Guest Authors

Santa Montefiore is a Sunday Times Best Selling author and No1 international bestselling author of 32 titles. She has published at least one novel a year since 2001. Four of her books are set in Argentina, where she spent 1989 as a gap year teaching English.

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Santa Montefiore's books are set in a variety of locations, including England, Argentina, Italy, France, Ireland, and America.  Her books have been characterised as "beach-read blockbusters", selling over eight million copies in 25 translations

The theme for our guest authors at the next creative writing retreat in 2025 is international writing so they have been carefully selected for their knowledge, skill and expertise in writing about different locations/worlds. At our Q&A guest author sessions, they will be answering many of your questions…

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How do you create a sense of place?

How do you capture the authentic voices of the characters which inhabit the community you are writing about?

What key aspects should you consider when setting a book in a place or time zone unknown to you?

Amy Collins is an Agent with Talcott Notch Literary Services. She has over 30 years of experience matching books with readers. As a former book buyer, publisher, and sales director, Amy focuses on market and sales potential for authors. As an agent, she represents many authors who have signed deals with major publishers and is currently negotiating book to film as well. Amy is the author of several non-fiction books and is currently traveling the country in a 40′ bus with her husband and two dogs meeting with editors and authors. She can be found on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook at @askamycollins.

Leoni  Mack is an author of romantic comedies with international locations and big feelings. 

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She loves creating characters that take you along for the ride as they overcome their obstacles, learn about themselves and about life, and somehow, accidentally fall in love along the way!

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​She is represented by Saskia Leach at the Kate Nash Literary Agency and published by Boldwood Books

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​'One's destination is never a place, just a new way of seeing things!'

HENRY MILLER

After a successful career in education, Graham established Blue Apple Consultancy, offering advice and training on all aspects of teaching and learning to schools, local authorities and the health service. This took him to Kazakhstan to support a teacher training programme; a truly fascinating experience. However, the pull of Italy was increasingly strong. From 2015, the house in Umbria that he had as a place for holidays became his home. It was then that he gathered together all of the notes he had kept over the years and began to write about Italy. Since publishing three books about his life in Italy, his enthusiasm for writing continues, with three more books currently milling around in his mind.