderbox writers retreats for women, a member of the author-driven cooperative Tall Poppy Writers, and was 2013 Georgia Author of the Year. Known for her workshops helping writers navigate writers’ block and mine their stories for inspiration and ideas, Kimberly was most recently a faculty member at the 2019 Pat Conroy Literacy Center Writers Retreat in Beaufort, South Carolina.
For more about Kimberly, go to http://www.kimberlybrockbooks.com
Reserve your Writing getaway
How much?
Full price $850 (Half due to reserve your spot and half due at retreat).
Holiday Special/Early Bird price $750
* For details about shared-room prices, see the registration page.
* Does not include local accommodations, sales, and state sales tax.
Itinerary
More than anything else, we want this to be a true retreat. To that end, every item on the itinerary is optional:
Thursday
3:00 – 5:00 PM Check-In
9:00 PM – Welcome wine, cheese, and chocolate by the fire
Friday
7:00 – 9:00 AM – Continental Breakfast in Lodge dining room
9:00 – 11:00 AM – Private, 20-minute mentoring/brainstorming sessions with Katherine (scheduled individually: sign-up available at check-in)
12:00 PM – Boxed lunch delivery
1:00 – 3:00 PM – Private, 20-minute mentoring/brainstorming sessions with Katherine (scheduled individually: sign-up available at check-in)
3:30 – 4:30 PM – Guided hike of Earthshine property
5:30 – 7:30 PM – Dinner in Lodge dining room
8:00 PM – Bring snacks to share around the fire
Saturday
7:00 – 9:00 AM – Continental breakfast in Lodge dining room
8:00 AM – Yoga by the fire upstairs
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Private, 20-minute mentoring/brainstorming sessions with Katherine (scheduled individually: sign-up available at check-in)
12:00 PM – Boxed lunch delivery
1:00 – Workshop/Craft Talk with bestselling author Kimberly Brock
5:30 – 7:00 PM – Dinner in Lodge dining room
8:00 PM – Bring snacks to share around the fire + What are you reading? (aka: informal book talk)
Sunday
7:00 AM – Guided Morning Meditation by the upstairs fire
7:00 – 9:00 – Continental Breakfast in Lodge dining hall
11:00 – Checkout
Again, though the above activities are included with your package, this itinerary is entirely optional. This is YOUR retreat. Do and make of it what you will. Write, read, hike, swing in a hammock, rock on a porch, drink coffee and tea, gather around the fire with a glass of wine, listen to the wind in the winter-bare trees, and gaze at frosty mountains to your heart’s content. Explore the area’s beautiful vistas and awesome little mountain towns. Or hunker down in your cozy private room for the entirety of the retreat and WRITE! It’s entirely up to you.
Participants must be 21 years old by the time of retreat.
Queen and Twin beds. Private or shared rooms.
No children or pets allowed. We love both, but this is to create a quiet space for writing.