Save £75 off your holiday by reserving your place now!

One of the watermill’s Australian tutors and our friend, Terry Jarvis, has just sent us this lovely picture he painted of the church clock in Fivizzano, the peaceful walled Medieval town near the watermill.

Nothing much earth-shattering happens in Fivizzano: life continues in the same quiet rhythms, with the market on Tuesdays, Mass on Sundays and the occasional dance or extravaganza in the main square.

So it is entirely appropriate that in this painting by Terry of the church tower in the centre of town the hands on the clock are eternally still.

Our painting holiday guests come the mile or so from the mill to Fivizzano to paint among the ancient narrow, car-free streets and along the city walls, looking out on fields of sunflowers and the grapes ripening under the Tuscan sun. And in the evening they’ll come up to town on a couple of nights, to sample the home cooking at the Caffé Elvetico or the Ristorante il Giardinetto …

Now is the time to organise joining them next year and to reserve your place on one of our famous painting holidays. You’ll take advantage of our generous Early Bird deal: If you book your place for a 2010 course before the end of the year, there’s a £75 ‘Early Bird’ discount. (Please quote promotion code blog1409 at time of booking.) We’ve a fabulous line-up of painting and creative writing tutors next year and, of course, everyone will enjoy the renowned hospitality of the Posara team.

Don’t forget the watermill holidays are a wonderful example of an all-exclusive deal: from the moment you arrive at Pisa airport on your first Saturday to the moment we drop you back again a week later, you’ll be spoilt rotten and you won’t have to spend any money at all during your stay. (Postcards and the odd extra drink or snack are up to you!)

Yes, everything is included in the cost of your holiday: accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including dinner with wine at charming local restaurants), local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport; an excursion by train to the marvellous walled city of Lucca) and tuition. All taxes paid. No supplements. No hidden extras. All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest!

So come on Early Birds! Get your booking in now and take advantage of our special offer. You know it makes sense and that you deserve it!

Email now us at info@watermill.net or call us on (UK number) 01888 568 375.

Just one of the stunning vistas for you to paint.

We’ve just come back from a fantastic family holiday in the Outer Hebrides and found this great letter from a guest on one of our painting courses in June………

“Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy the watermill experience. Everything was better than I expected – and I expected a lot!  Fresh, comfortable, natural - gorgeous Tuscan experience. The food was spectacular. Kerstin and her entire staff were excellent in every way. A stellar job all round.

“Thank you again - I’d go back in a minute. “

We’re so pleased everyone’s having such a good time again this year.

Thank you, Jo Brown, for this photo of the group enjoying the warm Italian sunshine on the vine verandah during Sharon’s writing course in May.  Lots of notebooks in evidence so some work was done, too!

We have had great feedback from Michael Kitchen’s course, where the group seem to have had a marvellous time.

Here’s an email from one of the participants:

“Just a note to tell you how much I enjoyed my week at the watermill. You have a wonderful team working for you. I felt very safe with Paulo driving the large van through the narrow streets. He never took any chances and always helped us down from the van. He is a kind
thoughtful man.

“Kerstin was so organized and planned such wonderful outings for us. Her picnics were fabulous. We all enjoyed her sense of humour and lightheartedness. We all felt pampered and spoilt!

“Michael was wonderful. Not only is he an exceptional painter he is also an exceptional instructor. In my experience this does not always go hand in hand. He gave all of us such indvidual attention. He also socialized with us at non teaching times which help in building a rapport with all of us. I feel very fortunate in having had Michael for a tutor this week.

“You have a wonderful facility at the watermill.”

We’ve just heard from one of the students who has just returned from David Bellamy’s course at Posara:

“The week was quite ruperb - excellent tuition and great fun. I just want to say how well the whole team looked after us - we were spoilt rotten from start to finish, and all the arrangements worked like clockwork.”

