No Posts This Week ... Well, Except for This One

Hi, all. Happy December!

Hope y'all had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving. Despite our epic trip to see my in-laws, we did. Hallelujah.

Just wanted to let y'all know that I won't be posting any this week; I've got a bunch of very long essays to grade, and they're due very soon. I'll hope to be back next week, to share some good stuff with you, and hopefully post a little about heading back to graduate school in snowy Vermont for my second-to-last residency at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

For now, though, check out this series of film vignettes starring actors like Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Oprah Winfrey, Forrest Whitaker, and more. (It's about 9 minutes long. Pretty cool.)

A Winter Reading List

* Also published on my author website.

So, I’m boldly entering my 3rd semester as a graduate student in the MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I say “boldly” because I’m due to have Baby 2 one month before the semester officially ends. Maybe the phrase should be “nuts.”

Thankfully, the kind folks at VCFA, and my new advisor for the semester, have agreed to work with me. It means an accelerated work plan, and so I’m taking the semester off from teaching to try to make it all happen. And then Baby 2 will come. And my little world will spontaneously combust.

This semester is a bit different from the others: it’s the critical semester, which means along with producing new work (in my case, work on the new novel and hopefully-maybe an essay), I must complete a long, formal paper called a Critical Thesis. I’m okay with long academic papers–when I earned my MA in English I ended up finishing with two 75+ page theses–but it’s the time crunch that I think’ll get me this time.

Or, as Butch tells Sundance, “Are you crazy? The fall’ll probably kill ya.”

Oh, Newman. Oh, Redford.

But I digress.

My critical paper topic is going to focus generally on the role of place/setting in historical fiction. While my reading list isn’t quite as intensive as earlier semesters (I’m also using works I’ve already read to aid in thesis research), I still thought I’d share. And maybe throw in a few pleasure-books as an added bonus. Here we go:

1. Waverly; Or, ‘Tis Sixty Years Since by Sir Walter Scott

Published in 1814, Waverly is Scott’s epic account of the Jacobite uprising of 1745 (also known as “the ’45″), based mainly on all the stories he’d grown up hearing from his Scottish grandparents. He wrote it anonymously, even though by then he was already a famous writer. Apparently, popular novels were pooh-poohed in the “real” literary community. (Hm… sounds familiar.) Here’s what Jane Austen had to say about it, “Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones … I do not like him, and do not mean to like Waverly if I can help it–but I fear I must.”

2. Ironweed by William Kennedy

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Ironweed is the story of Francis Phelan, an “ex-big-leaguer, part-time gravedigger, full-time bum with the gift of gab,” who’s returned to his hometown.

3. The Last of the Mohicans or The Pathfinder by James Fenimoore Cooper

These are two of the novels in Cooper’s famous The Leatherstocking Tales, chronicling the adventures of the frontiersman Natty Bumpo. I read The Last of the Mohicans when I was far too young to be reading it, and so I say it’s time for a second go-round.

4. My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

My Name is Mary Sutter won the prestigious 2011 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War fiction. Cool fact: Oliveira is a 2006 graduate of the MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

5. Walk Through Darkness by David Durham

Suggested by my advisor, who’s a friend of Durham’s, Walk Through Darkness is the story of William, an antebellum slave on the hunt for his pregnant wife. It sounds like nothing I’ve read before, which makes me happy.

And now, on to books I’ve read before but will be re-examining for my critical thesis this semester:

6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

No explanation needed. I love this novel; have since I was a little girl. And as the protagonist of my work-in-progress is sort of a Southern “Jo March,” I’m heading back to the source.

 

 

7. The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich

Though I’d read quite a bit of Erdrich, I read The Last Report… for the first time last semester, and fell crashing into love. The story of a woman posing as a male priest on the Ojibwe reservation of Little No Horse, and of the adventures, foibles, and tragedies of her flock, it’s a novel that will stay with you long after you put it down.

8. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Another work I read only last semester, The English Patient is a stunning, epic of a novel rooted in WWII history and drama. Ondaatje’s gorgeous, laser-like focus on each of his central characters, and of the settings they inhabit–an Italian Villa, North Afria–is utterly masterful. (On a side note, if you weren’t a fan of the movie, forget it. Read the book!)

