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SUMMER 2026
Write
on the
Wye
A private writing retreat in the English countryside for the woman whose book has been waiting long enough.
I struggled to write my first book for years.
It wasn’t until I was in the right environment that I was able to finally write my book in 10 days…and publish it in under 3 months.
That’s why I host private writing retreats to offer the same experience to every woman who has a message too big to hold inside any longer.
Ready to birth your book this summer?
This is the summer you write your book.
You're done waiting for the perfect moment to do it, because this is the perfect moment.
And you've known for a while now that the old way of writing a book isn't going to work for you:
The jumping through hoops to prove your concept to a publishing house. The productivity hacks and deadlines. The word count goals. The "just carve out the time" advice that sounds simple until you're sitting at your kitchen table at 10pm, exhausted after a long day, staring at a blank page, wondering why someone as capable and articulate as you still doesn't have this book written. It's not because you're not ready. It's not because the story isn't there.
It's because this book isn't meant to be forced out of you. It's meant to be birthed.
And births require the right environment. The right support. A midwife who knows when to hold space and when to guide you through the push. A process that is bespoke and bends to you—to how you tap in, how you access your deepest material, how you move through the emotional weight of telling a true and important story that deeply matters to you.
You already know that a writing schedule isn't going to do it. If discipline alone could birth this book, you'd already be holding it in your hands.
What you want—what you've always wanted—is to write this book without being rushed, pushed, or pressured. To move through it with support that adjusts as you open your heart, document your story, and share your wisdom and lessons learned. To experience the process of writing your book as beautiful, even in the tough parts. Even when the writing asks you to go somewhere tender and true.
Can you imagine that? Writing your book and it actually feeling good? That's not a fantasy, you aren’t delusional, or being precious.
That's what happens when the environment and support is right.
That's what Write on the Wye is.
A beautiful place and experience where everything—the setting, the support, the pace, the process—is designed to help you cross the threshold from woman-with-a-book-inside-her to woman-who-wrote-it.
Not by pushing harder.
By finally having what you needed all along.
Creative flow in the English countryside.
There is a city in England that has been holding stories since the year 694 (really, even before then…)
Hereford sits on the banks of the River Wye, one of the most storied rivers in Britain, a river that has drawn poets, painters, and writers to its banks for centuries. Its cathedral has stood since 1079, housing the Mappa Mundi, a medieval map of the entire “known world” at the time, drawn on a single piece of vellum around 1300. It also holds the world's largest chained library—books deemed so precious they had to be locked up to keep them safe.
This is a place that has always understood that words matter. That stories are worth protecting. That some things are too important to leave unwritten.
It’s where I finally birthed myself as an author and wrote my first book, and that’s why I’m inviting one woman at a time to meet me here to write hers this summer.
Hi, I'm Ash Johns
Writer, author, mentor, and Founder/Midwife of Mother to Millions™. I spent over a decade as a women’s empowerment coach and brand strategist, helping women build businesses, find their voice, and bring their most important work into the world. And for all of that time, I had a book inside me that I kept putting off—waiting until I had enough money, enough team, enough stability, enough distance from the life I was still living to write
Then everything fell apart in a domino effect. My health. My business. My marriage. And eventually, a love story that cracked me open completely.
I wrote my book in 10 days during the darkest season of my life: financially broke, heartbroken, and in the middle of an early midlife crisis I didn't see coming.
It was here, in the lush English countryside, that I found my voice again. My focus. My power. My purpose. I didn't wait until I was healed or ready or sorted. I wrote my way through it while in it.
And in doing so, I didn't just become an author.
I became a different woman entirely.
That transformation didn't happen because I finally had the time or the money or a coveted book deal. It happened because I was in the right environment to surrender to the process. I had the right support. And I had permission to stop waiting.
I'm heading back to the English countryside this summer and I'd love for you to join me.
Let's birth your book, together, and keep creating the space for women’s stories to matter.
The reason you haven’t written your book yet
It’s not that you don’t have the time or can’t focus on one idea.
It’s the split.
