Back in the spring, on a lark, I applied for the Amtrak Writer’s Residency. About 16,000 other people applied as well. Yesterday I was announced as one of the 24 winners.
Twenty-three of those people strike me as real writers as opposed to bloggers/snarkmeisters. I have to assume I was some sort of affirmative action selection designed to improve the overall status off argumentative doofs with short attention spans. I’m not sure, though.
What I am sure of is that sometime in the next year I will be placed on a train going wherever I want for the sole purpose of writing whatever I want while I ride the rails.
I am not sure where I will go. I am not sure what I will write. But I am immensely happy about this.
And a bit worried. Given what I’ve heard about Internet access on cross-country trains, I am unlikely to be online much. This is horrifying. What if I have a thought and I’m not able to immediately share it with thousands of strangers? WHAT THEN?!
Oh, wait. Maybe that’s the point.