Here they are setting off on the train, with Lois on the far left.

The villages of the Cinque Terre, a World Heritage site, were devastated by floods and landslides last October but, after a lot of hard work, everything seems to be getting back to normal.

Here’s one of the group, Jane Porter, taking the sun on a short boat trip between the villages.

Jane said: “Took a break today from writing to visit the stunning Cinque Terre…5 remote, beautiful seaside villages that look like they were lifted from a fairytale. Amazing!”

Her friend Jen Drogell from Canada simply said: “Cinque Terre – one of the most glorious places on earth.”

Here are some pictures taken on the trip.

As well as savouring the creative atmosphere of a watermill creative writing course, you too could enjoy the unique scenery of the Cinque Terre on your Wednesday excursion!

Don’t forget our next Writing Romance course, with Kate Walker, is from Saturday 6 October to Saturday 13 October.
For more details, please click here.
And to make an enquiry about availability or to reserve your place, please click here.

One participant, Jane Porter from the USA, already a best-selling romantic fiction author, wrote: “So so so beautiful today at The Watermill. I spent the entire day sitting outside writing beneath a rose covered trellis and it was amazing…”

And the next day she added: “Love this rustic old Tuscan watermill….what an amazing place to write. I’m sitting outside and can hear the water rushing and the birds chirping and feeling very lucky that my job allows me to do things like this!”

Here’s Jane’s picture, showing the back of the old mill overlooking the river Rosaro.

Her US colleague Megan Crane, also a best-selling author, said: “This is the view from my window – beautiful.” Here’s the picture.

On Wednesday they went to the Cinque Terre and again took some fine pictures. We’ll share those with you later.

Don’t forget our next Writing Romance course, with Kate Walker, is from Saturday 6 October to Saturday 13 October.

For more details, please click here.

And to  make an enquiry about avialability or to reserve your place, please click here.

Yes the rondini have arrived. The swifts are here, having come all that way from Southern Africa to announce that Spring has come to Tuscany.

We love to see and hear them here above our apartment in Florence and we know we’ll be seeing them at the mill this weekend as we make our last minute preparations for our new season of painting holidays and creative writing courses. Our first course, on Writing Romance with Sharon Kendrick, starts on 5 May and we think everything is well in hand: just have to get the bedding plants in, trim the lawn and maybe pressure hose the courtyard.

We’re looking forward to it all immensely and to welcoming new guests and old friends.

Kate’s course will run from Saturday 6 October to Saturday 13 October 2012.

She says: “Romantic fiction writing is big business, making up almost half the paperback fiction sold and generating billions in sales worldwide. This course is intended to provide information and advice for anyone who wants to learn how to write a popular genre novel.”

Kate Walker has been writing for Harlequin, Mills & Boon since 1984. During that time she has had almost 60 novels published all over the world.

Her recent titles have all been on the Booktrack Top 100 list in America, they have also been on Borders’ Top Ten list for at least two weeks. Her 2010 title The Konstantos Marriage Demand recently won the Best Presents Extra 2010 Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Time magazine.

Kate is also the author of the award-winning 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, which gives an introduction to the essential skills needed to succeed as a romance writer.

We’re delighted to welcome Kate to the mill for what we think will be a very inspiring — and very practical — course. She says: “If you’re just starting out writing romantic fiction, or you’ve written a manuscript or two but are not yet published and are interested in honing your skills, this course is for you. It’s intended to cover the main aspects of writing romantic fiction that from my experience of teaching over the years seem to create the most problems for unpublished writers. While the focus may be on romance novels, the techniques – dialogue, characters, tension, pacing, settings, hooks etc. will also be relevant to all forms of popular fiction.”

All our writing courses at the watermill are designed to help both enthusiastic beginners and more experienced writers. Kate’s course will undoubtedly help you to become a better writer: you will have opportunities to experiment with new techniques and fresh ways to express your thoughts and ideas. The ethos of the course is creativity and enjoyment, but if one of your aims is to sell your work, you will also learn how to provide manuscripts that are more likely to be accepted by literary agents and publishers. This service and the critique of your work which Kate will make during the week are worth more than the cost of the course!

We’ve still quite few places left, so why not sign up now? And join the genre that generates billions.

You can see more details about Kate and her work by clicking here.  And to make an enquiry about availability or to reserve your place, please click here.

It’s in our Bedroom 11 — please click here for details of the room.

Fábio, a Brazilian artist, is internationally famous for his unique and luminous floral watercolours*, but he also loves painting landscapes. Today much of his work his work focuses on plein air painting, observing and studying nature firsthand at inspiring outdoor locations. This will be his second visit to the mill and the wonderful scenery of Lunigiana. (* Fábio will also teach in oils and acrylics for those who want to work in these media.)

