2012 Retreat Group Photo (Session 2, the 2nd year of the session)
"Get yer Rainforest Swag here!"
"Get yer Rainforest Swag here!"
2026 Schedules
(Scroll down to find your session)
(Scroll down to find your session)
- We recommend attending writers should be vaccinated against Covid, and to test prior to coming to the retreat. Masks are not required in the community writing spaces (lounge and restaurant). Writing areas are open to the public or resort workers during different times of the day. Please be cognizant of fellow attendees who choose one way or the other, and consider social distancing, when possible, for the comfort of those needing that level of comfort. If it is not safe for you while masked when other writers are not masked, inside or out, adjust your writing space accordingly. Obviously that would mean more in-room writing than writing in the community writing spaces.
- Remember: If you’re writing in the lounge, there should be no loud talk or sustained merriment. If you think you’ll be having an extended conversation with someone, please take it outside, or into the restaurant area (unless people are writing in there, too). Attendees are trying to concentrate and write.
- No outside alcohol can be brought into the lounge/restaurant area.
- Below are the planned main events for the 2026 Retreat. Repeated daily events are not listed each day, such as Night Owl and Early Bird sessions, Community Writing times, and so on.
Session One
Wednesday, February 18
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this, but the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. I can’t guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, February 19
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Writing Non-fiction to Support Your Fiction” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Kelly Lagor. Do you find yourself doing lots of research for your fiction projects? Perhaps so much research, it borders on procrastination? You can make that procrastination work for you by turning it into both (minor) profit AND help with marketing/awareness of you and your writing by turning it into a non-fiction essay. We'll go through examples of how to find essay topics in your research notes, strategies for writing sellable essays, how to develop relationships with subject matter experts, how to query magazine editors for non-fiction topics, and how to use essays to market yourself and your work.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, February 20
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “A Catalog of Books. Or: How, Why, and When to Build Short Story & Poetry Collections” Salmon House Restaurant
Panel presented by Fran Wilde, Brenda Cooper & Patrick Swenson. Join Fran & friends to look at, plan for, and begin collecting your work into a book-shaped object. There’s more to it than you might think. Plus, discover common threads in theme, pattern, and characters you are working with along the way. Warning: may lead to the writing of even more stories.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, February 21
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Writing Good Stories” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by James Van Pelt. Battle-scarred but still charging ahead, long-time short story author James Van Pelt shares what he has learned about making stories “good" whether you are new to the craft or are a long-time veteran. Be prepared to ask questions or to share your own hard-earned knowledge as part of the discussion.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat if you wish, or across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy some amazing soups and some to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup to make it super convenient. The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, February 22
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this, but the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. I can’t guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, February 19
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Writing Non-fiction to Support Your Fiction” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Kelly Lagor. Do you find yourself doing lots of research for your fiction projects? Perhaps so much research, it borders on procrastination? You can make that procrastination work for you by turning it into both (minor) profit AND help with marketing/awareness of you and your writing by turning it into a non-fiction essay. We'll go through examples of how to find essay topics in your research notes, strategies for writing sellable essays, how to develop relationships with subject matter experts, how to query magazine editors for non-fiction topics, and how to use essays to market yourself and your work.
- Kelly Lagor is a regular contributor to Asimov's with her ongoing series of "Speculative Screencraft" Thought Experiment essays on the intersection of film, genre and society; and to Analog with a regular rotation of Science Fact essays on biological topics. Other essays of hers have appeared in Locus, Reactor, and Uncanny; and her fiction has appeared in places like Reactor, Giganotosaurus, and Analog. She also lives in San Diego, where she works as a Staff Scientist for Illumina.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, February 20
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “A Catalog of Books. Or: How, Why, and When to Build Short Story & Poetry Collections” Salmon House Restaurant
Panel presented by Fran Wilde, Brenda Cooper & Patrick Swenson. Join Fran & friends to look at, plan for, and begin collecting your work into a book-shaped object. There’s more to it than you might think. Plus, discover common threads in theme, pattern, and characters you are working with along the way. Warning: may lead to the writing of even more stories.