 

Next, on my bedside table for pleasure-reading. I know, it seems nonsensical to be reading anything other than books for my grad program, especially since it’s not like I have a lot of free time, but I can’t help it. It’s my disease.

9. The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney

Penney is a Scottish screenwriter, and I loved her debut, The Tenderness of Wolves. In fact, now that I think about it, I may have to use that book in my thesis, too!

10. Letters from the Country by Carol Bly

A collection of essays about life in the small rural town of Madison, Minnesota, this is one of Bly’s best-loved works.

11. The Blueberry Years by Jim Minick

“A Memoir of Farm and Family,” The Blueberry Years was the winner of the 2011 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Best Nonfiction Book. It’s the story of a couple and their blueberry farm, and a look at food culture in America as we know it today.

12. Lions of the West by Robert Morgan

Robert Morgan’s Boone was one of the best biographies I’ve ever read, and I used it to aid in my research for Keowee Valley. When Lions of the West was released, I knew I had to have it for my personal library. Thank you, my favorite in-laws, for fufilling a Christmas wish! This book tells the story of westward expansion through 10 Americans full of adventure and land-lust, including Thomas Jefferson, John “Johnny” Appleseed, David Crockett, Sam Houston, and more. It’s also the story of the tragic displacement of Native Americans, and the roots of the Civil War.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a book-a-holic. My list could go on and on. If I included my research list for Novel 2, you’d groan (and probably throw something at your computer). But there’s not much I like more than sharing books!

Join me on my journey, if you get a hankering.

 

Back in the Saddle ... Again

So, long-time readers here know that I really dig this title. I’ve used it before. But I can’t help it; it’s such a great song sung by the wonderful Gene Autry.

Back in the saddle again, back where a friend is a friend….

See? Now it’ll stick in your head. Sorry.

But this is how I feel, after being away from home for the holidays, and then traveling to Puerto Rico for my third residency in the MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. (I skipped 12 days in snowy Vermont in lieu of 8 days in sunny–sometimes–Puerto Rico.) Finally home, I have busied myself with completing all the tasks laid out before me for the next few months:

1. Clean my house. There are still Christmas decorations up.
2. Organize my desk. I’d show you a picture, but you’d scream.
3. Write a big ol’ chunk of Novel 2.
4. Continue to share and promote Keowee Valley.
5. Complete my third semester (the critical semester, in which I write a doozy of a critical thesis in addition to producing new creative work) in the MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
6. Mama my 3 year-old. In a good way. (And, dear Lord, finally get her completely potty-trained.)
7. Team up with my husband to prepare our house for Baby Girl 2, set to arrive May 8, 2013.
8. Grow a baby. Yowza.

I’m sure I’m missing something, but I’ll get to that later. Tomorrow….

Okay, enough with the songs.

Later this week, I’ll share my Puerto Rico experience–and some photos–with those interested. One of the many reasons I’d applied to VCFA was because of their study abroad opportunites. (There’s an alternate residency every summer in Slovenia, and an alternate winter one in Puerto Rico.) As an undergrad, I longed to study abroad, and came close to heading to Australia for a semester. Then I decided to tack on a double major and became The Girl Who Reads Alot.

When I did the grad school thing the first time, earning my MA in English, I had the chance to spend a summer in Italy, and it was a life-changer. So I knew this was something I’d like to pursue during my MFA. VCFA makes it easy to attend: the residencies are held at the exact same time, which makes it more manageable for those of us with jobs and families.
But more of that later this week.

If you “follow” me on Facebook, you’ll know that one of the founding members of my family–my sweet black lab (and faithful trail partner), Scout–has been through a heck of a week.

Here’s a run-down:

hematoba on the ear
surgery
head wrapping
pulling off wrapping
blood
more blood
visits to the ER vet
more wrapping
Houdini-style removal of the wrapping (usually while we slept)
savings depleted
more wrapping
less blood
meds, meds, and more meds

Thankfully, though, she’s on the mend. And I really appreciate all you fine folks who wrote in to tell me you were thinking about her and us! I believe good juju makes the world go round. May you be blessed with an easy winter. And lollipops (my daughter insists).

That’s all for now! If you’re able, I hope you’ll tune in for my radio interview on the Blog Talk Radio show “Away With Words,” hosted by Victoria Valentine! 7:00 tonight!

