TESTIMONIALS

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TESTIMONIALS

 

Testimonials are more than just words; they are heartfelt stories from those who have embarked on a journey with us. Each account reflects the genuine experiences of our participants, capturing the magic of Greek hospitality and the connections forged during our retreats. These voices reveal how our gatherings have sparked creativity, fostered friendships, and brought about moments of personal growth. We invite you to explore these real-life stories and see how our retreats can become a cherished chapter in your own adventure in Greece.

MARK EDWARDS

Mark Edwards
“A beautiful place, glorious food and drink and – best of all – a friendly, enthusiastic bunch of book lovers. I was so well looked after by Imagine Greece Retreats – I loved every minute.”

 

Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people, the best known of which are Follow You HomeThe MagpiesHere To Stay and The Retreat. His novels have sold over 5 million copies and topped the bestseller lists numerous times. He lives in the West Midlands, England, with his wife, their three children, two cats and a golden retriever. When he’s not writing or reading, Mark loves karaoke, horror movies and spending far too much money on vinyl.

C.C. HUMPHREYS

cc-humphreys

“I just came back from a week on Amorgos, teaching at the Writers’ Retreat. What a place, what a time! My partner and I were made so welcome by the Lakki Village staff, nothing was too much trouble. The location was excellent, the beach beautiful, and the meals superb. The organizers, Jonas Saul and Rania Stone, could not have been more generous. This made the work flow. It was wonderful to be able to share ideas and discuss the craft and the business of writing. I was the teacher yet learned so much too. Can’t wait to return!”

Chris (C.C.) Humphreys has played Hamlet in Calgary, a gladiator in Tunisia, and a dead immortal in Highlander; he’s waltzed in London’s West End, conned the landlord of the Rovers Return in Coronation Street, commanded a starfleet in Andromeda, and voiced Salem the cat in the original Sabrina.
A playwright, his plays have been produced in Calgary, Vancouver and London. He has published 21 novels including The French Executioner; The Runestone Saga; The Jack Absolute Trilogy; Vlad – The Last Confession; A Place Called Armageddon; and Shakespeare’s Rebel. His novel Plague won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in Canada in 2015. Its sequel Fire was a Canadian Bestseller, as was Chasing the Wind, about 1930’s aviatrix Roxy Lowen.

Chris is also an incredibly busy audiobook narrator. And he was the Fall Writer in Residence at the Vancouver Public Library 2021. Recently he was writing epic fantasy with the Immortals’ Blood Trilogy, for Gollancz UK. Book One, Smoke in the Glass, was published in 2019, Book Two: The Coming of the Dark in 2020 and the epic conclusion, The Wars of Gods and Men, came out in Spring 2022. He has just published The Tapestry Trilogy set around – and through – the fabulous medieval Unicorn Tapestries in New York’s Cloisters museum. The Hunt of the Unicorn begins that saga.

His latest modern novel is quite the departure: ONE LONDON DAY is a present day thriller, a modern Noir.

MARIE POWELL

Marie Powell

“The week gave me the opportunity to focus on improving my craft and to take my works-in-progress to a new level.”

Read more about her experience here

Marie Powell’s adventures in castle-hopping and exploring her family roots resulted in her historical fantasy novels, Spirit Sight and Water Sight (Last of the Gifted). These are just two of Marie’s 40-plus children’s and young adult books with such traditional publishers as Amicus Publishing, Scholastic Education, Lerner/Lightning Bolt, Crabtree and more. Her short fiction and poetry can be found in subTerrain, Room, Transition, and other literary magazines. She is also a professional writer, editor, journalist, and photographer with work published in a variety of formats. Marie’s children’s books include early readers, middle-grade nonfiction, and science books for young readers. Her young adult novels include fantasy and historical fantasy books. Her articles appear in newspapers, magazines, online and international markets. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in a variety of literary magazines and anthologies. As well, she provides research and editing services, and loves to do readings and workshops for all ages.