- Fran Wilde is the co-Editor in Chief of the Sunday Morning Transport (https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/) and the multiple-award-winning author of eleven books, including the short story collection A Catalog of Storms (Fairwood 2025), which is available for personalization and your own custom storm drawing in the Rainforest bookstore.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, February 21
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Writing Good Stories” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by James Van Pelt. Battle-scarred but still charging ahead, long-time short story author James Van Pelt shares what he has learned about making stories “good" whether you are new to the craft or are a long-time veteran. Be prepared to ask questions or to share your own hard-earned knowledge as part of the discussion.
- Long-time High School English teacher James Van Pelt has been selling short fiction to many of the major venues since 1989. He was a finalist for the Nebula, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, Locus Awards, and Analog and Asimov's and AnLab Award reader's choice awards. Years and years ago he was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He still feels "new." Fairwood Press released a huge, limited-edition, signed and numbered collection of his work, The Best of James Van Pelt.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat if you wish, or across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy some amazing soups and some to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup to make it super convenient. The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, February 22
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
Session Two
Wednesday, February 25
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this, but the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. I can’t guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, February 26
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “World Building from the Ground Up” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Nancy Kress. What and how much do you need to know about your fictional world before you begin to write? The geographical and social characteristics of your setting can--and should--influence both the plot and your characters' actions. This talk will explore techniques for creating believable and compelling worlds, as well as how to get details on the page without large expository chunks that slow down the story.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm -- Pie Night!: Cabin #6
Done with dinner? Need an excuse to have some dessert? Thanks to Jeff Soesbe, Pie Night is here! Hope on over any time after you finish dinner.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, February 27
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Ladder of Sadness” Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Daryl Gregory. Daryl writes: “I once asked Gardner Dozois for career advice, and he said, ‘It’s all a ladder of sadness.’ We’re going to talk about what he meant, and how failure at every level — in my sentences, in my stories, in my career — turned out to be one of the most important ingredients for doing satisfying work. I just had to follow one piece of advice that I stole from a book on meditation. (I am also bad at meditation.)”
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, February 28
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Using Improv to Unleash the Unexpected” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Jeremy Robkin. Jeremy will share improv techniques to look at the familiar from fresh angles and uncover original and surprising story ideas. Participation in exercises is encouraged but not required.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat if you wish, or across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy some amazing soups and some to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup to make it super convenient. The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, March 1
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this, but the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. I can’t guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, February 26
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “World Building from the Ground Up” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Nancy Kress. What and how much do you need to know about your fictional world before you begin to write? The geographical and social characteristics of your setting can--and should--influence both the plot and your characters' actions. This talk will explore techniques for creating believable and compelling worlds, as well as how to get details on the page without large expository chunks that slow down the story.
- Nancy Kress is the author of thirty-three books, including twenty-six novels, four collections of short stories, and three books on writing. Her work has won six Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and has been translated into two dozen languages, including Klingon. In addition to writing, Kress often teaches at various venues around the country and abroad, including a visiting lectureship at the University of Leipzig, a 2017 writing class in Beijing, and the annual intensive workshop Taos Toolbox, which she taught with Walter Jon Williams.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm -- Pie Night!: Cabin #6
Done with dinner? Need an excuse to have some dessert? Thanks to Jeff Soesbe, Pie Night is here! Hope on over any time after you finish dinner.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, February 27
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Ladder of Sadness” Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Daryl Gregory. Daryl writes: “I once asked Gardner Dozois for career advice, and he said, ‘It’s all a ladder of sadness.’ We’re going to talk about what he meant, and how failure at every level — in my sentences, in my stories, in my career — turned out to be one of the most important ingredients for doing satisfying work. I just had to follow one piece of advice that I stole from a book on meditation. (I am also bad at meditation.)”
- Daryl Gregory’s novels and short stories have been translated into a dozen languages and have won multiple awards, including the World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson awards, and have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Edgar, Locus, Lambda, and Sturgeon awards. His new novel When We Were Real (Saga Press) debuted last year. The novel Revelator (Knopf) and the novella The Album of Dr. Moreau (tor.com) both appeared in 2021. His eight other books include Spoonbenders, Afterparty, Pandemonium, We Are All Completely Fine, and the collection Unpossible and Other Stories.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, February 28
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Using Improv to Unleash the Unexpected” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Jeremy Robkin. Jeremy will share improv techniques to look at the familiar from fresh angles and uncover original and surprising story ideas. Participation in exercises is encouraged but not required.
