Retreat

This is where I am going on the 16th August for a week's tutored writing retreat for novelists. It is called Moniack Mohr and is 3 miles from Loch Ness (this fact is very important to me as I am called Ness most of the time). I have this opportunity after being awarded a grant by the Arvon Organisation for which I am truly grateful as it is something I would never be able to do otherwise. I am going to take the train up to Scotland, in itself an adventure, plus something I have always wanted to do.
My plan is to finish the novel I am writing for my PhD. I am not that far off as it is but the opportunity to spend a week writing without the influences/distractions of the outside world just seems a prime time to finish it off. Plus I can start the editing/polishing process. It is all planned in my head and the research has been done so having dedicated writing time in somewhere so beautiful has got to be a bonus hasn't it?
Until April I could not have considered things like this. Let alone going to Normandy one month and Scotland the next. It just wouldn't have been possible as it would have been far too complicated to organise. There are times when I almost feel drunk with the sense of freedom I now have. But don't get me wrong I still miss her desperately and would love to tell her about the things I am doing and how lucky I am. Though I am sure she knows really and she is chatting all about it with my Dad, well until tomorrow when the British Golf Open starts and they will both be sitting there, wherever they are, watching as it was something they both loved.