UPDATE: The Second Annual Mermaid Cottages Writers Retreats are coming in January 2013!
Details Coming Soon!
1st Annual Mermaid Cottages Writers Retreats
Once upon a time soon to be, in a cozy cottage near the sea, writers on retreat will ponder, “Oh what an inspiration to create stories about Tybee Island life these historic Mermaid Cottages must be.”Mermaid Cottages announces our invitation to published authors and journalists to be our guests for our 1st Annual Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats. From November 2011 through February 2012 (excluding holidays and major events dates) invited writers will enjoy the complimentary use of a cottage as a getaway to write and create new literary works.
In exchange for this complimentary vacation cottage stay, writers agree to submit a short story or essay to Mermaid Cottages to possibly be included in a published compendium of stories about Tybee Island, GA. Authors will agree to license Mermaid Cottages to use their story in a published book, along with proper credit and a biography of each author, on the Mermaid Cottages website, and in any way to promote Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats.
A writer’s story or essay must be a minimum of 1500 words and revolve around Tybee Island, or some aspect of the locale, either as a setting or a subject. We highly recommend the story line also include in some way the cottage in which the writer stays. Any literary genre of story or essay is acceptable, including but not limited to memoir, mystery, fantasy, romance, horror, fiction and non-fiction.
An agreement to write and permission to license your story will be part of the application to your Mermaid Cottages retreat. Stories must be submitted as a Word document within 30 days of the end of your stay at Mermaid Cottages.
We support the arts and want to publicize Tybee Island and Mermaid Cottages as a unique artistic retreat. It is our hope that these retreats will become a regular feature of our island and the publication of a book of short stories will serve to promote the arts in our area.
The application process for the 1st Annual Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats is now closed. Be sure to follow us on our Blog, on Facebook and on Twitter to learn more about the Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats and for updates on when we’ll start accepting applications for the 2nd Annual Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats in 2012!
Offering the same deal to photographers in exchange for some awesome photos? Haha….great idea. I hope you guys get some really good writers coming to Tybee.
I’ve sent in my application. What a treat it would be for me to be invited to attend. I would keep my fingers crossed, but then I couldn’t write. What a choice!
Wow, this is an incredible opportunity. I hope you will do it again next year! This year’s schedule is already in the books, otherwise I’d be all over this!
Congrats, Joanna, on being selected! You are going to turn into a beach bum.
Swish! Swish! Poof! Your wish is granted. Yes, our Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats will be an annual event so we look forward to hearing from you Nov-Feb next year!
Wonderful! So excited to hear that!
Just got the news yesterday that I am going to Tybee in January to be inspired. I can’t wait! After all, Mermaid Cottages have already been this writer’s retreat. Thank you, Diane.
What a fantastic idea! I hope that you do this next year as I will definitely apply if that’s the case. My novel is coming out in 2012 and as a Northwesterner, this would be a great opportunity to come to the South and do some readings. (Something that I could not do otherwise.)
Ahoy, Gwen! Yep! our Mermaid Cottages Writer Retreats will be an annual event every Nov-Feb! Hope to see you soon!
Southern Indiana Writers Group is over the moon with the news we’ve won a spot in December! Squeeeeee! Doing the Snoopy-Dance! We can hardly wait!
I second that squeeeeeee and raise you a whoop-whoop-whoop!
Good-day, I had mailed out all the nessary papers , news paper articals of a brief autobiography
of my gift. The letters i recieved from President’s Clinton, and Obama, I did not mail for you did
not ask for my portfollieo, and or the vcr vidieo that I produced. I would like a reply if you could
be so kind to let me know if I was elected. I gave you the time frame for which I will be free. I am also the President of Church of Gospel Outreach Ministries Incorp. Sincerly SisterE
Hey — just heard about this terrific idea from the article in SavannahNow and . . . hey, I’m already living on Tybee, or I’d be applying for my own invitation to take you up on this generous and fabulous retreat! So glad the arts are thriving here and to know about the supportive community. For any writers thinking about coming down, Tybee’s her own muse and bound to inspire, or reinvigorate, your creative energy. And the cottages are lovely. Thanks, Diane!
Sounds like a win-win proposition!
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Sounds like a great opportunity. I heard about it too late, but hope to apply next year. I’m a writer and a former mermaid, so it’s an obvious fit.
Yahoo thank you to everyone at the awesome Mermaid cottages! Our writers group was just awarded one week. In early January 2012 we will stay for a week at the lovely Mary Kay Andrews Breeze Inn house- too wonderful! Our writers group has had an annual weekly retreat for the past couple of years. We love the time to get away from our busy lives and spend a week with each other writing and renewing our creative muse. We thank you for being our 2012 retreat! We hope we are invited back next year too
Hello:
I am a retired management professor, a published writer and presently a graduate student in a professional writing program. One of my professors informed me of your contest. I think it is wonderful and I know, as a retiree, I would love to report my experience at Tybee Island to other retirees, former colleagues and friends. I am sorry you have closed the application process, I do not tweet and am not on facebook. Think about that demographic, of which includes me, that you could be excluding inadvertently.
Smooches!
Hello:
I am a retired management professor, a published writer and presently a graduate student in a professional writing program. One of my professors informed me of your contest. I think it is wonderful and I know, as a retiree, I would love to report my experience at Tybee Island to other retirees, former colleagues and friends. I am sorry you have closed the application process because I do not tweet am not on facebook and may not get next year’s information. Think about that demographic, of which includes me, that you could be excluding inadvertently.
Smooches!
Ahoy, Judith! Never fear! Our Writer Retreats will be an annual event. We’ll accept applications each November, so please follow our Social Media for when we open the application process in November 2012!
I have been home a few days now from the Retreat and I must say that it was an amazing time for creativity to flow. Not only did I complete my short story but I also worked on an additional short story and the children’s book I have been working on. Inspiration abounded at the Paws and Paddles cottage and my mermaids, Jan and Diane were awesome! I hope to come back next year
Ooooh! Oooooh!!! PICK ME!!!! PICK ME!!!!! **waves hand all around in the air** PICK ME FOR FEB 2013!!!!
Just a question…. is there a maximum that we can’t go over? I tend to write novels when I get inspired! ^_^
I am a native Georgian and a published writer who loves Tybee. Please keep me posted for the next window of opportunity–I am always inspired by being near the ocean, and I would love to acknowledge “Mermaid Cottages” and Tybee Island in my next book. Best, Kimberly Greene Angle