Happy Summer Solstice, <<First Name>>! Now I am going to talk about filthy lucre below, so feel free to skip to the end for cat pictures.
If you know me at all, you’ll know that I feel super uncomfortable with fundraising (or “development” as it’s called in non-profit circles); for example, back in high school, selling candy bars to help pay for marching band stuff was kind of the worst. It probably didn’t help that I was a pretty shy kid. But now that I’m allegedly grown up, I’ve gotten more okay with at least talking to people, though I still don’t love flat-out asking for money, for various reasons.
That said, I am inviting you to follow along as I dive into this year’s Clarion West Write-a-thon. Yes, it is a fundraising effort, but as I say in the video linked below, it’s more about building and finding community. Anyone can register to participate, whether or not you ask for donations. There are several online events every week, including co-working sessions, craft workshops, and social meetups. Perfect for the writer who doesn’t want to leave the house but still craves connection!
And if you’re not a writer, a donation of any amount will still get you weekly updates on my progress as I work on creating new short fiction. I’ve been grinding away on novel-length works for the last few years, but keeping a running list of smaller story ideas, and I’m committing to getting some of those projects started now.
The Clarion West 2023 Write-a-thon runs from this Sunday, June 25th, through August 5th. Please consider checking it out, and feel free to ask me any questions you might have about how it all works!
