outerbanksvacations.com

Hi, all!

My new column is up at The Greenville News. This one’s all about fatherhood–and is especially for fathers of daughters.

Read it here.

In other news, on Monday things get wild in my world. I’m headed first to Massachusetts on a literary pilgrimmage/novel research retreat, where I’m going to spend some time exploring the archives and the campus of Mt. Holyoke College (for work on my new novel). Then, I’m off to Montpelier, Vermont and the Vermont College of Fine Arts, to complete my final residency and graduate from the MFA in Writing Program there. Hard to believe I’ve come to the end of this long, challenging, and rewarding experience.

My family and I are going to take a week to road-trip it back to Western North Carolina, checking out all kinds of sites along the way. On our list (okay, on Mama’s dream list–a 13 month-old and a 4 year-old might have more to say about it): Saratoga Springs, NY; Gettysburg, PA; possibly Philadelphia, Monticello & Mount Vernon, and assorted small towns and gorgeous countryside along the way!

If you have any great tips for places to hit on our trek from Montpelier, VT to Brevard, NC, I hope you’ll write and share them with me. We’re talking tips about anything–roadside stands, state parks, places to stay and eat, things for kids to do, etc. My husband would like for me to ask about food.

I plan (and hope) to blog about it all–my literary pilgrimmage, my last residency in the MFA program, the trek home, and more, over the next three weeks.

Happy Friday!