The last few weeks have brought some great literary trips: San Francisco for the University of San Francisco’s Emerging Writers’ Festival; Chestertown, MD for Washington College’s Mary Wood Fellowship; Clemson, SC for the Clemson University Literary Festival; and Oxford, MS to visit my dear friend and current Grisham Fellow Josh Weil.

Highlights from my travels, in no particular order:

Crazy good dinner at Nopa with the amazing Reese Kwon and her lovely husband.

Hearing Deb Olin Unferth read from Revolution and one of my favorites stories of hers, “Pet.”

Fried catfish. Hush puppies. Oysters wrapped in bacon. Peach muffins. Shrimp and grits. Who needs vegetables, anyway?

Getting to see Richard Ford read from his new novel, Canada.

Picking up Heather Christle’s new book, What Is Amazing.

Touring Faulkner's house and placing pennies by his grave.

Washington College's Literary House, aka heaven for writers.

Square Books.

Getting to terrorize the town of Clemson in a golf cart.

Meeting approixmately 1 million cool people. The buzz of getting a new story idea. Writing on trains and planes and in hotel rooms. Stuffing books into my suitcase. Going home.