I wish…

“I wish I had more time to write.” Every writer’s constant refrain. Never mind the mountains of minutes accrued checking Instagram, catching up on your Tumblr feed and watching videos of those half-amusing SNL sketches that have this one awesomely hysterical moment; lack of time is the giant impediment standing between you and your finished project. But what if that obstacle were lifted? What if all the appointments, chores, niggling errands, and social interactions were wiped away from your daily calendar, and you had nothing but time to devote to your writing? What would happen then?

I’m about to find out.

 

My wish has been granted, courtesy of a magical home in Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains, the location of Yefe Nof. Yefe Nof (Hebrew for “place with a beautiful view”) is an organization dedicated to allowing writers, designers and researchers “to become reinvigorated by the mountain air and experience the lake while pushing their work to completion.” Their California Residency Program selects a variety of writers and allows them to work by themselves in a 2-bedroom house in the woods in order to “bring their projects to the final stage of execution.”

What’s not to like about that mission?

I’m lucky enough to have been selected for Yefe Nof’s spring residency, two weeks on my own, far from the quotidian cares of day-to-day life. I’ve been working for about a year and a half on a new novel (wheeeee!) and I’ve just passed the three-quarter mark for completion of my first draft. This residency came at just the right time in my writing life. One final push, and this baby will hopefully be out!

So. Tomorrow I’m off. A two-hour drive up the mountain to a writer’s retreat of one. Even though this is a house that has a kitchen, laundry and wifi, near a market and pizza parlor, I’m packing like I’ll be in the wild untamed outdoors. Lettuce! What if they don’t have lettuce up there! Better bring fruit, cause who knows what’s available? Will they have balsamic vinegar? Emergen-C!

Into the woods I go. Let’s hope I don’t get eaten by bears. Wish me luck, and creative mojo. I don’t think I’ve been alone this long since right after college, but I’m sure it will go well. I mean, isolated in a secluded place in the mountains, working on a novel, cut off from the world… what could possibly go wrong?

See you soon!