Join Neal for a week of writing, workshopping, tips and talks, confronting your demons, and sightseeing in the wondrous and relaxing island of Malta, halfway between Africa and Europe. Sharing the whitewashed architecture of North Africa and the cuisine of Sicily, this English-speaking set of three tiny islands in the Mediterranean holds:

• The oldest (9th Century) continuously inhabited walled Medieval city in Europe

• The cave where Calypso held Odysseus for seven years

• The beachfront of Paul’s shipwreck while captured by the Romans

• Frat houses for all of Europe’s knights as they awaited the next Crusade

• Megalithic temple sites older than Stonehenge

• Beautiful coves and beaches

• Valletta, the 650-year-old fortified city whose walls remain pockmarked from daily attacks by German luftwaffe as the Allies held onto its airfield, critical for running supplies to North Africa

• The Blue Lagoon, reached by a short boat ride for swimming and snorkeling