Back in the Saddle

First residency at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing program completed: Check.

Back home and procrastinating like the champion pro-cras-ti-NAY-TOR that I am: Check check.

It's 3:06 in the afternoon, and I'm still wearing my pajamas. Granted, they're whimsical, black and white, Fair Isle-patterned, Victoria Secret long underwear pajamas, but it's after 8 a.m., and I'm still wearin' 'em. The gas logs are blazing, my black lab is snoring on her Christmas-present new dog bed, and my toddler is napping. Finally.

It's not that I've been lazing about, as my husband likes to say, "eating Bon Bons." (What ARE Bon Bons, by the way? They sound like something French and dirty.) So far today, I've fed my dog and child, helped my husband find his wallet, made up a grading calendar and graded assignments for an online writing class I'm teaching, checked both of my work email accounts, washed several loads of laundry, finished a novel assigned by my faculty advisor at Vermont College, and prepped and started a big, fat crockpot of turkey chili for tonight's supper. Yet, I'm still in my pajamas. If Publisher's Clearing House arrives at the door--like I'm sure they will since I've been filling out those daggum envelopes for years--I will be That Woman. You know, the one in her housecoat with the greasy hair, covering her face and shouting, "Oh, law, I can't believe I'm on T.V. like this!" Of course, I'll be in my cute Fair Isle pajamas.

This is all to say that in spite of each of the aforementioned tasks being important, I'm still procrastinating. Here's why:

I arrived home from Montpelier, Vermont and VCFA on Sunday, January 8, exhausted from travel and desperately happy to see my family. At the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, where I last landed, my two year-old towhead of a daughter broke from her father and sprinted through a crowd of people heading toward baggage claim, and leapt into my arms. My God--what a life! Two days after returning home, two of our best friends in the world and their twin 16 month-olds arrived at our tiny house in the mountains, and we had a wonderful few days together, eating and drinking and chasing kiddos and laughing with more friends. Then, my parents came to visit for the day before leaving on one of their many jaunts about the globe (they've been burning up the mountain highway to our house for, oh, the past 2 1/2 years). Then my husband and I poohed out a bit over the weekend. Sure, we went grocery shopping and cleaned up and played with our daughter and hiked with friends and I began cleaning my Jabba the Hut of a desk, but we poohed out.

Which brings us to today. I gave myself last week, as a gift, to regroup after the residency and to enjoy time with friends. But now it's time for the heavy lifting. For the work on the many, many pages of creative and critical writing I'm to mail to my advisor in three weeks. But I find myself, home again, willing to do anything else that needs doing in my house, other than write. Because writing is hard. And I'm a big, stinkin' mess of procrastination. The Pro-Crass-ti-nay-TOR: able to avoid the-thing-she-loves-doing-most in a single bound. More on this at a later date. (See: I'm sneaky.)



The residency itself was a good one, my first with Vermont College. The campus was snow-covered and lovely, the lectures for the most part interesting and helpful--some downright inspiring. The new friends, especially, a joy. Writers are a ridiculous, wonderful, ego-centric, odd, irreverent bunch, and it's always nice to be in the company of my people. Even the dorm room I stayed in--though some may disagree--wasn't so bad. Though I did feel, upon entering, a swift urge to paper the walls with Matthew McConaughey posters and blast the Dave Matthews Band. And order pizza at 3 a.m. And wear flip-flops. And go to breakfast wearing the same clothes I'd worn the night before. But I digress.

See, the dorm:

Not so bad, right? Bigger than my freshman year dorm room at Clemson. (On a side note, I slept like a rock in Vermont, woke each day bright-eyed at 6:30 a.m. Wierd.)

And the campus, small and lovely:

And Montpelier, the state capitol, only a ten minute's walk down the hill from the College. I spent quite a bit of time there with new friends and alone, dining and shopping and wandering:

Around the State House...

 

across foot bridges...

 

at the oft-frequented Postive Pie 2, our unofficial residency hangout, with new writer-friends Rachel and Kim ...

through the streets of town...

wandering neighborhoods, admiring the old Victorian homes and added-upon cottages... watching the Winooski River slowly freeze at its edges, despite the unseasonably warm weather...

hiking in icy Hubbard Park, with my new friend, writer Amy Wallen...

climbing the old tower there...

utilizing the Port-o-Potty (cutest I've ever seen... and yes, I've seen a few Port-o-Potties)...