The split between the responsible, high-functioning woman who has to keep the bills paid and her life running, and the creative, deeply wise woman who knows she has something to say that the world genuinely needs to hear. For so long you've been telling yourself: when I have more savings, more support, more space, more certainty…then I'll write it.
And it never comes. Because the split never closes on its own. And the split keeps moving the goal post of priorities.
Underneath the split is something even harder to admit: the emotional and physical weight of what it actually takes to write a book like this. Not a book you're pulling from research, facts and figures, and your professional background. We’re talking about a book you're pulling from your life. From the experiences that changed you. From the wisdom that cost you something real to earn.
Everyone says just sit down and write. But nobody talks about what happens when you sit down and the grief comes up. Or the doubt. Or the memory you've been half-avoiding for three years (or more). Nobody gives you tools for that.
Nobody tells you that writing this kind of book—a personal narrative that does more than a traditional memoir because it is designed to pass on knowledge and wisdom—isn't just a creative act, it's also a somatic one and a spiritual one that your nervous system has to feel safe enough to open to in order to birth the book.
Because your body holds the story as much as your mind does. And you can't force your way into the material the same way you'd force your way through a deadline at work. That’s why you haven’t written this book yet. It’s a completely different creature from your career.
That’s why you don't need more pressure.
You need a midwife.
And you need to leave your life and come into the right environment—just for a few days—to close the split and tap into the well of power, prose, and expression you innately have when your life isn’t running you.
After that, you’ll be amazed at how pleasurable it is to write your book, publish a part of your legacy, and be the author you know you were born to be.
Welcome to
Write on the Wye
A private, intimate 5-day book writing retreat—Thursday to Monday—in the heart of Hereford, a cathedral city in England’s countryside.
Just you and me. Your book. The River Wye. And the English countryside doing what it does best—slowing everything down until the only thing left to do is write and watch your book come to form right before your eyes.
This is not a group retreat. This is not a course or a workshop. This is a completely bespoke, one-woman experience built entirely around you—how you want to tell your story, how you access your deepest material, how you move through what’s required of you to write your story, and how your book specifically wants to be brought into the world.
This is the place where you become an author
Can you imagine…
A quaint, privately-owned city cottage in the heart of Hereford, a cathedral city, steps from the River Wye, walking distance to high town, surrounded by the kind of English countryside that makes you forget what urgency feels like.
Your own private bedroom. A deep soak tub for the evenings when the writing goes deep and you need to decompress. A fireplace for the mornings when you need to just be before the words come. A back garden where magpies sing and neighborhood cats creep through. Steps away from trails to landscapes that stretch out in front of you for miles and miles, where cows graze in the distance, wildflowers, birdsong, the particular quality of English light that painters have been chasing for centuries.
The décor of the city cottage is historical whimsy—little trinkets and curiosities that spark the imagination, the kind of home that holds you creatively from the moment you walk in. There's even a playground down the street for the afternoon you need to unleash the inner child who first dreamed of becoming an author.
You’ll walk the narrow streets that are lined with independent shops and cafes, with gentle riverside paths through meadows and pastoral farmland. The historic cathedral is a short stroll away, its bells marking time through the day like a gentle reminder that you are somewhere ancient, somewhere that has held human stories for over a thousand years.
And then there's the energy of Hereford itself, which is something you feel before you can name it.
This is a countryside city that doesn't perform.
It doesn't try to impress you. Its simplicity is the luxury — the spaciousness of the land, the unhurried pace, the fields and trails and river that seem to stretch on forever and remind your nervous system that there is more than enough room here. That you are not cramped. That you can expand.
The land carries a deeply maternal energy.
The River Wye, the rolling meadows, the nearby farms and orchards, the birdsong and the animals grazing in open fields — all of it holds you the way good land does. Gently. Completely. Without asking anything of you.
And underneath that softness is something grounding and safe.
Hereford is home to one of the British Army's most celebrated regiments and that presence brings a quiet structure and feeling of protection to the city. A diversity. A welcomingness. The feeling that this is a place where people show up seriously, do real work, and take care of one another. Soft and strong. Open and held. Maternal and structured. It is, in other words, the exact energy you need to write your book.
