In just a little over a week I will be back in my beloved San Francisco, the feedback of my critique buddies in my back pocket and a fresh Scrivener doc at the ready on my laptop. I have carved out three months of solitary writing in that inspirational city to do a full rewrite of my Young Adult novel, the one I was working on back in January, also in San Francisco.

The book is still a hard one, but the sharpest edges have gone now the first draft is done. I think I’ve created enough distance between the story and my memories, and I am ready to plunge back in.

 

What’s the book about? A sixteen-year-old girl, the betrayal of a sibling, guilt and self-loathing, and the numbing beauty of booze. A book with a genderqueer touch.

Why San Francisco? My protagonist will end up on the streets of San Francisco and I have rented a studio not too far from a church that provides free meals for the homeless, so I’ll be right where I need to be.

 

Will I miss Amsterdam? Possibly, although not in summer when its canals and streets are flooded with – mostly stoned – admirers of the city.

Will I miss my two men? Definitely! But I will survive and so will they. If one of them keeps the Internet up and running, we can FaceTime or Skype any time to keep in touch.

Will I accomplish my goal? Absolutely! My heart says I so, my crit buddies are confident and I can even hear the encouragement of my muse in the wind’s whispers.

 

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