The internet here is very, very spotty. I’ve no idea whether I’ll be able to blog daily, but I’m sure going to try.

This place is amazing. An artist’s dream.

My studio/home is called Foxfire. It’s an adorable little cabin with a double bed and two desks to choose from. It’s rustic here. There are bugs everywhere, but I’m becoming quite adept with the fly swatter. I’m in the middle of the forest, in the mountains, after all. I’m at the dining hall house now, the only place where there’s (spotty) internet availability.

I forgot to put on bug spray. I will pay for that later.

I arrived yesterday afternoon, checked in, ran to the grocery store, then dined with the 8 other artists here. We are roughly half writers and half painters/sculpters. Plus, there’s one inventor. We get a gorgeous, healthy gourmet vegetarian dinner every night, and breakfast and lunch are on our own.

Last night, after I got home from dinner, I revised an essay for my MFA application, then outlined a little of my novel Finding Ohm. To take a break from the outlining, I wrote the first chapter of a young adult novel I’m writing just for fun called, When the Wrong Kind of Hispanic Makes the Right Kind of Girl. This idea’s been in my head for a few months, and I had no intention of working on it here, but Finding Ohm is research-heavy and thinking-heavy, and I need a fun distraction.

Oops. Salamander sighting nearly caused me to drop my laptop on the ground.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Wrote until 1 AM, read some research about the Partition between India and Pakistan, then went to bed. Woke up this morning. Made myself some scrambled eggs. Did a few sun salutations. Mailed a letter to my girls. This afternoon, I’ll work more on my outline and perhaps get another chapter done of Wrong Kind of Hispanic.

And I’ll go back to the studio now, put on that darn bugspray and get back to work.