How your days will look and feel
Wake slowly. A continental English breakfast at the house — good coffee, fresh bread, something warm. Then we light a candle, settle in, and write. No phones. No noise. Just you and the page and the church bells in the distance marking time.
Morning —
the sacred hour
We move. Down to the Wye, through the cathedral close, into town for lunch. The riverside paths are gentle and unhurried, through meadows alongside the river. Movement loosens what sitting tightens. Some of the biggest breakthroughs happen between the front door and the water.
Midday —
the walks
This is where we go underneath the writing. Coaching, clarity, energy work. We'll work with a gifted healer—psychology-based, somatic, precision-level—to clear the energetic blocks that have kept this book inside you. The fear of judgement. The question of whether you have the authority to tell this story. The part of you that still isn't sure the world is ready for what you have to say. This work lives in the body, not just the mind—and it changes everything that comes after.
Afternoon — the deep dives
Dinner out together. A local pub or restaurant, a glass of wine, a meal that has nothing to do with creating or writing. We let the day settle. We let the writing breathe. You go to bed feeling more like yourself than you have in years, calm, accomplished, proud of yourself for creating from ease, support and simple pleasures.
Evening —
the exhale
What you'll leave with
Total clarity on your core message and angle — who this book is for, what it's really saying, and why only you can write it
A full manuscript outline — chapter by chapter, structured, complete, and completely yours
Three to six written chapters (or more!) — real pages, real words, real undeniable momentum
Your mental and energetic blocks cleared — the resistance, the imposter spiral, the fear of being seen, dissolved
A writing practice and set of tools — rituals and practices to keep writing and stay in flow when you're back in your real life
Continued writing and publishing support post-retreat — you don't leave without a plan and a partner for what comes next
And beyond what's on the list above…
You will leave feeling what a woman feels when she has been truly seen, truly held, and truly supported in the work she came here to do.
Accomplished. Calm. Relieved. Certain. Proud. Lit up, rested, and radiant! The doubt that it's possible? Gone. The book that felt like a dream? Now a reality you’re already living and promoting.
This is for you if…
You have a book that has been living inside you, and this is the summer you're finally ready to get it out of you
You know you need a break from your life in a special space to write it, and you know this retreat is part of your journey to becoming an author
You want to be held, not pushed, guided, not pressured in your writing and publishing
You've tried to write it alone, and something always gets in the way
You want to do this with someone who has lived it, written it, and knows how to midwife it out of you
What’s included
5 days / 4 nights private accommodation in the Hereford city cottage
Daily morning writing sessions (guided or private)
Daily afternoon coaching, clarity, and manuscript development sessions
As many written chapters as you desire by the time you leave (3 to 6 chapters on average)
Your core message, angle, and publishing direction clarified
Private mindset, somatic & energy healing sessions with a trusted practitioner
Continental breakfast daily at the house
Lunch and dinner out daily together
Full manuscript outline, bespoke to you and your book
Full writing and publishing plan, bespoke to you and your book
Continued writing and publishing support post-retreat
The satisfaction of finally creating momentum on your book in a way that feels incredibly good!
How It Works
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I’d love to hear about your book idea (or ideas if you have more than one), and get to know you. We’ll spend this time making sure we’re a good fit to work together. If we are, we’ll pick out your private retreat dates and move on to next steps!
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Sign up and pay all required fees to reserve your spot. If plans change, you can cancel up to 14 days before the retreat start to receive a 50% refund.
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After booking, we'll send you a Welcome Packet with everything you need to know—detailed schedules, packing list recommendations, add-ons to consider (like bringing your pup with you!), airport details, and more.
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We'd recommend booking your transportation to and from the retreat as soon as possible, to ensure you can arrive without any complications or delays.
If you’re local and driving, we have FREE parking onsite!
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Now all that's left to do is pack your bags and get excited for your new adventure into authorship!
Ash will be in touch via whatsapp every step of the way leading up to, and post, your retreat!