- Jeremy Robkin is a member of the Duvall Improv Social Club and Duvall Poetry Open Mic community. He writes poetry, speculative fiction, and fuses his love of improv and poetry to create poems on the fly based on a single word provided by the audience.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat if you wish, or across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy some amazing soups and some to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup to make it super convenient. The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, March 1
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
Session Three
Wednesday, March 4
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this; the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. No guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, March 5
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Throwing Rocks at Your Characters” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Kate Ristau. Kurt Vonnegut said that the job of an author is to put your character up a tree and throw rocks at them. But how do we create conflict and character motivation that is compelling, and true, instead of just hurling pain and hoping it sticks? Join Kate Ristau for an interactive presentation on how conflict emerges from character and story is more than just stones.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm -- Karaoke Night: Cabin #6
Presented by Erik Grove. Time for Session 3 to feel the vibes! We know What's Up. You want to be a Paperback Writer. Every Day You Write The Book. But The Truth Hurts: we're Under Pressure. The Cure: Let it Go, take your horse or your feets to that Old Town Road and sing with your Friends in Low Places, aka Cabin Six. You'll Shake It Off and be feeling Good As Hell in no time! Dynamic divas, crowd chorales, and shy spectators are all welcome. Feel free to bring your Gin and Juice or Tennessee Whiskey.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, March 6
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Project Management Tools for Sustainable Writing Habits” Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by J.B. Kish and Remy Nakamura. Join project managers Remy Nakamura and J.B. Kish as they explore how they've adapted PM tools and systems to build sustainable writing habits. You’ll leave with clear strategies to keep moving forward without burning out or abandoning your work.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00 pm – “Publisher Q&A Publisher” Cabin #6
Presented by Jacob Weisman. This afternoon, just before dinner, come on in and ask your state-of-publishing questions to Tachyon Publications publisher Jacob Weisman. Things are always changing in publishing, and so do the questions!
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, March 7
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “The Ending Was There All Along” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Dean Wells. So you're stuck. You don't know how your story ends. Chances are it's there but hiding in the shadows. Join the discussion in how you can bring that perfect ending into the light.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat, across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy amazing soups and to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup . . . super convenient! The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, March 8
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this; the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. No guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, March 5
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Throwing Rocks at Your Characters” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Kate Ristau. Kurt Vonnegut said that the job of an author is to put your character up a tree and throw rocks at them. But how do we create conflict and character motivation that is compelling, and true, instead of just hurling pain and hoping it sticks? Join Kate Ristau for an interactive presentation on how conflict emerges from character and story is more than just stones.
- Kate Ristau is the President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) and the Executive Director of Willamette Writers. She is the author of three middle grade series, Clockbreakers, Mythwakers, and Wylde Wings, and the young adult series, Shadow Girl. You can read her essays in The New York Times and The Washington Post. She is the chair of the Tigard Public Library Board of Directors, and you can meet her online at Kateristau.com.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm -- Karaoke Night: Cabin #6
Presented by Erik Grove. Time for Session 3 to feel the vibes! We know What's Up. You want to be a Paperback Writer. Every Day You Write The Book. But The Truth Hurts: we're Under Pressure. The Cure: Let it Go, take your horse or your feets to that Old Town Road and sing with your Friends in Low Places, aka Cabin Six. You'll Shake It Off and be feeling Good As Hell in no time! Dynamic divas, crowd chorales, and shy spectators are all welcome. Feel free to bring your Gin and Juice or Tennessee Whiskey.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, March 6
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Project Management Tools for Sustainable Writing Habits” Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by J.B. Kish and Remy Nakamura. Join project managers Remy Nakamura and J.B. Kish as they explore how they've adapted PM tools and systems to build sustainable writing habits. You’ll leave with clear strategies to keep moving forward without burning out or abandoning your work.
- J.B. Kish is a weird fiction and horror author living in the Pacific Northwest. He is the former co-chair of the Oregon Horror Writer’s Association, and his writing has been published in Nightmare Magazine, Skull & Laurel, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Metaphorosis Magazine's Best of '22, and others. Additionally, he is a writing milestone book coach that helps authors leverage project management to accomplish their writing goals.
