When I am able to pull away from the isolation of my studio, and reenter the land populated by real (as opposed to imagined) people, it is a gift. The Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults program is an such an amazing community of real people that I consider myself especially lucky and blessed. We are five days into the residency and it is laundry day. Traditionally, this is the day when people cry. Think of it, you put generally solitary people in rooms where they schmooze, and discuss craft, and put their writing up for critique (the work that they’ve birthed out of their hearts and heads), and listen to lecture after lecture after lecture and there are bound to be a few tears.

Not for me this time. As a third semester student I know what to expect and I’m savvy enough to skip a few events here and there to keep myself sane. In fact, I am extremely happy right now because I presented my semester’s work to the school and it was very well received. The whole Picture Book Certificate class was extremely thoughtful in their work and we were told the presentations were particularly professional. Some have even suggested we submit our work to industry journals. Very, very exciting!

Also, the list of advisors was posted last night and I’ll be working with faculty head, Margaret Bechard. I’ll focus on my researching and writing my critical thesis and then work on my novel with her guidance. Margaret is famous for her lengthy editorial letters and her wonderful teaching abilities. I’m thrilled.

It’s been a little difficult, but necessary for me to break out of my VCFA head space to complete work for Friends School of Portland. Look for our ad in the Common Fair newspaper!