Château d’Orquevaux Artist Residency in France
Château d’Orquevaux
I wholeheartedly believe that you are a photographer if you practice the art of taking photographs, you are a painter if you practice the art of painting, you are a musician if you practice the art of making music, and you are a writer if you practice the art of writing. This statement isn’t about whether or not the art is good or not; art is subjective. It’s about doing the thing.
With all of that being said, I’ve been a writer since I could legibly write. The amount of short stories I’ve written since I was a child, you’d think I’d have published a book of them by now. But alas, my writing has me published all over the worldwide web, in magazines (digital and print), and other publications, but no books… yet. Writing BOOKS is definitely on my list of things to do in life but I’ve had some detours, roadblocks, and distractions that have caused me to move that goal to the backburners of my creativity.
When I was about 24 years old, I had leaned firmly into my decision to leave America (specifically North America, for those who are technical). My interest in Ireland had grown beyond just daily searches of castles to visit one day. I had started looking up writing residencies and found one worth applying to. I typically need 2 years to do my planning before I pull the trigger and shoot myself into my next big thing. 26 arrived and I ended up postponing my decision to become involved with a person who would become the father of my child and eventually the husband, and now the ex-husband. Fast forward a full lifetime and 26 years later I get an opportunity to leave the country for a writing residency. Except it isn’t Ireland, but somewhere comparable… France.
I had saved a Chateau d’Orquevaux post on Instagram about their applications for the residency opening up back in March or April of this year. My best friend randomly sent the post to me one day. I informed her that I had seen it and had been thinking about applying. Of course she excitedly suggested I go ahead and apply. I think I sat looking at it for a couple of hours and was like fuck it, reviewed all the information they were requesting, and then applied. When it comes to rejection, we’re the best of friends. I have a pretty good relationship with it; so good that I don’t feel slighted, depressed, or distraught when I don’t get something I want… even if it’s something I want more than anything else in the world. I factor it in as part of life.. we don’t always get what we want. So, when I hit submit, I closed my laptop and went on living the rest of this so called life.
I was genuinely surprised when I received two emails from Chateau Orquevaux… not because I have no confidence in my writing. I understand I’m not the only person in the world applying for the residence. I’m one of hundreds, even thousands, of artists seeking asylum in a place conducive to creating among other artists. It’s a coveted spot so I look at it optimistically BUT ALSO realistically. So, yes, I was excited to read, “Congratulations from Chateau d'Orquevaux Residency in France!” in the subject line of my first email. I think I read the email 4 times before it truly settled in that HEY! YOU GOT ACCEPTED TO GO TO FRANCE TO WRITE FOR 2 WEEKS!!!
The second email subject was, “Payment Information Chateau d'Orquevaux Residency” and I knew a bit of my excitement would be tempered with the reality of “how am I going to pay for this?” I allowed myself to feel like a little kid again for about 24 hours before my brain started focusing on ways to get the $4570 needed after The Denis Diderot Grant of $1800 was applied to the cost. My best friend suggested a GoFundMe and created one as soon as possible for us to post on our socials.
If You'd Like to Donate to the Cost, Feel Free!
Over the course of the next few days I told my closest friends out of nothing more than excitement. People who know me really well are aware of how much I love writing and if I could do it full-time AND it pay my bills 100%, I would do it without hesitation. However, I have a child to also provide for and a writers salary doesn’t stretch too far with two people versus one. So, I still write but the money I make off of it is now maybe enough to buy a cup of coffee once a month. We can get into a deeper conversation on what takes up the time and space to pour into my dreams at another time. Right now, the focus is this wonderful residency.
The GoFundMe has been up for a few days and I’ve received $630 on the site and $400 directly. After fees for the services, it comes out to about $991, which is $991 more than I thought I would have to put towards my deposit on Tuesday, June 16, 2026! SO, I’m EXTREMELY grateful for all of the support to help get me to France for the 2-week residency. However, we have about $800 to go for my deposit in 2 days. All of the prices are given in Euros so there’s a difference in cost for conversion AND there are fees and taxes that aren’t included in the cost listed in the acceptance email. Before Stripe fees and taxes, the cost is $3950 Euros which converts to $4569.76. After Stripe fees and taxes, it’ll be $5134.36. This doesn’t include the 2.9% + 30 cents per donation that GoFundMe charges. So far, that’s been $21.28. At first I rounded up to $6000 for the fundraiser because I was including the cost of my round trip ticket; I wasn’t aware of the Stripe and VAT fees. So, in the spirit of full transparency, I wanted to share the full cost AND what all donations will go towards (room & board, writing studio, and all meals). My dates to submit payment are June 16th (my deposit), August 1st and September 1st (the remaining balance).
Depending on how much money is donated via GoFundMe, their fees could put me right at $6000. Either way, I’m grateful and my coins are far more closer to locking everything in Tuesday than I was last week. I’ll have two weeks of uninterrupted writing, musing, sleeping, socializing, and visiting a countryside I’ve only dreamed about. It really is a dream come true and it will be well documented if for nothing else but a reminder that dreams deferred are only delayed, not destroyed or forgotten.
I’ll be picking from either one of my short stories or an unfinished story that I’ll be developing into enough of a manuscript to start submitting to agents/publishing houses once I return home. The timing aligns with my goal that I would have my first book published (or in the works to be) by the time I’m 50. That birthday doesn’t happen until November 22, 2029 so while I have plenty of time, I want to take advantage of any opportunities to do it more sooner than later… then I can get started on my next thing. So, I hope this is as much a silver lining for anyone reading this as it has been for me.
Here’s to dreams coming true…
