Bye, blog readers and random strangers who might happen upon this blog and wonder who I am. I’ll miss you.

This is the post where I really and truly log out and leave this time. I mean it. It’s time to go! As of crazy-early o’clock tomorrow morning, I’ll be throwing myself from my loft bed, making sure I haven’t forgotten anything, probably forgetting something anyway, hugging E desperately, going back and hugging him once more, and then lugging my human-size duffel on wheels down four flights of stairs and into the waiting street, where I may or may not get a cab, depending on how late I’m running for the train.

Actually… that duffel is pretty enormous. I will need a cab for sure.

And I have a feeling E won’t let me go to the train station by myself.

If you’re idly curious about what I may have packed for the writers colony, in my enormous duffel on wheels you will find:

• 8, possibly 9 if I slip one last one in my backpack, books
• 13 pairs of mismatched socks, 14 including the ones I’ll be wearing
• 1 pair of writing slippers, bought from a glamorous bin off Canal Street
• 3 pajamas
• 3 sweaters
• 5 notebooks
• no movies
• 1 umbrella
• 1 itty-bitty flashlight
• 1 pair of pink sunglasses (Annika, you know which ones!)
• plus lots and lots more

My bag:

(I am considering unpacking some things because it’s so heavy. Beautiful Creatures, I want to read you, but you are too damn thick!)

Why am I packing so much? For those of you who may have missed it, I’m heading off to spend four weeks in a magical place among other writers and artists, where all I’ll need to do is write. Just write. There will be a chef to feed me and a room of my own to stay in—all for free—and my time will be my own to do with what I want and… it doesn’t sound real, does it? It really doesn’t!

But the place is called Yaddo. I swear it exists. Look, Wikipedia says so.

(I hope it exists, as I’ll be arriving there off the train with that enormous bag and nowhere else to go!)

I won’t be online much while I’m there. You can reach me via email if you need to, but it might be hard to reach me. I’m sorry in advance if I get swept up in the writing and let anything sit.

I’m sorry to abandon this blog for so long, but I won’t be blogging my time while I’m there. I also won’t be logging in to Facebook or Twitter, and I’ve turned off all notifications, so I won’t see messages or DMs until I return.

Thank you to my supportive other half, E, who is not happy that I’ll be away for so long but is being so amazing about it (and who will be getting a lot of pages to read once I get home). And to my agent, whose support with my new ideas has me so excited to dive in while there. And to my great friends, who are helping with the nerves. And to Yaddo, for awarding me this residency in the first place! I’m so honored. I’ll make great use of it, I promise.

So that’s it from me for the month.

Have a wonderful and inspiring April! I’ll be back May 3. 🙂