I’m packing to go to Chicago and, from there, to fly to the Hawaii Writers Retreat and Conference. Originally, I wanted help with finishing my genre nonfiction novel, and the person for that seems to be a man named Gary Braver, whose class I did not gain admission to (it was full). I was then assigned to Ron Powers, who won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for his TV criticism when he wrote for the Chicago Sun Times. I was thrilled, as my book is movie criticism. I received a lovely note, inviting any of us to write with questions, and, in the original “Welcome to the Class” e-mail, the suggestion was made that perhaps I should EXPAND the book I am bringing. (Anyone who knows me knows that EXPANDING is not a good idea for me.) Since I have been working diligently to cut the book down from about 500 pages to 250 for some time, I did write back, saying that I didn’t really see myself expanding, at this late date. From there, I have received 2 phone calls from Hawaii, and, in one of them, the suggestion that I move to a different class has been made. I like the sound of the instructor I have now, so I am hoping that this “flies,” At any rate, I shall attempt to post from Hawaii, where names like Mitch Albom are going to be present and Nora Jones is singing in a special concert.