Brenda Cooper

Clarion West Write-a-Thon

June 18th 2012 at 4:19 am

Well, it’s Clarion West Write-a-thon time again.  Clarion West is one of the best intensive workshops available for aspiring speculative fiction writers.  The money they raise goes to help with expenses (which are legion) and with scholarships.

I hope to have a lot of people sponsor me, even at the price of giving up a latte one morning.  I like interacting with readers and supporters during the write-a-thon.  I write up a weekly progress report that only my sponsors get (some other parts are public, and this year I’ll post those on my Facebook author page, as a way to stop neglecting it.

This year will be particularly difficult as I have not one but two important dates right close to each other, and right around Clarion season.

1. My first draft of the second book in my duology that’s coming out through Pyr is due August 21st.  That’s the deadline to get it to my first readers for the Wellspring worskhop, which is kind of a published-writer version of Clarion. I’m going to just make it if I keep my Clarion goals of 1,000 words minimum a day, and blow past that by a bit each day.  Even a tiny bit.
2. Since I hate making things easy on myself, I’m also in the middle of training for and doing the Seattle to Portland Bicycle ride event, which happens during Clarion – on July 14th.  That’s 202 miles in 2 days.  That kind of physical goal does affect writing – positively and negatively. On the good side, exercising the old brain keeps it running rather well.  Lot’s of plot issues get worked out at mile 30.  On the other hand, training for this is 2-10 hours a day on the days I train (and I should be doing more!).  That’s NOT keyboard time or family time or day-job time.

To up the ante one more time, my stretch goal for the write-a-thon is to write a lyric a week (these go with the novel, really).  Lyrics are hard, but fun. I’ll share those with the people who sponsor me if I get them done – they will be subordinate to the two goals above, work, and family.

So….please consider sponsoring me and maybe a few other writers (there are over 200 of us!).  Spread whatever you want to give around – it’s more fun to sponsor three writers at $10.00 each than to give one $30.00.  Really.  That way you get tales from three people.  The main write-a-thon page works, or here’s mine.

Thanks in advance!

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