Welcome to my Trelex Writing Desk Residency! I’m staying in the guest room at Maison Binet, an eighty-year-old home in Trelex, Switzerland. I share kitchen and bath space with two other artists: Matthew, a painter from the U.K.; and James, a painter from Chicago.
Residencies are communal experiences. Little privacy beyond my room. Sharing a small fridge with two other people. Scheduling time for laundry with consideration for the other residents and a busy family.
I’m staying in a private residence.
Oh, I didn’t mention the family, did I? Nina and David have three children and a very inquisitive Jack Russell terrier named Talisker.
What residency would be complete without a resident dog? He’s already tried to run into the street when I left and invaded my room, where he made himself at home on the bed.
I’m writing on a Monday, my day to get settled. I trained from Lausanne with a change in Nyon and walked from the train station with three bags AND groceries. If I don’t lose a few pounds, I’ll be disappointed. I have a bicycle at my disposal, and I can use a family car if one is available, though I’m always fearful of driving abroad.
Jura Mountains make for an inspiring view to write. Here’s to the voices who speak!
This is a residency – a lot of staring at screens and wrangling words in hot rooms with no air conditioning! Three chapters of I Am Number 13 revised/rewritten at the end of the first residency day. The voices already gobsmacked me once. We’ll see what tomorrow holds.
If the view of the Jura Mountains doesn’t inspire me, I’m doomed as a writer!!
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To learn more about the Trelex Residency visit their website.
The book I’m working on now is a sequel to the others in the Nowhere Series so if you haven’t read the first two – go get them now!
2 Comments
I need a residency for Joshua’s Tree. What that means is 6 weeks of time of from the day job. That would be sweet.
if this place does not inspire you, no place will )
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