- Remy Nakamura is a writer of dark, weird and hopepunk fiction. You can find his stories in Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and many anthologies. He has an MA in Genre Writing and is a graduate of the Clarion West Six-Week Workshop. He currently serves as Vice-Chair on Clarion West's Board. He has fifteen years of experience as an Agile project manager and has led sustainable productivity trainings for writers, IT professionals, and civic leaders. Remy grew up in Japan, Greece, and the San Francisco Bay Area. He lives in the PNW where he loves trail runs in chilly rainforests and long soaks in hot springs.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00 pm – “Publisher Q&A Publisher” Cabin #6
Presented by Jacob Weisman. This afternoon, just before dinner, come on in and ask your state-of-publishing questions to Tachyon Publications publisher Jacob Weisman. Things are always changing in publishing, and so do the questions!
- Jacob Weisman is the World Fantasy Award-winning editor and publisher at Tachyon Publications, which he founded in 1995. He is the series editor of Tachyon’s Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, and Shirley Jackson Award-winning novella line. His writing has appeared in The Nation, Realms of Fantasy, the Louisville Courier-Journal, The Seattle Weekly, and The Cooper Point Journal. More recently, Jacob co-authored the novel Egyptian Motherlode, as well as the novellas Mingus Fingers and Egyptian Motherlode (Fairwood Press).
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, March 7
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “The Ending Was There All Along” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Dean Wells. So you're stuck. You don't know how your story ends. Chances are it's there but hiding in the shadows. Join the discussion in how you can bring that perfect ending into the light.
- Dean Wells is a writer of retro-futurist science fantasy, alternatively humorous or laced with existential dread. He doesn't know why, they just come out that way. His published work has appeared in Queer SciFi, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Quantum Muse, Ideomancer, and other fine venues of speculative fiction.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat, across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy amazing soups and to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup . . . super convenient! The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, March 8
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
Session Four
Wednesday, March 11
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this, but the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. I can’t guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, March 12
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Not a Thread But a Braid” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Erin M. Evans. Erin will talk about reconsidering structures to make multiple POVs sing. Also, what are the pitfalls and strengths of multiple POV stories, and how do you make it work for you?
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, March 13
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “World Building the Lazy Bastard Way” Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Fonda Lee. Worldbuilding can feel like an overwhelming process. How do you create and convey a fictional world that is richly imagined and utterly convincing—without losing you or your reader in minutiae or spending two years working on maps and genealogy charts? Fonda Lee talks about how to approach worldbuilding in a way that’s intuitive and efficient (and not actually lazy).
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, March 14
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Medical Writes and Wrongs” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Mona West. The human body is amazing both in life and death, but books, movies, and shows almost always get it wrong. No, you don’t actually shock a flat line. No, you probably shouldn’t pull that knife out of your chest. And no, corpses don’t sit up on their own. The reality is far more interesting. In this talk, physician Mona West will discuss how the body actually works, how to weave medical fact into your fiction, and why it matters..
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat, across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy amazing soups and to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup . . . super convenient! The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, March 15
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!
5:00 pm -- Retreat Opens
The retreat “officially” opens now. Some of you may arrive earlier than this, but the lounge/restaurant is open at 3 pm. I can’t guarantee the writing space will be available earlier. Check in at the resort’s main office is 3 pm, check out at 11 am.
7:00 pm -- Registration Opens: Meet & Greet & Write
Or maybe a bit earlier. Participants can start picking up badges and retreat information at this time in the lounge, either from me or Debora Reinert, though I’ll be in the lounge area when it opens close to 3 pm, if you’re there early. The “word count tally board” will be in a designated spot in the lounge. The official “start” time for keeping track starts as soon as you have your registration badge! Also, don’t forget to vote for this year’s Rainforest Inspirational Award recipient from your session before the end of Saturday. (Ballot box in Cabin 6.) If you haven’t already been in the lounge meeting and greeting, this is a good time. Or try a writing session. This is all very informal.
The restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Locals and other tourists must vacate the space, but we can remain for writing. You can mingle with other late-night writers, but by 9 pm, the night writers get a quiet room. Please wear your badges.
