Rainforest Writing Retreat 2026

Nine writers joined us at Linwood House for a week of writing, workshops, and (of course) Code Names. This year, the Sunshine Coast lived up to its name and delivered beautiful weather for wandering the trails and hunting down the Robert’s Creek Falls, among other things.

Our opening dinner came from the Gumboot, a local favorite, and then we spent the evening playing Literary Bingo and discovering who writes in second person, who doesn’t read prologues, and who has actually read Moby-Dick.

Mornings were reserved for writing (or anything else people wanted to do) and all of our lunches were catered by the excellent Gourmet Girl. Afternoon workshops included a protagonist Q&A exercise, a Story Skeleton session on A Wizard of Earthsea, and a discussion on craft and querying questions.

Before lunch and after the workshops, participants met one-on-one with each of us to discuss any concerns they were having with their work in progress. Lots of time was spent in comfy chairs and couches by the fire eating popcorn and discussing favorite books, and we had post-dinner games most every night.

Our final dinner was at Fred’s in Sechelt, followed by an evening of readings that had a few spicy moments, but we’ll never tell: what gets read at Linwood stays at Linwood.

All in all, the retreat was a great success. Everyone came away from the week with new work, new friends, and long lists of books to read. Participants also got a copy of our newest book, Fake Query Letters by Dead Authors.

And, not to spread rumors or anything, but we heard that the Darling Axe might be planning a second retreat in the fall. Stay tuned for confirmation!