It was heaven, that time in the woods. Even though I slipped on the ice and thought I fractured my elbow. But I digress.

So now I'm home, trying like all heck to organize my life, my work, my writing, my schooling, my family into one neat, color-coordinated schedule. I'm trying to figure out how I can do it all, and do it well.

I may give myself one more week....

The Choice: Deciding on a Low Residency MFA in Writing Program

First of all, my apologies for the tardiness of this post, which was promised weeks ago. Choosing which low residency MFA in Writing program to attend has been an arduous and brain-freezing task--a decision that lately rivaled the one to have children. But, it's been made (can you hear the cheering and yahooing in the distance? That's the sound of my husband and friends, celebrating the end of the madness).

I will be attending Vermont College of Fine Arts. My first residency is this coming winter.

If you're reading this post, chances are you're a family member or friend of mine, or--and here's what I'm hoping--you are, like I was, attempting to choose a low residency MFA in Writing program.

There's quite a bit of information out there in the universe--some useful, some not--about how to go about this process. In this post I'll describe my process, in hopes that it may aid others. I'll address elements of the decision that I did not see covered in the many books, articles, and blogs already published on the subject, I'll share my research materials, and I'll talk about my interactions with each program.

Please note that deciding on a graduate program is an intensely personal process: when it comes down to it, and the research has been exhausted, you just have to "go with your gut." Annoying as hell to hear, right? But it's true.

Off we go:


* For a bit of background information about my thoughts on the decision to return to graduate school, see "Once More Into the Breach," posted on April 4, 2011.

First, I decided on low residency programs, instead of traditional. This was easy: I've a husband, daughter, dog, and mortgage, among other things, that keep me rooted. Second, I chose seven programs to which I'd apply: (these are in no particular order)

1. Pacific University
2. University of New Orleans
3. Lesley University
4. Goddard College
5. Queens University of Charlotte
6. Vermont College of Fine Arts
7. Spalding University

The reasoning behind this initial culling (there are over 100 low residency programs in the U.S. at this time) was simple:

1. Pacific: I'd always wanted to spend time in the Pacific Northwest, I think they have the most aesthetically pleasing website and program information, and Pam Houston--a long-time favorite of mine--teaches there.

2. University of New Orleans: The study abroad aspects of the program (you must spend a month abroad each summer to complete the low residency degree) were enticing.

3. Lesley University: Reputation was a big factor; also, the idea of being in such a literary epicenter like Cambridge was appealing.

4. Goddard College: Reputation, certainly. A chance to be in Vermont.

5. Queens University: Living in N.C., I'd recently become familiar with this newer program, which had been gaining favor and hiring some authors I admire, like Elizabeth Strout.

6. Vermont College of Fine Arts: First and foremost: reputation. And, the chance to study either in Vermont (a state I'd fallen in love with during a writer's residency a few years ago) or abroad, with top faculty and writers... many who'd earned their MFAs from Iowa. Also: alumni publishing success.

7. Spalding University: Only 6 hours from where I live, with an innovative "flexible scheduling" that allowed for mixing 6-month and 9-month long semsters, study abroad options, a chance to study cross-genre (my areas of interest: fiction and creative nonfiction). Also liked the fact that the program director, Sena Jeter Naslund, published successful historical fiction--my own genre.

**Though I know one has to take ranking with a "grain of salt," six of the seven programs were included in Atlantic Monthly's "Best of the Best" and in Poet's and Writers "Top Ten Low Residency Programs." Most had been in the top ten in any sort of rankings taken over the past ten years, especially Vermont College (#1 or tied for first each year).

So, in the Fall of 2010 I worked on my writing samples, garnered my recommendations, ordered transcripts, and applied. By March 2011, I'd heard from most schools. I was rejected by Queens and Lesley, and accepted by Pacific, Vermont College (VCFA), Goddard, UNO (University of New Orleans), and Spalding.

I heard from UNO and Spalding first, then Pacific, VCFA, and Goddard. Queens and Lesley came in so much later than the others--I'd had to contact both to check in--that by that point I'd already culled the group, in my mind at least, to Pacific, VCFA, and Spalding. (Note: Goddard did come back onto my radar after a great conversation with the interim program director, Elena Georgiou, who took special note of my love of writing historical fiction, and steered me to the writings of a similar faculty member.)