STELLA QUINN

Stella Quinn

“Writing is a solitary pursuit and other writers get that; imposter syndrome is real; hanging out with other writers and talking about fight scenes or white space on a page or voice or research rabbit holes is like lighting a bunsen burner under my writing mojo. It fires me up enough to get through the solitary writing months ahead …”

Read more about her experience here

When Stella Quinn isn’t sitting in the sun scribbling in a notebook, she can be found walking her dog, roaming her neighbourhood in search of the perfect latte, or thrashing her children at scrabble. She grew up in England, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Australia, and spent five (long!) years at boarding school in country Queensland. Stella writes contemporary romance novels that are warm-hearted and filled with characters you want to be best friends with. She loves rural small-town settings, island settings, and everyday heroes. Imagine if Sea Change and Virgin River had a series of fictitious bookbabies … they’re the books Stella writes.

She has four rural fiction novels published by Harper Collins HQ Fiction imprint, and another two under contract that she is currently working on.  Her indie series include The Island Escape Series,  and The Matchmakes of Lighthouse Cove Series (manuscripts underway), and she has written novellas for Harper Collins HQ Fiction anthologies A Country Vet Christmas (2023) and A Country Farm Christmas (2024). Stella Quinn’s awards in the fabulous world of storytelling include winning the Valerie Parv Award in 2018, winning the Sapphire Award in 2019 and 2020, winning the Emerald Award in 2017 and coming second in the Sapphire in 2018. Stella was shortlisted in the Australian Society of Authors/HQ Fiction Commercial Fiction Award in 2020, and in the 2020 Ruby Award for best contemporary romance. She has been a finalist in ARRA romance awards in 2019, 2021, and Runner Up for Favourite Contemporary Romance Novel in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 she is a first round finalist in Booktopia’s FAB Favourite Book Awards, and placed Third in the 2023 Ruby Award for best contemporary romance novella.

Under a different name, she has been the recipient of a mentorship in writing for middle grade at Varuna, awarded by Affirm Press, and she has been a finalist in the Ampersand Prize for children’s fiction, awarded by Hardie Grant Egmont. She has also won the Scarlet Stiletto’s Domestic Malice award for a crime story, with the prize sponsored by Kerry Greenwood, author of the marvelous Phryne Fisher mystery series. 

Harper Carr

“I went to every workshop—glorious tutorials held with a backdrop of turquoise Mediterranean Sea. “

Read more about her experience here

Wendy Hawkin writes adventurous cross-genre fiction charged with “myth, magic, and mayhem” from her home in the Pacific Northwest.

Her urban fantasy series, the Hollystone Mysteries, features a coven of Vancouver witches who solve murders using their wits, ritual magic, and a little help from the gods. To Charm a Killer, To Sleep with Stones, To Render a Raven, To Kill a King, and To Dance with Destiny, follow stage magician and Wicca high priest, Estrada, as he endeavors to save his friends while working through his own personal issues.

Her standalone novel, Lure: Jesse & Hawk (2022) won a National Indie Excellence Award, a Gold Reader’s Choice award from Connections E-magazine, a Crowned Heart Review from InD’tale Magazine, and placed as a finalist in The UK Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Lure is a small-town romantic suspense story set on a Chippewa Reservation in the American Midwest near the fictional town of Lure River.

As an intuitive writer, Wendy captures what she sees and hears on the page and allows her muses to guide her through the creative process. In an upcoming book, Writing with your Muse: a Guide to Creative Inspiration, she explains her writing process and offers tips and techniques to help writers get their words on the page.

Wendy is a book reviewer and publisher with a background in Indigenous Studies and Humanities. Born in Toronto, Canada, she completed a BA in Indigenous Studies at Trent University, then moved to B.C. where she completed diplomas in Humanities at SFU and taught high school for several years.

She also spent a year as a relief lighthouse keeper, enjoying the rugged isolation of the West Coast, and blogging her adventures at http://lifeonthebclights.blogspot.com Her experiences color “To Render a Raven.”

An introvert, Wendy does most of her musing while walking her yellow lab through the forested trails of B.C. “I continue to explore my ancestry, often in my writing. I love nature, history, archaeology, myths and magic, and feel I was born in the wrong century. If I could, I’d travel back in time to experience cultures long since changed or vanished.”

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