A Cottage of One’s Own
![hedge](https://lailalalami.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/hedge.jpg)
I spent the last two weeks of June at Hedgebrook, a women writer’s retreat on Whidbey Island in Washington. In a happy coincidence, I received my editorial letter just as I arrived in Oak Cottage (pictured above), so I was able to make revisions for my new novel while I was there. I loved being in residency—being alone all day, in silence, in a space where I could spread out my manuscript and all my notes was incredibly beneficial.
![desk](https://lailalalami.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/desk.jpg)
Now I’ve returned to my ordinary life, made more hectic by a house move, and I miss the silence.