Who Should Come?
Writers who want:
- Protected time and place to focus on writing, creativity, productivity: you will get stuff done!
- Friendship and accountability of working alongside (and sometimes together) with other authors
- Personal mentoring from seasoned professional editors at the peaks of their careers and powers
- Stunning natural setting: "touch grass" is fine, but how about touching the ancient bones of the Sierra Nevada range, inhaling the subtle aroma of Ponderosa pine, and exploring eleven secluded wooded acres of alpine beauty?
- Good food and drink, made on the premises
- Unlimited supply of chocolate
- Occasional outings that will ignite your imagination and creativity
Writers who are:
- already pressing into their vocation (or career) as published authors
- struggling to reach a milestone
- lonely, and want to connect with peers in a natural way
- looking for an opportunity to bring their writing partner(s) or critique crew on a story-focused adventure
- hungry for extended unstructured time with a writing coach and literary editor
- ready to seize the opportunity to spend four nights and five days in a giant Scandinavian chalet!
The maximum number of participants (in addition to your hosts and your chef) is sixteen. If some premium rooms are taken as private rooms, it may decrease the maximum number of participants, so register ASAP. Or at least join our email list to get timely reminders, early-bird discounts, and the occasional special offer!
Where will it be?
The jewel of the Sierra Nevadas, Lake Tahoe!
Specifically, we'll be staying and writing at the premier vacation rental home in South Lake Tahoe: Fjeldheim ("mountain home" in Norwegian).
Fjeldheim is a nine-bedroom, nine-bath, 9,000sf Norwegian mountain chalet overlooking Lake Tahoe. It can comfortably sleep 29 persons without resorting to pull-out couches (two) or bunk beds (none). Check out Fjeldheim’s gallery of photos and videos to get some idea of what you’ll find there: wood-paneled walls and hand-carved eave-dragons, elegant Nordic antiques and decor, a huge fireplace, spacious dining room and greatroom; a billiards room, library/media room, observation tower; a sheltered outdoor hot tub near a stone-and-steel custom barbecue overlooking Lake Tahoe, and much more.
Fjeldheim is perched on a high ridge bordering Edgewood Canyon in Stateline, Nevada. It is just a fifty-mile drive from Reno Cannon International Airport in Reno, Nevada, and about a hundred miles from Sacramento, California if you are driving from the Bay area (or 117 miles from Sacramento International Airport, if you can't fly into Reno).
Who is behind all this?
Nic Nelson is an acclaimed writing coach and book editor. As the catalyst and head coach for Wordsmith Writing Coaches he mentors editors and writing coaches while helping authors, poets, and screenwriters to “write well and publish wisely.” He leads PRESS, a critique and support group for writers which offers twice-weekly writing sprints & productivity coaching. He has served as editor-in-chief of two literary journals, Senior Editor for Luna City Press, fiction and poetry judge for Word Weavers’ annual Tapestry Awards (among others), vice president of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, core faculty of the International Mentoring Network and the ISM Writers Collective, and taught at the Hope International University School of Graduate Studies for six years. He is also a Top Writer on Quora (2018) and a frequent teacher and workshop leader at book festivals and writers’ conferences.
Troy Lambert is the bestselling author of more than thirty thrilling novels and several mildly odd but super helpful works of nonfiction. Known as The Plot Dude, he’s a fun book coach, insightful and incisive editor, and widely-known educator as well. He has written mine site characterization reports for the EPA, has a true Area 51 story (buy him a shot of good scotch and he might confide it to you), worked at the most haunted battlefield at Gettysburg, and once even parallel parked a camper-trailer in Moab. He is also lead editor at Print to Pro and the co-founder of a publishing company.
In February of 2024, these two characters were enjoying a quick lunch between their speaking gigs at a popular writers conference and brainstorming about cool things they could do that maximized their strengths, put their pooled resources to good use, and involved comfortable couches, wide-ranging conversations, and having fun while getting great writing done.
In Troy's words, "I think it was the iced tea and sandwiches, and the energy of the conference around us, that got the creative juices really flowing... [we decided] this was something cool we could do for authors, and get writing done ourselves. And have a lot of fun doing it."
Is there a topic or theme for the week?
Our theme in 2025:
The Place is Alive: Settings that Embody Your Theme, Create Meaning, and Drive Your Story
(short version: Making Setting a Character in Your Story)
Setting is too often relegated to a sort of narrative "set design" in which the characters play out their scenes. This works fine for some stories, especially flash fiction and trope-heavy fables (the dark forest, the haunted mansion, the foggy harbor, the fetid swamp, the desert of endless dunes, etc.). But in many stories, the places where the most important things occur ought to be just as well-developed as any of your characters.
Neglect them at your peril.
Settings can wield a kind of "main character energy" in both literary fiction and genre fiction. When properly developed, a great setting can "speak" and even "argue" with you as you write, just like any core character, creating a stronger story. A great setting can become so real and alive that your readers will long to return to them, just as strongly as they long to spend more time with your characters, when your story has ended.
A great deal of time and energy is spent on "worldbuilding" these days. Books, workshops, apps, entire conferences seem devoted to this concept, and for good reason. But much of this emphasizes the large scale: centuries or millennia of history, continental or planetwide geography & climate, entire civilizations and systems of magic and technology. There is a role for this "world-scale" development of setting in many stories, especially epics and operatic series.
But some stories can't afford to invest much word count in full-bore worldbuilding, or their pacing can't spare entire paragraphs devoted to the world's backstory or even the immediate surroundings—yet these stories absolutely must take place in a compelling setting.
What then? Must every well-developed setting involve detailed maps and timelines, conlangs and ecosystems, with detailed socieconomic and political strata? Or are there other ways to bring a setting to life without using the classic tools of worldbuilding?
Troy and I shared a great deal about evocative description (saying more with less), scene-scale setting, contextually-appropriate worldbuilding, enlisting your theme's help as your "set director," and much more.
You'll find the latest about the upcoming retreat right here.
But teaching and guided discussion will not fill all your time at the Fjeldheim Writers Retreat.
We maintain a strong "Writer MBA" ethos at Fjeldheim: an openness of schedule that allows for rest, lingering over meals, enjoying sunsets, and allowing you to engage or withdraw from interaction with others in ways that maximize your happiness.
There will also be protected time for you to schedule one-on-one meetings with Nic, Troy, or our theme facilitators. We are here to help you work through your blocks and rough spots, whether in your creative process, your WIP, your publishing or marketing process, or even develop or revise your story together for a while.
Your fellow participants will be there for you too.
How much will it cost?
The regular retail cost of this retreat is $4000 per person. This covers lodging rental, food, faculty, and swag (yes, there will be fun keepsakes involved!).
However, there are early-registration rates available:
- Early Bird price per person: $3500 (until end of May)
- Double-occupancy* premium suite with private bathroom: $7000 until end of May, then $8000 after that.
Ultimately, the question isn't "Can I afford this?" but "Can I afford to miss this?"
To take advantage of early-bird pricing, to save your spot in our roster, or to ask for a scholarship for yourself or someone else, email Nic or Troy. Do not let this opportunity—and the low early-bird pricing—slip away!
* Each premium suite will have just one king or queen bed. We do not provide extra cots. Suites are available on a first-come basis, so if you are interested, book yours now before they are taken!