I have to read the acceptance letter from GrubStreet’s Online Novel Incubator program twice to believe it.
Dear Ivy, congratulations on your acceptance to this year’s Novel Incubator. Our review panel was impressed by your application and eager to welcome you aboard.
For a moment, all I can hear is my heartbeat.
I’ve been longing for a rigorous, highly regarded novel-rewriting program like this, something that might finally help bring my stories into the world.
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After months of laboring over my latest psychological thriller, the effort finally feels like it’s paying off. I picture my novel propped near the front of a bookstore, the title glowing under bright lights, the cover hinting at danger and secrets. Then my eyes land on the number in the congratulatory email.
Tuition for the year comes to $8,955.
I swallow. Can I really justify this cost, for me?
My mind starts tallying expenses — groceries, utilities, medical bills, car insurance, the random stuff that always pops up.
I imagine calling my mom and hearing her quick inhale over the phone. I know exactly what she’d say — I’ve heard it all my life.
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Good daughters save. They don’t splurge.
In her world, money is for stability, not self-improvement. Spending nearly $9,000 on a dream? It sounds reckless.
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