By Leslie Lindsay Last week, I was at a writing retreat. With a warm fire roaring in the distance, a gentle snow cascading from the gray sky, my laptop propped on my lap, and the ideas a-flowin’, it was a slice of glorious heaven. Oh, wait. It wasn’t. Instead, I was laid up on the couch with a laptop and a bum knee. Not quite the romance and mystique I was going for, but well…there was snow.    [not my actual fireplace…image retrieved from http://ecoopportunity.net/2012/02/fireside-chat-leadership-from-the-top-in-the-green-economy-2/fireside/ on 2.18.14] If you’ve ever dreamed of attending a writing retreat, you’re not alone. Some 200 retreats exist across the U.S. They range in size, scope, and practice and also vary in your overall goals. Do you want to steal away to the Montana mountains where you can write your heart out in rustic setting, or would you rather head over to Monterrey or Sausalito, California where you could be a writer-in-resident in the warm sun?  Do you want to partake in the prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop (MFA program)? It all depends …