Many years ago, I read how Billie Letts spent a few weeks in seclusion at a hotel so she could finish her novel, Where the Heart Is, which still is and will always be one of my favorite books. (How awesome is Sister Husband and her wonderfully earnest and we ask forgiveness, Lord, for the fornication that Mr. Sprock and me have committed again?)
At the time, my boys were young so I couldn’t imagine being able to break away for weeks just to finish a novel even though … OH MY GOSH, wouldn’t it be awesome! But no, forget it, there was homework to do every night and sporting events to haul my boys to and laundry to wash and meals to cook and paperwork for my husband’s construction company on top of manuscripts to write and promotion to do. Leaving for a weekend would have been hard enough but an entire month? Impossible. And I’d feel way too guilty leaving Bob to deal with everything.
Besides, I thought, before I know it, my boys will be in college and I’ll have all the time in the world to write.
Well guess what.
Both my boys are in college now, my work load is a crazy as ever, and life as an empty nester is nowhere near what I’d thought it be.
So being gone for a month is still impossible … especially since we are paying for said college! Still. A weekend would be nice. Actually, no, it would be more than nice. It’d be heaven seeing as how I’ve recently received more editor notes for my current work-in-progress, a mid-grade novel called The Glory Girls of Stockyard County. Just imagine. No distractions, no responsibilities, no cooking, no chores, no cleaning, no crazy races to run, no nothing. Just me, my computer, a coffeemaker, take-out food and my manuscript.
Oh my. I’m going to close my eyes and fantasize about that for a few seconds. You go ahead and do the same.
Nice, huh?
It’s still going to happen for me one day. Until then, I’m going to look at tomorrow’s anticipated snowy, icy, crappy weather as an opportunity to create my own bundled-up writing retreat. No distractions, no cooking, no chores, just me, Scrivener, and my manuscript.
Lord, I hope the power doesn’t go out.
