All I Have to Do is Write

All I have to do for the next seven days is write. No cooking, no phone calls, no cat feeding, no laundry, no shopping, no housework, no socializing. Just writing.

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Sometime last spring I read about a writer residency program called Writers in the Heartland. Writers were invited to apply for the opportunity to spend a week in a beautiful, secluded location where they could write without distractions. I sent in an application letter and writing samples, and in July, I got the word that I'd been selected!

Tomorrow I'll start the residency program, along with three other women. I have packed my favorite books on writing, my notes, my laptop, and the first chapters of a novel I've been working on off and on (mostly off) for way too long. I'm just hoping that my muse didn't sneak out of my suitcase while I wasn't looking, because I'm going to need her. My greatest fear is that I'll sit around staring at a blank computer screen for a week, wondering what the heck I should write.

I'm looking forward to the walking trails, the swimming pool and the healthy food as well as the time to write. Look at writersintheheartland.org and heartlandspa.com if you want to know more about the program or the spa.

Dr. Lobo has driven to Illinois with me. He'll wander around Illinois or maybe Indiana or Wisconsin while I'm at the residency. After he picks me up next Friday, we'll spend a couple of days in Chicago before heading home.

I may be without internet access for the next week, so I don't plan to write more blog posts until I get back to Oklahoma. One of my writer friends, however, is writing about Halloween on her blog every day this month, so I suggest you fill the time you would normally spend on reading my blog by going over to http://www.susanameyers.blogspot.com/.

I hope that by the end of the week, I'll have made great progress on this story that's been playing around in my head for many years. What an opportunity! I am so excited.

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All I have to do is write.