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Phew. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. (That always seems to be the case towards the end of summer!)

I finished up the Clarion West Write-a-thon. Many thanks to everyone who donated. Here’s how it went: I sent off six short stories to various markets and I’m still waiting to hear back on all of them. I got a shit-ton of work done on Strange Essence, I’m finishing up chapter eighteen tonight and then it’s on to nineteen and twenty and then this final (?) draft is done.

For all intents and purposes, I took a week off of writing when I visited my family in Chicago. The bookstore sent me for a one-day workshop and the rest of the time I was slave to my two-and-a-half-year-old nephew.

I really have no idea how anyone with kids manages to get anything done. I tried to do some writing after he went to bed, but I was so fried that I started dozing in front of the computer. I failed to come up with much workable material. And then, instead of writing during my flights, I read and napped.

The obsessive-compulsive in me is looking forward to the predictable monotony of my daily routines and the writer in me is looking forward to finally finishing this novel so I can shop it around and start something new.

It’s halfway through the write-a-thon and I’m starting to feel the pressure that I’ve put on myself for those goals.

To recap: I’m submitting one short story to a new market every week and I’m supposed to be editing two chapters per week in my current science fiction novel.

I’m one chapter behind on the novel edits.  I probably shouldn’t have allowed myself all the slack time I took during my three-day Fourth of July weekend.

I really wanted to reach my weekly submission goal.  I don’t know why it’s been so hard for me, I have five recent short stories in my submissions-to-send folder, so why are they still sitting there?  I’ve had some rejects on a couple of them, and fear of rejection is definitely a contributing factor.  I just need to close my eyes and go!

One of the stories waiting to go out, A Strand of Pearls, is a little different from the stories I normall write.  It’s a fantasy mermaid-romance thing.  It’s been sitting in my ‘to-send’ folder since I finished editing it a month ago.  I don’t have the slightest clue what market is best for it.  Is anyone compiling a mermaid anthology?  Anyone out there buying mermaid stories right now?  If you hear anything, please let me know…

As far as the fund-raising aspect of the write-a-thon goes: Thanks to everyone who has donated so far!  Donations made on my author page are halfway to last year’s total.  An uber-big Thank You!!! to Bonnie Dunne for her generous contribution.

There’s still time to donate.  Just follow the link and click on the paypal button.  And now, I’m going to get back to writing.

This is the first of six weeks of the annual Clarion West Write-a-thon and I’m participating for the second time.  Several of you donated last year and your money was appreciated.  The Write-a-thon benefits the Clarion West Writers Workshop.  It’s an intense, annual workshop in Seattle for science fiction and fantasy writers.  I would love to be accepted to the program one day.  Professional writers lead the participants and mentor them during the six weeks.  The write-a-thon is a way for others to participate in the madness.

Your donation helps fund the Clarion West scholarship program.  Of course, donations are tax deductible.  (It’s a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.)

Just as the students are pushing themselves, participants in the Write-a-thon are also setting goals.  This year, my goal is to edit two chapters of my novel-in-progress every week and to submit one short story every week to a new market.

Already, my writing goals for this year have made it feel as though I’ve been participating in a write-a-thon since January.  I’ve been writing and submitting two new short stories every month and while I’ve gotten back some rejections, I’ve also had two acceptances.  I’ve been revising my current novel for about two months now and I just started work on chapter nine.  By the end of this write-a-thon I’ll be at chapter twenty, and that’s the end!

I didn’t get accepted to the program this year.  Maybe if enough people donate money in my name, they’ll accept me next year!  Check out the website and make a donation.  Just click on the paypal button on my donation page.  Any amount you give is appreciated by aspiring writers everywhere.  For more information no the program, check out the Clarion West website.

The Clarion West Write-a-thon ended three days ago and I can’t tell you how relieved I am to be done with it.  I took Sunday and Monday off writing to recover.

For the last two weeks, it has felt like a chore to sit down and write 750 words everyday.  I usually do write everyday because I want to.  For me, there’s something about having to do something that makes me not want to do it.