When I'd initially started thinking about heading back to graduate school, it was the summer of 2008. Though my application process was cut short by the unexpected news that I was pregnant, I had already done quite a bit of thinking about where I'd like to go. For some reason--mainly the idea of traveling to the Pacific Northwest and studying with Pam Houston, Pacific became my #1. When, last year, I started and completed the application process, I still felt the same way.

After being accepted to programs, I did everything possible in order to narrow down my choices: talked to faculty, alumni, current students, administrators; looked at rankings and placement; studied each school's literature (especially faculty bios and mentoring philosophies); considered all costs, including possible scholarship and assistantship options; hounded my friends and family (some of whom are professors); spent late nights with my husband just hashing it all out ("it's your choice," was his oft-repeated reply); looked at study abroad options and whether it'd actually be feasible for me to factor this in (what with the daughter, husband, and dog); and researched websites, blogs, and books about the MFA in Writing.

In the end, I even resorted to coin tossing.

The resources I consulted:

Publications
The Low-Residency MFA Handbook by Lori A. May
The Creative Writing MFA Handbook by Tom Kealey
Poets & Writers magazine (in addition to perusing years of articles on the MFA in Writing, I spent quite a bit of time at the Speakeasy, their forum)
The Association of Writers and Writing Programs
The Writer's Chronicle magazine (from the AWP)
The Atlantic Monthly magazine
Assorted essays by Linda Formichelli, Erika Dreifus, Seth Abramson, etc.
Blogs
www.sethabramson.blogspot.com "Seth Abramson"
www.bestdamncreativewritingblog.com "The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog"
www.creative-writing-mfa-handbook.blogspot.com "The Creative Writing MFA Blog"
www.erikadreifus.com/blogs/practicing-writing/ "Practicing Writing"
Any blog by any graduate of the programs I was considering.

One thing that made my decision different: I am already an adjunct instructor of English at 4-year and community colleges. A specific reason for me to earn a terminal degree in writing is to have the necessary degree to be competitive for a full-time, tenure track position at a college or university. (I know that a MFA is not a job quarantee, but the sad fact is that if you haven't published a book or books yet, and you want a full-time position in higher ed teaching writing, this degree is necessary.)

So, my search changed. I began to consider: which programs graduated alumni who garnered full-time teaching jobs? Which program would make me the most competitive in the higher ed workforce?

What I learned, from conversations with several folks in higher ed (including, but not limited to, graduate school MA in English professors, undergraduate writing professors, administrators, and my current boss, who is head of the humanities division at a small, liberal arts college) is that "pedigree" matters. The reputation of the school from which you will have earned your MFA degree matters... a lot. After publications, of course.

While many of these people did profess that rankings are a crap-shoot, and that I should go where my "gut" tells me, several did admit that when it comes to larger state universities (the sort of places I'd like to work), English departments aren't as hip to writing programs--so, they look at the more (dare I say) superficial qualities of a candidate, like where the degree was earned.

I had to take into consideration the fact that when I do complete my MFA in Writing and am searching for a full-time position, I will be competing (in an already saturated market) with other candidates who've earned their MFAs from traditional, residential programs. And though low residency programs are gaining ground and beginning to be respected by highering committees, there are still many programs that refuse to give them as much credit as the traditional degree. (Consider the faculty member at the University of Georgia, who revealed in an email that going for a low residency MFA "just wasn't worth it." Ouch.)

The main bit of advice from each higher ed type: It's your publications that get you the job. Then, your credentials. One former professor of mine said, "When it comes to getting a job teaching writing, it's all about your publications and who you know."

But not a single publication I'd consulted weighed, in any manner, which low residency program would most aid a writer-teacher in finding a job. Here, I was on my own. And though it's easy to argue with rankings, the fact that VCFA had been #1 in placement for the past several years means something to me. This is not the case for everyone, of course: many, if not most, people considering or currently working towards their low residency degree in writing already have full-time jobs and don't plan on quitting them. Most simply want to develop their craft, to become better writers.

