About Northern California Writers’ Retreat
Welcome to a place where emerging voices in fiction have the space and time to write, surrounded by old growth oak trees and similarly motivated artists.
For our Poppy Retreats in the Spring, we bring together an Author-in-Residence who has published at least one novel, two well-respected Guest Literary Agents, and an Editor with experience at several big publishing houses. Writers get the trifecta of perspectives and can better understand how the publishing industry works—and how to set themselves and their work apart.
For our Quail Retreat in the Fall, writers will find even more time to be away from all of life’s responsibilities and simply enjoy the quiet stillness of writing in community. Daily craft talks from our Author-in-Residence will help the words flow. We spend a mini-retreat day at the beautiful Buck Mountain, where we practice yoga, have a healing sage and cacao ceremony, listen to a live concert, and eat a healthy lunch, followed by time to write inspired by the nature on this glorious hilltop. Daily reading workshops allow writers to read their work aloud for immediate feedback from their small group, led by the Author-in-Residence, Editor Heather Lazare, or Workshop Facilitator Dauphiene Parks.
Alongside uninterrupted time to focus on their writing, writers will walk away from both retreats with a better understanding of their craft and the publishing business.
Our History
Northern California Writers’ Retreat was born in 2015, the creation of Editor Heather Lazare and then Literary Agent Chelsea Lindman. In 2019, Heather took over running the retreat as Chelsea’s career path changed, and in 2023, Retreat Assistant Dauphiene Parks joined Heather in running the retreat. The retreat has continued to grow over the years from one in 2016 to four in 2025.
Our goal remains: to offer writers time and space to write, while also helping build a community of fiction writers who will help lift each other up and take the retreat with them beyond our five days together.
Heather Lazare
Developmental Editor + Publishing Consultant
Heather Lazare is developmental editor and publishing consultant with nearly twenty years of professional experience, who specializes in editing adult fiction, with particular emphasis on historical fiction, women’s fiction, literary fiction, contemporary romance, mysteries, and thrillers. She began her career at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, then moved to the editorial side at Crown (Random House), and was a senior editor at Touchstone (Simon & Schuster) before creating her own business in 2013.
She works with individual authors, helping them get their manuscripts ready for submission to agents, she strategizes with agents whose clients need an extra push before submission, and she’s hired by publishing houses to further perfect manuscripts for publication. She also teaches courses for Stanford Continuing Studies on the publishing business. She lives in California with her husband and two children. Learn more at heatherlazare.com.
Dauphiene Parks
Retreat Assistant and Workshop Facilitator
Dauphiene Parks began at NCWR in 2023 as an intern with the intention of working in publishing. She quickly found that all her favorite aspects of publishing were already at play in her position at the retreat, and she was able to have a direct and connected experience working with writers. She fell in love with the magic of NCWR, and in 2024 she was promoted to Retreat Assistant, followed by the added position of Workshop Leader in 2025. When not assisting at retreats, Dauphiene can be found creating bookish content on instagram (@dolph7nreads), painting with watercolors, and of course, writing!