8:00 pm -- Night Owl Writers
For those of you who like to burn the late-night oil and write in a community setting, you’ll be able to hang out here and write for as long as you’d like. Badges required. This repeats Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
10:00 pm -- Book table opens. The first session takes longer to get things set up, but it’ll be ready for business before the night is through. (For Early Bird writers, the table will magically appear the next day.) Many of the books come to Rainforest courtesy of our bookseller Kathmandu Books (Mark Wingenfeld, proprietor). Other books are on consignment (Kathmandu takes a 20% consignment.) Writers, bring those books to the lounge as early as you can and get an accounting sheet filled out. See Debora or me. Attendees, do bring some green or plastic and support the independent bookseller and your great presenters, and all the writers who have books! From this point until the end of the retreat, the book table will be open whenever you can find Debora or me. You can also put books on hold to pay later, but Debora can also run the credit card orders. Don’t forget to track down fellow writers to get your books signed!
Thursday, March 12
6:00 am -- Early Bird Writers: The Salmon House Restaurant
You can even come in earlier if you’re that kind of crazy! It’s the early morning equivalent of the Night Owls. Get your coffee (available in the restaurant section, but usually Debora will have some hot coffee in thermoses ready on the lounge bar) and come on in and write. Badges required. We need to get to know a lot of new folks, and new folks need to get to know alums. You can also be in the restaurant area to write if you wish. It is an extension of the lounge and the only eating of meals in there during the early part of the day will be the breakfasts that the resort puts on for you exclusively. (This repeats Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.) For those writers coming in today, pick up your badges and retreat information just about any time in the lounge.
9:00 am – Pancake Breakfast! Cabin 6
The restaurant is closed to local traffic, but the Rainforest Writers Village wants to treat you to a good first meal of the day each day of the retreat, complimentary! Today, the retreat director gets up early enough to throw pancakes on the grill and dish out fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and other goodies. Come to Cabin 6 anytime between 9:00 and 10:00.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Not a Thread But a Braid” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Erin M. Evans. Erin will talk about reconsidering structures to make multiple POVs sing. Also, what are the pitfalls and strengths of multiple POV stories, and how do you make it work for you?
- Erin M. Evans is the author of the Books of the Usurper series, beginning with Empire of Exiles, and the award-winning Brimstone Angels Saga, set in the Forgotten Realms. She is a co-host of the podcast Writing about Dragons and Shit, and a cast member of the actualplay series, Dungeon Scrawlers. Erin lives in the Seattle area with her husband and sons.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come in to Cabin #6
This lunch is on your own, but we'll have some sandwich fixings and light munchies in Cabin #6 for those who want to pick up some food between now and 1 pm. There are a few “assembly” areas for putting together sandwiches, and you can pick up other food from the table, eat in the cabin, outside, or in your own room/cabin. There are also food items you can buy in the store across the street, and other restaurants within driving distance.
1:00 pm – Community Writing continues in the Lounge
Or maybe you skipped lunch and kept on writing! You can continue to write in there until about an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner.
6:00 pm -- Group Dinner in the Salmon House Restaurant
All participants, let’s meet and eat in the restaurant for a big group dinner! It’s fun to have a big group of us in one spot chowing down. We do so on this particular night and time so the restaurant staff is ready for us. NOTE: On this Thursday only, since the Lounge will be open to the public, attending writers can’t be in the lounge from 4-6 pm (and, of course, until after dinner). The trade-off is that writers can be in the restaurant part (The Salmon House) if they want to write from 4-6 pm. The restaurant part will be reserved for the group meal, and will not be used for seating for the public. Before the group dinner begins, computers and other things will have to be put away, because once we are seated at our tables, they may need the bottom area of the restaurant, as well as the lounge, for more public seating. Also, it will be okay for writers to be at the lounge bar for drinks and chat (or writing) during that 4-6 pm time. This dinner schedule does not take place any other night.
Fri-Sat nights the restaurant is open from 3 pm – 8 pm daily for dinner. We made the decision to leave dinner to you because we wanted to give you to support our sponsors, the Rainforest Resort Village. Meals from their restaurant are reasonably priced and quite tasty! Other restaurants are in the area, however, including the Roosevelt Room at the Lake Quinault Lodge, one mile away, and a few other options in Amanda Park at the foot of the lake.
8:00 pm – Night Owl Writers
Friday, March 13
9:00 am -- Guest Continental Breakfast: Salmon House Restaurant
The restaurant will open just for us and provide breakfast! It’s complimentary. It'll be yummy.
