Milford attendees gathering in the library on Day 1, by Victor Ocampo

Milford has come and gone for another year.

Fifteen science fiction and fantasy writers submitted close to 200,000 words between them – a total of twenty pieces, which we critiqued at the rate of four pieces per day.

We will soon be posting the official 2019 Milford Report, always written by someone new to Milford. Russell Smith has volunteered and you should be able to read that on next Tuesday’s blog.

Nantlle valley looking towards Mount Snowdon by Jacey Bedford

This year we had fabulous weather. After a little rain on the Sunday, the sun came out and bathed us in warmth for five days. Those of us who had attended Milford before wondered what this ball of brightness in the sky could possibly be. “For this is North Wales,” we said. “Land of clouds.”

Those  new to…

Sunday 15th September – p.m.

Jacey Bedford
The first full day of critiquing went well. Four stories were up for crit. Mine first, then stories from Tiffani Angus, Powder Thompson, and Sam Tovey. No one ran away screaming, ‘But you don’t understand my genius!’ No one burst into tears, and everyone kept to time. That’s a win!

We got some good out-of-context quotes, too:

“This story is Brothers Grimm meets Deliverance.” – Jacey Bedford

“There are possibilities for government snooping. Boris would bloody love this.” – Russell Smith

“I think you’re going to call a penis a tallywhacker and just get on with it.” – Powder Thompson

“A strong man is useful for moving furniture, but you wouldn’t want one to run the country.” – Kari Sperring

Liz Williams
Today has, I think, gone well: we try to start off the first day with 2 critiques for people who know…

Places are booking now for the next Milford Writers’ Retreat. This is limited to 12 writers accommodated in single ensuite rooms.

View from the main house at Trigonos across Llyn Nantlle to the Nantlle Ridge. Photo by Jacey Bedford

The date will be Saturday 6th to Saturday 13th June 2020, which is a delightful time to spend a week at Trigonos, in the glorious Welsh countryside, being looked after and given time to write, write write. There’s no element of critique in this week, and therefore there’s no bar as to who can attend. You don’t have to have sold a story as long as you are serious about writing and want to spend a week without distractions, though most of our attendees will be published/professional SF writers.

View from Room 5. Photo by Jacey Bedford

Come and work on your next book, or your magnum opus.

Details are here:…