Becoming a better writer is, of course, the ultimate goal of a MFA in Writing. It's imperative that a potential MFA student look into which programs provide the best teacher-writers--those writers commited to his or her students' work and progress. Like the "which program will help me get a job" category, this one, too, is mostly unquantifiable. What's left to us here are teaching philosophies and faculty bios. Those can and should be studied as closely as possible. I searched each faculty member of the programs I was considering, researched their websites and publications, looked into the English departments at the schools where they teach, and at where they earned their own writing degrees. But again, it's a crap-shoot.

* In addition, I looked at the faculty of several small-to-large universities in my area, in order to discover where they had earned their terminal degrees. I considered faculty at places like Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Western Carolina Univeristy, the University of North Carolina (at Chapel Hill, Asheville, Wilmington), N.C. State, the College of Charleston, Winthrop University, Converse College, Presbyterian College, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina University, etc. Most had earned their degrees from traditional MFA in Writing programs, or earned PhDs in English.

When my husband and I began talking finances, I was forced to give up on my initial dream of attending Pacific. The cost here, mainly for travel (I live on the East Coast), would be too high. There aren't as many options for cross-genre study there, something in which I'm interested. I'd been accepted only in Fiction (as choosing one genre is the only option) at Pacific, while at Spalding and VCFA I'd been accepted in both Fiction and Creative Nonfiction.

Now it was down to two: Spalding and VCFA.

Spalding has so many things going for it: a study abroad option, cross-genre study, flexible scheduling, very, very happy and satisfied alumni, and a great spokeperson in Associate Program Director Kathleen Driskell. Kathleen was (and is) knowledgeable, genuinely friendly, easy to talk with, and willing to go out of her way to answer questions and to try to get the potential student the help she needs. Another item in the Spalding "yes" column: a small merit scholarship, and an assistantship working as a student editor and reader for The Louisville Review for as many semesters as I'd like. (Spalding is the rare low residency program that offers financial assistance.) In addition, Kathleen made it clear that Spalding really wanted me to come there--that they were excited and happy about me being part of their program. (This enthusiasm was the exception to the rule with other programs.) Spalding was rapidly becoming a program I'd have a hard time turning down.

VCFA also has a great spokesperson in Louise Crowley, who answered all my questions, spoke honestly and often with me about the rigors of the program and the small possibilities for financial assistance (outside of student loans, of course). The program at VCFA is long and lauded, and Louise is experienced and friendly. She immediately sent me a packet of information that included a sample residency schedule and course offerings, which were varied and exciting. The study abroad option at VFCA is unique in that it is ten days, and takes place in lieu of (and at the same time as) the Vermont residency, so a student can choose which to attend. This was quite appealing to me, as I'm a travel junkie with a family--the least disruptive the travel is to my family calendar, the better. And though the Vermont website does not supply nearly the amount of information the Spalding site does, it does provide faculty teaching philosophies, and these I found enlightening and helpful.

Both programs--Spalding's and VCFA's--provided information on alumni successes (i.e. books published). Both are impressive, but VCFA, being around for longer, seemed to have a great number of alumni publishing books.


I tortured myself (and my husband) with the decision. In an unethical move I'm not proud of, I resorted to telling both schools "yes" so I'd have longer to make my decision... a decision I quite literally could not make. One week, I'd be sure of one school, and the next I'd change my mind to the other. I went on long hikes with my dog, prayed about it, meditated about it, and drove my friends and family crazy asking the same questions over and over again.

I'd applied to the two schools for different reasons: Spalding, because it was new and innovative and I'd heard good things, and VCFA, because I knew its stellar reputation and was sure I wouldn't have a chance of getting in. When Spalding rose to the top for a variety of reasons, and I was actually accepted to VCFA, I was stumped. Hornswoggled. Flummoxed, discombobulated and foxed.

In the end, I just couldn't let the idea of VCFA go. I tried, but I couldn't. And I was utterly exhausted by the process. It doesn't hurt to add that my husband really wanted me to go to VCFA. And so the choice was made.


I'm thrilled about the decision, anxious about the affects on my family, but excited to begin. I'm ready to move ahead with my craft and my career.

Note: This is just my process, and everyone does it differently. If you are considering a MFA in Writing, or are trying to decide between programs, I wish you the best of luck. Because I've been in the trenches, so to speak, I'm more than happy to answer any questions.