Anyway, I raised a couple hundred bucks for the organization.  Thanks to everyone who donated!  I met and exceeded my goals.  I submitted six short stories to markets and I’m still waiting to hear back from all of them.

I wrote over 750 words per day on the still un-titled novel for a total of 36,180 words.  I had wanted to do 31,500 so that’s 4,680 more than planned.  When you combine it with what I had already written on the story I’ve got 48,725 words.  I’m at the halfway point for the first draft.  It’s a very exciting place to be.  I’m taking a break from it today to work on a short story and then I’ll be diving back into it.

Breathing an exhausted sigh of relief aaahhhh.

Halfway through the write-a-thon and I’ve stuck to my goals.  750 words every day on the novel and I’ve submitted one short story each week.  I’ve written 19,791 words on that novel, which is about 4,000 words ahead of where I wanted to be.  Not bad.  Dinah’s still getting her daily walk, but the house is a mess and I feel like I’ve done nothing but write for the last three weeks.  Oh well, there’ll be time for a life later.

Start of week three.  So far I’ve written 14,151 words on that novel without a name.  I’m ahead of where I wanted to be by almost 3,000 words.  I’ve sent off two short stories to new markets and I’ve got a fresh one lined up for this week.

With all this writing, i haven’t cleaned house in a while and I’ve been eating fast, easy dinners with no leftovers.  That means I’ve been buying my lunch at work, it’s not great for my pocketbook.

Still, I’m keeping my side of the bargain on this whole write-a-thon thing, so why not pledge a little bit of money?  Just go to the Clarion West website to donate.

Just over a week in and here’s the breakdown since my last update:

Friday: 755
Saturday: 2027
Sunday: 1086
Monday: 792

So far I’ve written 8457 words on this novel.

Other aspects of my life are slipping.  Haven’t cleaned house all week.  My netflix movies have stacked up, unwatched.  At least I’m still showering and eating regularly.  Dinah’s even getting her daily walk.  Oh, and I’m still going to work at the bookstore.  I’m above the count I pledged I would do, so that’s good.  Let’s see if I can keep up the work.

Here’s my word count on my still-nameless novel that I’m working on for the Clarion West Write-a-thon:

Sunday: 806
Monday: 1000
Tuesday: 836
Wednesday: 756
Thursday: 834

I’m feeling pretty good and ahead of things, though being ahead doesn’t give me permission to slack.  After all, I pledged that I would write at least 750 words every day, not that I would average 750 words/day during the six weeks.

I sent off my first short story of the write-a-thon.  It’s called Good Neighbors and it’s a rural fantasy about an old man whose curiosity puts him into icy water when he follows a mythical creature into its underground den.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

It’s not too late to make a donation to the write-a-thon.  Visit the Clarion West website to donate via paypal.  If you don’t have paypal, don’t worry, you can also send them a check.  The address is on their website.

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far!

It starts today.

I’ve taken a deep breath and decided to participate in the Clarion West Write-a-thon.  I’ll be doing 750 words/day on my novel and submitting one short story or novel query every week to a new market.  I’m really excited about it.  At the end of six weeks, I’ll have added at least another 31,500 words to my space opera novel.  That’ll put me past the halfway point and maybe I’ll even figure out a title for it.  I’ll be posting updates and excerpts here on the blog throughout the write-a-thon.

The Clarion West Write-a-thon is to benefit the Clarion West program, a non-for-profit organization that runs a yearly writers workshop in Seattle for science fiction and fantasy writers.  The workshop is intense, led by professional writers, the victims-I mean participants-write one short story every week for six weeks and critique one another’s work.

Your donation helps fund the Clarion West scholarship program. (By the way, donations are tax deductible.  It’s a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, isn’t that great?)This write-a-thon is a way for people who cannot be in Seattle to participate in the madness.

Please check out the website and consider making a donation.  Just click on the paypal button on my donation page.  Any amount you give is appreciated by aspiring writers.  For more information, check out the Clarion West website.

Thanks!