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"So there&amp;#039;s this wonderful thing going on over St. Patrick&amp;#039;s Day weekend in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. The Wild Mountain Memoir Retreat is a memoir writing workshop, and since the book I&amp;#039;m working on (well, one of them, anyway) is a memoir, this would be an awesome and very helpful thing for me to attend. The keynote speaker and workshop faculty are the cream of the crop; bestselling authors, Oprah Book Club picks and amazing human beings. I could learn so much from them! But alas, it&amp;#039;s not an inexpensive weekend. And it&amp;#039;s all the way across the country. I&amp;#039;ll probably be able to beg, borrow and steal the airfare, but I just can&amp;#039;t pull together for the rest. I have been invited personally by a member of the faculty, but I had to graciously decline, under my current financial circumstances. And then - a seed of hope. They&amp;#039;re offering a scholarship to one lucky person to attend the event. The application is based on talent and financial need, so I put together my packet, sent it in before the deadline, and now we wait. Part of me is being a real killjoy, telling myself I&amp;#039;ve got not a snowball&amp;#039;s chance in hell of getting this. Another part of me wants to listen to my daughter, who said to me very simply: Why not you? And so I put it in the hands of God and the Universe and hope the fates are kind. And if they&amp;#039;re not, I&amp;#039;ll go on writing because I just plain don&amp;#039;t know how not to. The rest will come, and I have to trust in that. This is how you forge a new life, right? By taking chances. Wish me luck, everyone! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/dating-marriage/a46679/cross-your-fingers/>