I have amazing news. In October, I will be spending a week on Whidbey Island – just outside Seattle, Washington, for a week-long Master Class workshop and residency at prestigious Hedgebrook.

Hedgebrook’s strapline is women authoring change. Their mission is to support women writers from all over the world to develop their voices and works, to  raise awareness in a vast range of issues.

Hedgebrook is THE place for me! My goal is to make headway on my next book, Accidentally, with Purpose – the sequel and next step from Accidental Aid Worker.

I submitted applications for a place in both the 2019 residency program and a Master Class residency workshop. Over 1800 applications are received each year for a coveted 40 places in the residency program (successful applicants are advised in December – I’ll let you know if I get in), and places in the week-long Master Class workshops are also hotly contested.

When the email congratulating me for my place in Hope Edelman’s Master Class arrived in my inbox, my excitement leaped off the email and straight onto Facebook. I think I said “Oh my GOD” out loud and all over my (Facebook) wall whilst jumping around the living room, for about three hours.

Being awarded a place at Hedgebrook is a real achievement and an opportunity I will make the most of. I will be joining six other women from around the world for a week on magical Whidbey Island to do exactly what I had wished for – take time out to invest, focus, write and develop Accidentally, with Purpose. 

Working with Hope

One of the reasons why this workshop with Hope Edelman is an important next step for me is that I will be learning how to approach and write stories that are deeply personal. Hope wrote Motherless Daughters, a book that saved my life by helping me relate to and come to terms with my grief and experiences resulting from my mother’s death. Hope’s work was a guide for me in expressing some of those raw and conflicted emotions around loss, in Accidental Aid Worker.  To have the opportunity to thank Hope for her work personally, is one thing. To work with her and learn how to become a more effective writer – quite another!

I am SO excited. Wish me and Accidentally, with Purpose, luck.

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