Our annual retreat, In the Company of Writers, will be at beautiful historic Hilltop House in Harper’s Ferry, WV, April 27—29, 2007. 

The outstanding WRW Retreat program committee has lined up an excellent series of speakers for the 2007 WRW Retreat! 

So far, our confirmed speakers/presenters include authors Julia Quinn, Lisa Gardner, and Madeleine Hunter.  As well as Sue Grimshaw (the romance buyer for Borders, Borders Express and Waldenbooks) and Michelle Buonfiglio (Internet Romance Network Reviewer).

The following Editors and Agents have already signed up to be with us:

Editors:
Kate Duffy - Kensington
Jennifer Enderlin - St. Martins Press
Tracy Farrell - Harlequin Books, New York
Shauna Summers - Bantam Books
Lucia Macro - Avon

Agents:
Jenny Bent - Trident Media Group
Elaine English - Elaine English Literary
Emily Sylvan Kim - The Prospect Agency
Meg Ruley - Jane Rotrosen Agency
Elaine Spencer - The Knight Agency

Look for more exciting announcements in the near future as we finalize the rest of the speakers for 2007!

Best,
Jeanne P. Adams
2007 WRW Retreat Chair

The Washington Romance Writers annual retreat, In the Company of Writers, is about a month away and everyone is gearing up for a superb event. Our roster of special guests includes:

Speakers:
Carly Philips—keynote speaker
MaryJanice Davidson
Sabrina Jeffries
Ruth Langan
Margie Lawson
Michelle Buonfiglio—NBC syndicated columnist

(WRW members who will speak: Kathy Seidel, Karen Rose, Beth Fedorko, and Nora Roberts)

Editors:
Kate Duffy—Kensington
Jennifer Enderlin—St. Martin’s Press
Tracy Farrell—Harlequin Books, New York
Denise Zaza—Harlequin Books, New York

Agents:
Jenny Bent—Trident Media Group
Helen Breitweiser—Cornerstone Literary Agency
Elaine English—Elaine English Literary
Kim Lionetti—BookEnds, LLC
Meg Ruley—Jane Rotrosen Agency

A few things to consider: Please contact Liz Lincoln if you would like to contribute a basket for the wonderful raffle.  Julie Ray Stewart is planning Snack Attack which will start on Friday night this year.  Authors, please mail your promotional items to Gail Barrett no later than April 15, and don’t forget about the published authors table.  There will be 136 people attending the retreat this year.  Massages will once again be available during the retreat.  Please bring books for the book swap and your boas for Jeopardy on Saturday night.  Beth Fedorko is planning very special table centerpieces and Lisa Dyson will help newcomers feel right at home.  And don’t forget to stop at Turn The Page Bookstore & Cafe for the pre-retreat booksigning on Friday!  I can’t wait to see everyone.

A huge thank you to the dedicated group of WRW members who stepped forward to handle every aspect of the retreat this year.

Best wishes,
Sophia Nash
2006 WRW Retreat Chair

The retreat-planning group is delighted to announce that Michelle Buonfiglio, the syndicated Romance columnist for NBC and 75 local TV news websites, has accepted our invitation to speak at the 2006 WRW retreat.

For a list of other scheduled speakers, click here. 

We are in the process of finalizing retreat programs and speakers and will have another update next month.

Best wishes,
Sophia Nash
2006 WRW Retreat Chair

The 2006 WRW Retreat at Hilltop House in Harper’s Ferry is sold out.

The Retreat Committee is in the process of sorting through all applications. The Registrar will postmark follow-up letters to all applicants no later than the first week in February.

Thank you to everyone who registered!

Good News

We’ve had a few additions to the line-up of speakers, workshops, editors and agents.  The following is a list of current retreat guests:

Guest Authors:
Carly Philips—keynote speaker
MaryJanice Davidson
Sabrina Jeffries
Ruth Langan
Margie Lawson

Agents:
Jenny Bent—Trident Media Group
Helen Breitweiser—Cornerstone Literary Agency
Elaine English—Graybill & English
Meg Ruley—Jane Rotrosen Agency

Editors:
Kate Duffy—Kensington
Jennifer Enderlin—St. Martin’s Press
Tracy Farrell—Harlequin
(Invitations are out to editors at NAL/Signet, Warner, Avon, Pocket and Bantam/Dell)

Best wishes from the Retreat Committee,
Sophia Nash
2006 WRW Retreat Chair

Thank you.

I would like to extend thanks from myself and the entire board for your contribution to the WRW Retreat Scholarship fund.  Over the years, our annual In the Company of Writers retreat has become the capstone to WRW’s wonderful program year.  Recently, the board fretted that with each cost increase we were potentially preventing members from attending the retreat.

Your contribution will help to make sure this is not the case and that every member who wants to attend has a greater chance of being able to attend this important event.

Lavinia Klein
President
Washington Romance Writers