Here’s a lovely demonstration watercolour Fabio made last year, in our riverside gardens:

Incidentally, we also have one space on Fabio’s course the week before (16-23 June), so you could come for two glorious weeks! More details of the courses can be found by clicking here.

Accomplished in a wide range of media and styles of painting, Bob has a relaxed style of teaching for beginners and experienced painters alike.That’s his lovely watercolour of a nearby village above.  He loves to keep sketch notebooks on location and will encourage you to do so too. Here’s a page from one of his sketchbooks on his last visit:

For more details, please click here.

Jo has published 27 non-fiction books. She’s a journalist, teacher, editor and publisher and she mentors others to write and publish books and articles. She’s lived in Dubai, Oman and Norway and is now in the Netherlands. This experience has made her the mentor and publisher of choice for countless expat writers. She has made her living out of writing about what she knows — and she loves to inspire and empower others to do the same.

Jo created her Start Writing Your Life Stories course in 2008 as the perfect first step for any writer wanting to develop the skills and confidence necessary to move into writing memoirs, non-fiction, articles or blogs. Her motto is ‘sharing what I know to help others to grow’.

You will explore writing about childhood, people, place…and how to write with humour.  Above all, you will discover how to write complete stories and to find the ‘red threads’ that will turn your work into a compelling, full-length, memoir. Jo’s course is designed to help both enthusiastic beginners and more experienced writers.

The ethos of the course is creativity and enjoyment, but if one of your aims is to sell your work, you will also learn how to provide manuscripts that are more likely to beaccepted by publishers.  The course includes priceless one-to-one tutorials, a personal critique of your work, and a free copy of Jo’s How to Write Life Stories workbook.

For more about Jo, her work and her week at the mill, please click here.

And to recap, our writing course How to Write your Memoire, with Jo Parfitt, runs from Saturday 15 September to Saturday 22 September 2012.

Time to capture your life for posterity!

Do you like these two watercolours by Fabio Cembranelli, the Brazilian watercolour maestro who is taking three weeks of courses at the mill this year?

He calls them ‘Chasing Light and Shadows’.

You could be doing the same yourself under Fabio’s expert guidance on one of his painting holidays with us.

His weeks are pretty full, but we do have the following availability:  16-23 June 2012: One place 23-30 June 2012: One/two places* 30 June-7 July 2012: One/two places.

* For Fabio’s second course, between 23-30 June we have available, due to a cancellation, our lovely Bedroom 3, with en suite bathroom and marvellous views over the gardens, with the high mountains in the background. It’s a double or twin bedroom, but we are happy make it available for single occupancy.

For more about Fabio, his work and his weeks at the mill, please click here.

Sharon Kendrick (Writing Romance) 5-12 May 2012 We already have 10 guests for Sharon Kendrick’s famous course, but we do have room for one more guest.

For more details, please click here.

Sharon and her students working on the vine verandah last year

Mike Willdridge (watercolours, oils and acrylics) 12-19 May 2012 An inspiring tutor from Devon in England, who paints in a relaxed, loose style. Mike loves watercolours but is also skilled in oils and acrylics and is happy to teach in those media, too. Course full, waiting list.

Bob Henfrey (watercolours, oils, pastels and other media) 2-9 June 2012 Accomplished in a wide range of media and styles of painting, Bob has a relaxed style of teaching for beginners and experienced painters alike. He loves to keep sketch notebooks on location and will encourage you to do so too. One or two places. for more details, please click here.

A page from one of Bob Henfrey's sketchbooks made during his last visit

 Fábio Cembranelli (watercolours, oils and acrylics) 16-23 June 2012; 23-30 June 2012; 30 June-7 July 2012 Fábio, a Brazilian artist, is internationally famous for his unique and luminous floral watercolours, but he also loves painting landscapes. He will also teach in oils and acrylics for those who want to work in these media. 16-23 June 2012: One place 23-30 June 2012: One/two places 30 June-7 July 2012: One/two places. For more details, please click here.

For Fabio’s second course, between 23-30 June we have available, due to a cancellation, our lovely Bedroom 3, with en suite bathroom and marvellous views over the gardens, with the high mountains in the background.

It’s all there waiting for you – we’d love you to join us for one of our inspirational, fun-filled weeks.

Answer:  they’re all passions of Sharon Kendrick, tutor on our famous Writing Romance course at the watermill this May. Oh yes, and another passion is writing about, well, passion. Sharon says: “I write I write fast-paced, emotional reads about love in all kinds of climates. My heroes are the men most women would like to wake up to each morning…. Oh, and I teach a fabulous writing course in the beautiful mountains of northern Tuscany.”

We have 10 guests coming on Sharon’s course, which runs from 6-12 May, so we’ve just room for one or two more.

Fro details please click here.

We’d love to see you. You can pack The Great Gatsby and Scoop! too. We’ll bake the cakes and prepare all sorts of other delicious Italian food too. It’ll make you want to celebrate!