Acceptances and such

If my oldest goes away,
 everyone will miss her, including
 Jake the dog.

No, this post is not about my receiving a request for a manuscript. I haven't queried in some time. Today's post is about another type of letter: the college acceptance letter. My oldest daughter has applied to four colleges, all within New York State. One is local, Marist, and I suspect she did it out of reverence to me since I finished my degree there (and when I was inducted into the honor society for adults, I brought her and her younger sister to the ceremony so it was her first trip to a college). The other three are upstate.

She received her first acceptance, via email, yesterday. She was thrilled. And so was I. For the past six months whenever college talk came up I had to temper down my emotions. In my eyes, she is still my baby, and thinking of her leaving produces a whirlwind of feelings and thoughts inside me. Yet, yesterday, the strongest feeling I felt was happiness. Going away will be a great opportunity for my girl to continue her independence and receive a great education.

So how does this tie in with writing? Easily. Most of my WIPs are young adult, many of my main characters are seventeen/eighteen years of age. I jotted down a premise for a new adult story the other day. My preferred type of fiction deals with kids getting ready to leave home, either for an adventure or for school. Having my own child experience this can only add fuel to and inspire my own writing. We are told to write what we know. Now I can write what I'm living. I have to finish my YA works because something tells me I will have plenty of fodder for new adult novels these next four years. And I still have another daughter in high school and my son in elementary. 

Yep, there will definitely be a lot going on to write what I'm living.