More than anything else, I believe in myself.

That's pretty much a successful life in a nutshell, isn't it?

And a good way to share some excellent news that I have been sitting on for over a week.

I won a scholarship to a prestigious summer writers workshop in NY - I've been assigned to the amazing AMY HEMPEL for the small group work, and will be able to study with many of my other fav writers, like Matthew Klam, Melissa Bank, Meg Wolitzer, here's the whole list--

Alan Alda Melissa Bank Billy Collins E.L. Doctorow Christopher Durang Jules Feiffer Ursula Hegi Amy Hempel Kaylie Jones Matthew Klam Patricia Marx

Frank McCourt Carol Muske-Dukes Marsha Norman Joyce Carol Oates David Rakoff Robert Reeves Roger Rosenblatt Garry Trudeau Derek Walcott Lou Ann Walker Hilma Wolitzer Meg Wolitzer

I KNOW. I am a very lucky girl.

In case you are not familiar with Amy's work:
The Collected Stories (2006) was one of the New York Times Ten Best Books of the Year and a finalist for the PEN-Faulkner Award. Hempel has received a Guggenheim Fellowship (2000), United States Artists Fellowship (2006), an Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and an Ambassador Book Award (2007).