1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; 4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. This blog is in its seventh year, its year of sabbatical. In that year, I have revised two middle grade novels, wrote two picture books, attended three writing retreats, served as a graduate assistant at VCFA, met Julie Paschkis, had lunch with Roger Sutton, spoke to Katherine Paterson, received an honorable mention for the SCBWI Work-in-Progress grant, committed to return to my art studies, and traveled domestically and abroad to refill my cup. It's been a good year. The writing life is alive and well, and n...