Today is the Day.

Three months.

When I first received the letter saying I had received a Canada Council for the Arts grant, I was flabbergasted. After all, it was my first application to the Council's Emerging Writers program, and I really didn't expect anything to come of it. I assumed that:

1. They wouldn't accept an application to write a fantasy novel;
2. They didn't know me from a hole in the wall; or
3. The Assessment Committee would hate the sample pages I sent in.

The letter proved that the CCA is far more accepting of genre work than I had ever guessed, that it didn't matter that I really wasn't anyone important, and that apparently my sample pages had some merit -- enough so that the Committee thought my efforts were worth supporting.

External validation. Sure, it wasn't an agent saying it -- or an Editor. But it was a group of three people who are industry professionals. Three people who saw something in what I was writing and said, "Yes - let's support this."

Wow. How awesome is that?

Even better, the company I work for has also been great. My boss, who I adore, has never asked me to change my leave, despite the fact my loss for three months will not doubt cause her extra pain and suffering (or not -- I can hope things go perfect in my absence). Truth be told, I couldn't have picked a worse time to go if I had tried -- and still I have her full support. That means a great deal to me.

So, for eight months I have been waiting -- sometimes with a deep certainty that something would come up to keep this from happening. And trust me, there were moments. Most recently, I had a bout with the judicial system where I could have been named a juror in an eight week murder trial. Fortunately, I ducked out of that one by the skin of my teeth. Truth be told, I think jury duty would have been fascinating ... but not during the three months I planned to write!

So, today is the day. Hard to believe. There's special energy in the air, even though I have no expectation of writing today. No - today is going to be about preparing. Opening this blog so I can keep track of my journey. Cleaning my apartment. Packing for a writing retreat. Getting a few loose ends tied up for work.

Tomorrow, two friends and I are heading to a cottage. How perfect that my friends are helping me to start my time off right. It's been a while since we had a writing retreat together, so it will be great for all of us.

And it will be a chance for me to hit the ground running.

Three months. I can't believe it.