More good news: I found out recently that I am a recipient of the Hartford Arts & Heritage Jobs Grant Phase II. I will be using the funds to set up a home office and fill it with supplies, get books and literary magazines for research, pay a professional reader, and a few more things like that. Basically I am covering the small (but cumulatively substantial) costs of being an "emerging writer," as they call me. I am in the company of many wonderful artists, including a puppeteer, a violin maker, and a woodworker. I am very, very honored and excited.