Help me support Clarion West (and finish my novel)!

It’s been almost a year since I got on a Seattle-bound train and left my family for six weeks in order to put some serious time and effort into developing my writing career. The Clarion West Writers Workshop was a life-changing experience. I worked long, hard hours, pushed the boundaries of what I believed I was capable of and wrote some of my best fiction to date. I also drank Fourth of July margaritas with George R.R. Martin, told late-night ghost stories with Kelly Link, sang in public on several occasions while wearing a glittery rocketship sash (if you know me well you will know how unlikely this is) and made a lot of incredible friends.
Clarion West is a non-profit literary organization with the mission to provide a high-quality educational opportunity to writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror. They are very good at carrying out this mission and I want to give back to the organization that’s given me so much. That’s why I am participating in Clarion West’s annual Write-a-thon.
The Write-a-thon runs for the full six weeks of the workshop (this year, from June 23-August 2). As it happens, I’m mid-way through the first draft of a novel and could use a push to get me through to the end. The timing of the Write-a-thon is perfect for keeping me on track.
My writing goal
I plan to finish the first draft of the novel I began shortly after the workshop ended. Here are the specs:
Working Title: Magpie
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Description: A junk seller and a hoarder clash over a collection of magical objects
I’ve got about 30,000 words to go. That’s 5,000 per week.
My fundraising goal
I’d like to raise $200 for Clarion West. I’ll be posting a weekly progress update on this blog and will send out the link to all donors. I’m grateful for any support – every dollar counts. However, I am offering some added incentive!
Incentive for my fabulous donors!
My novel is about how we imbue objects with magic through our relationships with them. With that in mind: I want your objects. If you donate $10 or more, you can send a .jpeg of an object to shinythings4Kim@gmail.com and I will write it into my novel. It can be a thing you love or a thing you hate. It can be new or old, beautiful or ugly, ordinary or odd. All I ask is that the object carries meaning for you.
How to donate
You can find my Clarion West Write-a-thon page HERE. Just click on the donate button to contribute.
Thank you, friends!





I write stories, most of which contain a fairy or two. On this blog I write about the things that matter to me. When I'm not making stuff up I also love taking photographs. All the photos here are my own. If you're still curious, find out more on my About page.