So I guess we’re doing something right!  There are still one or two places available on courses this Summer, so if you are interested in booking please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sharon Kendrick has just returned from the watermill where she took another very successful, fun-filled creative writing course in Romantic fiction.

She tells us: “We had a wonderful time again at the watermill, even better than last year! The chemistry of the group was excellent and everyone worked — and played  — together really well. They described themselves as 12 fantastic women who love fiction and laughing.”

And we’ve had feedback from one of her students who emailed to say: “I just wanted to drop you a brief note to tell you what a great time I had with Sharon at the Mill last week. The Mill, Sharon, Kirsten’s organisation, Kirsten and Mirella’s cooking, the local restaurants and Paulo’s driving were superb. We laughed our way through a fantastic, excellent value for money, week.”

You, too, could enjoy the delights of a Writing Romance course: Sharon’s course next year runs from 8-15 May 2010. Book NOW to avoid disappointment.

There’s more about Sharon on her website at www.sharonkendrick.com and if you go to her Events section, there’s something about her courses at the watermill.

She writes: “The week-long course is held in a picturesque watermill, situated at the foot of a mountain – in an area of outstanding natural beauty. There’s an abundance of blue skies, flowers and birdsong – as well as a pace of life which will slow you right down, leaving you the time and inspiration to think about your writing.”

She adds: “The programme is interactive, proactive – and just about any kind of active you want it to be! We’ll discuss full-blooded characterisation, believable dialogue and narrative-that-matters – as well as that all-important conflict. And love. Naturally. There is plenty of opportunity to have an ongoing assessment of your progress – as well as a one-to-one session with me at the end of the week. All this, and the chance to explore lots of local restaurants in pretty, rural Italian villages and some of the surrounding countryside. What more could you ask for?”

So we are now taking bookings for Sharon’s 2010 course which, just to reiterate, runs from 8-15 May 2010. Numbers are limited, so do book early if you want to come.

Our picture of Sharon was taken last year at the nearby Al Vecchio Tino restaurant, where students enjoy a morning creative session under the shade of the trees, before enjoying a delicious gourmet lunch …

More pictures of this year’s course will follow.

I’ve just spent an unproductive couple of hours trying to dowload a clip for you from the BBC4 programme - but to no avail.  But here’s a pic with a great quote. Stella Duffy on ‘How to Write a Mills & Boon’ says about the the watermill creative writing course with Sharon Kendrick:  “It’s a lot easier than writing at home with the phone ringing, email…and next-door’s builder interrupting you…you could do this all the time!” 

We mentioned in our last newsletter (and in a previous blog) that the watermill will be featured in a BBC documentary celebrating 100 years of the romantic fiction publishing house Mills & Boon.  There’s been a change of time and the documentary film will now be shown on BBC Four at 8pm on Sunday 2 November. Happy viewing!

Just had an email from Sharon Kendrick, one of our ‘writing romance’ tutors, with news of her latest book signing for Harlequin, Mills & Boon - in San Francisco, no less.  She says it’s just one of those places she’ll just HAVE to go back to.  “Which is exactly how I feel about Tuscany, and in particular, Posara, where the best creative writing course in the world is to be found.” (Sharon, Sharon!) “Picture crystal-clear water.  Close your eyes and imagine the sound of it rushing past.  Now add a profusion of scented roses to the picture.  Bird-song and cerulean skies.  A group of writers sitting drinking wine on sun-drenched lawns.  Mountains towering as a backdrop.  Indescribably good, fresh food…….”  Well,  now you’ve heard the praise from the horse’s mouth (so to speak), just get cracking and book your place!

This Summer Australian artist, Patricia Johnston, rented the mill for a couple of weeks in July, together with some of her painting students, family and friends.  They had a marvellous time by all accounts, and she has just sent us some of the work she did. 

The courtyard at the mill, by Patricia Johnston

So, if you are an artist and would like a special break with your own group, just get in touch!

(We’ll be showing you more of Patricia’s work in the next newsletter……)