Choose your own adventure

You have been waitlisted or rejected from a number of writing labs and retreats, but you still need some time to write, away from your husband and meddling kids. If you:

A: cry and whine about the fact that no one can see the genius in your work, please go back to the beginning and think about your choices

B: decide to take matters into your own hands, please turn to the next page

I decided to take option B and spend a few days at my mother’s house in the Pocono Mountains. I’m very fortunate to have a free place to go to for a few days, and a husband who’s supportive, and kids who were away on different trips. Could I have stayed in NYC to write since my kids were gone? Perhaps, but I think getting out of the day-to-day is important sometimes. Otherwise, there is laundry to do and perhaps some cookies to be baked, and before you know it, a day has passed with little to show for it except clean laundry and cookies.

So what did I do with my house of my own? I finished a second draft of my novel. I reread two books that I would think of as comps, in very different ways (Past Present Future, by Rachel Lynn Solomon, and Stay True, by Hua Hsu). I watched three episodes of season four of Stranger Things. I did, in fact, eat some cookies that I baked, but only because I brought the cookie dough with me.

I do not remember the last time I spent a night alone in a house, so that was an interesting experience. There’s not a lot to do near the house, and there isn’t really anywhere to walk, especially since there was still a lot of snow on the ground. I always like to poke around for old photos in the house, since there are bags and bags of them, and tons of slides. I also discovered this strange item. What is this thing, exactly? A cheese grater / vegetable peeler combo? It looks like it was bought at a yard sale in 1953. I did not use it.

I also rediscovered this wonderful book, which was my brother’s (his name is written on the front flap), but my sister and I definitely enjoyed it as well. I think about this book every time someone describes a job to me that I don’t understand.

Here is a photo of me on the couch, choosing my own adventure. I do not have fancy photo editing tools, so I always just use PowerPoint.

The moral of this story, and so many others, is that you should not wait for someone else to choose your adventure for you. You, too, can choose your own adventure.