11:00 am -- Discussion: “World Building the Lazy Bastard Way” Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Fonda Lee. Worldbuilding can feel like an overwhelming process. How do you create and convey a fictional world that is richly imagined and utterly convincing—without losing you or your reader in minutiae or spending two years working on maps and genealogy charts? Fonda Lee talks about how to approach worldbuilding in a way that’s intuitive and efficient (and not actually lazy).
- Fonda Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Green Bone Saga, consisting of the novels Jade City, Jade War, and Jade Legacy, along with a prequel novella The Jade Setter of Janloon and a short story collection, Jade Shards. She is also the author of the fantasy novella, Untethered Sky and several young adult novels: Zeroboxer, the Exo duology, and the Breathmarked duology, co-written with Shannon Lee, and the first book, Breath of the Dragon, was published in 2025. Her newest book is The Last Contract of Isako, coming in May this year. Fonda is a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, and a six-time winner of the Aurora Award, as well as a multiple finalist for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the Oregon Book Award. Jade City has been translated into 15 languages, named to TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time, and optioned for television development.
12:00 pm -- Lunch: On Your Own, or come into Cabin #6 as done previously on Thursday
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
9:00 pm or so -- Group Readings: Salmon House Restaurant
When the restaurant closes, and they’ve cleared the seating area, it is open for retreat members. Here's your chance to share with other attendees and guests the material you've written so far during the retreat or share other work in progress, or completed. Note: This event is very informal and happens dependent on the writers in each session who might want to share. If that’s you, be proactive and check with other attendees who might be interested. Or show up just ahead of the scheduled time and see who’s in.
Saturday, March 14
9:00 am -- Group Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant (Complimentary)
11:00 am -- Discussion: “Medical Writes and Wrongs” The Salmon House Restaurant
Presented by Mona West. The human body is amazing both in life and death, but books, movies, and shows almost always get it wrong. No, you don’t actually shock a flat line. No, you probably shouldn’t pull that knife out of your chest. And no, corpses don’t sit up on their own. The reality is far more interesting. In this talk, physician Mona West will discuss how the body actually works, how to weave medical fact into your fiction, and why it matters..
- Mona West lives in the Pacific Northwest and writes about empathy, illness, climate change, and the ends of all things. She is a Viable Paradise alum, lapsed Codexian, music snob, critter enthusiast, and korok seed aficionado. She also cohosts the Unfortunately Podcast with Courtney Floyd.
1:00 pm – The Reinert & Walbridge Soup and Sandwich Lunch! Served from Cabin #18
Join Debora Reinert and Chuck Walbridge, who will host a tasty lunch. This happens from the porch of Cabin 18. We’ll prep everything in #18 and be ready to feed you! There will be some space in #18 to eat, across the way in Cabin #6, or wherever you prefer. Enjoy amazing soups and to-die-for grilled cheese sandwiches. We serve the soup in a nice cozy cup . . . super convenient! The lunch is complimentary and guaranteed delicious. Dietary restrictions? Debora will post those. You can bring your own cheese or sandwich bread, too, if need be, and we can cook it up.
3:00-8:00 pm -- Dinner on your own.
8:00 pm -– Night Owl Writers: Rainforest Lounge
Remember that it is writers only, starting at this time, or a little later, if the bartender is stretching the closing time!
9:00 pm -- Cabin Party: Cabin #6
(Or sooner!) The Saturday night Cabin Party is a Rainforest retreat institution! This would be BYOB for not-so-light drinks. Extra munchies can be brought too.
Remember that after-hours celebrating or alcoholic drinks in the lounge are not permitted, and Night Owl writers still have the right-of-way in there for as long as they want.
Sunday, March 15
9:00 am -- Breakfast: The Salmon House Restaurant.
11:00 am -- Farewell Fling & Awards: Rainforest Lounge.
After you’ve had your breakfast and last chance for writing and adding to that word count, we’ll meet here to say goodbye and show our appreciation to our attendees and honored presenters. We’ll check the biggest winners from the word count board (guaranteed a prize!) and hand out the Rainforest Writers Inspiration Award. We’ll close it all out with a drawing for neat door prizes. Bring something for the prize table if you like!
This is also your last chance at the book table, before the Fling, and even after we’re done. If your books are there on consignment, you’ll settle up with Debora, and also check with us if Kathmandu Books has any books left on the table that you can sign.
12:00 pm -- Retreat Closes.
Drive home safely!!