SVU's main building. Next year I want to stay in that tiny room in the tower.I flew in to Dulles and split a car with fellow writers, Jim Workman from Salt Lake City, and Danielle Friedman from Boston. Jim is a chemical engineer and Danielle a med student. Both incredibly nice, and each aspiring writers in different genres. Jim writes techno-thrillers. Danielle prefers slipstream fiction.

SVU is small, gorgeous and somewhat vacant in the summer, in a way that reminds me of the Overlook Hotel in the Shining. Fortunately there are no bathtubs anywhere.

Dinner was enlightening. It’s wonderful to be in a room with a dozen other people who are vastly different in age, geography and social strata but all share the same common literary thread. The evening was spent hanging out at the dorm talking about books and authors of every variety. It’s a geek-fest. What's not to love?

I’m sharing a room with a cat named Charles Pillsbury, who runs WordTrip.com. Very nice guy, you should check out his site if you have time. It was one of Writers Digest’s Top 101. (In fact he’s probably reading this right now—‘sup Charles).

Classes go from 9:00am-9:00pm. Busy day ahead.