Breathing Again in Vermont

The last six months have been filled with loss and mourning. Then the VCFA residency rolled around and I had to postpone my travel to Vermont. Apart from travel delays, I have never been late to residency in the ten years I've taught here. But I couldn't be in two places at once. And I had to make time for:

• laundry between trips
• recovering my breath
• dealing with that feeling of emptiness you get when life has just beaten you up and there is nothing you can do

But now I'm here at VCFA with this amazing writing community of students and faculty. Over the years, the conversation of books, life, and the intersections between them has stimulated and energized me and made me a better writer. This is a magical place and what happens here ends up having a profound effect on books for children and young adults in North America and beyond.Now it is healing me and I am profoundly grateful.