You Come, Too. A Journey to Get an MFA in Fiction At Age 44.

“Thank you!” I started blogging in August 2007 when I had a newborn with colic. In 2019, I have a new teething baby. I made my Final Promise as a Carmelite on May 15, 2016. Inspired by Pope Francis’ focus on the Environment, I started an Environmental and Energy Law Firm in West Virginia in September 2017. This summer My writing has grown from writing blog posts to creating plays and novels.

In July, I begin a Low Residency, Two Year Program for a Masters of Fine Art in Fiction. I start with a residency program I’ve nicknamed “Writer’s Camp.” I spend two weeks on a college campus. We do workshops, go to class and then have nightly events with contemporary authors and poets. During the semester I pick out 25 books I want to read, 5 books about the craft of writing and then 20 books I think will help nurture my own work. At the end of the program I will have 125 pages of a highly edited work of fiction, which is a “good start” on a book. I picked a program inside my small town. My kids can skateboard over to the dining hall to join me for a meal whenever they miss me.

Two years ago we moved to a small town in Central West Virginia. (I used to live closer to the Washington DC Metro area). My husband got a job as a College Art Professor in the place where I graduated from High School. For years I talked about Art, Books, and Film in my living room and on my blog. Now I attend Artist Talks once a month at a small gallery on Campus. Being around all the energy of Modern Art is what encouraged me to go back to graduate school for creative writing in my mid forties with seven kids and a professional job. It’s so inspiring to watch artists “make new things.”

Thank you to all the readers who have shared this journey. I hope to be posting again on this new journey.