I have been remiss in not mentioning the Clarion West Write-a-thon which is going on right now. Some of you may remember this from last year. The idea is simple – during the weeks that the workshop is being run in Seattle, alumni (and others) set writing goals, get sponsors to sponsor them with cash money, and then work toward those goals. Many people share the results with those that sponsor them. It’s like one of those charity walk/run things except with writing instead.

As I’ve mentioned before, there are a lot of good causes out there that need your money. Causes that are bigger than whether I write chapters of my novel or not. But I think of it this way – you’re investing in the future of good writing. You’re helping to keep a workshop going that has a history of producing strong genre writers. A workshop that has helped writers like Kij Johnson (who is awesome), Daniel Abraham (also awesome), Cat Rambo (yes, awesome), Rachel Swirsky (very much awesome), Margo Lanagan (super-awesome) and more. So, the way I see it, if you take the money that you would spend on a book or a magazine or other fiction and donate it to the workshop, that’s guaranteeing you good fiction in the future. And it means another group of writers to keep writing the fiction we love, no matter what shape that fiction comes in.

So, my page is here, where you can sponsor me quite easily with Paypal. I’ve committed to writing a chapter a week in my work in progress novel. I haven’t quite managed to stick to that so far (the first week I wobbled) but I’ve been getting back on track recently. But even if you don’t want to sponsor me, consider sponsoring someone else. I think it’s worth it.

Thanks for listening.