It’s the first afternoon of the Novel Incubator Alumni Writing Retreat in Jackson, NH. From my room up in the eaves, I read over the last chapter of the latest draft of my novel, attach the whole thing to an email and push SEND. My draft flies off to two extremely generous writer friends willing to read it and offer feedback. I breathe deeply and go for a walk filled with optimism. The woods around Jackson Village are the prettiest woods in the whole world. After years of wri