Write-a-thon Week 6: The End
This week was tough! I was suffering post-con depression because of LaunchPad and was a little sick and I was tired of people talking about Harry Potter but I could not stop talking about it myself. Work was more stressful than usual on top of all that. And I had a story to write.
I ended up dusting off an old idea that I’d already written up once and just writing it again, but with a few different ideas thrown in. I ended up with a vastly different story, so I’m calling it done. I reached my write-a-thon goals!
That makes 4 new stories and 2 revised and polished stories out the door. A very productive result!
Thanks, again, to everyone who sponsored and encouraged me. Doing this is always exhausting but so very worth it. And I’ve raised money for Clarion West and the Butler Scholarship! I’ll let you know how much when I know.
It’s not too late to send in money if you were waiting until I’d hit all of my goals :)
I will now take a week to sleep. And then get started on making these new stories workshop worthy so I can get to work on them.
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Write-a-thon Week 5 & the LaunchPad Workshop
It’s the end of week 5 and I am exhausted! I had a terrific week but the plane ride back home took a lot out of me. Perhaps because I did not rest but finished off Harry Potter 7, instead.
As far as my Write-a-thon goals go, I was able to finish my edit of Elan Vital! It will go through one more round of critique before I send it out somewhere. Asimov’s, possibly.
I mostly worked in the morning since I was able to easily get up two hours before class time. Plus, the group had a writing night which I really enjoyed.
So, the LaunchPad Workshop! For those who don’t know, this is a workshop administered by Mike Brotherton, an astronomy professor at the University of Wyoming. The purpose of the workshop is to “provide a ‘crash course’ for [science fiction writers in] modern astronomy science through workshops, guest lectures, and observation through the University of Wyoming’s two large telescopes.” We essentially had a semester of Astronomy 101 in a week. And it was wonderful.
We covered several subjects, from really basic stuff like what causes the seasons and the phases of the moon to what happens when galaxies collide and how astronomers know what elements make up distant stars and nebulas. The best part, for me, was the ability to ask fiction writer specific questions. In college, it was always sort of frustrating not to be able to ask “But if I wanted to do this in a story, how could I in light of X?” This workshop was specifically about asking those kinds of questions. So awesome.
My fellow attendees were also awesome. A few I know from conventions and other SF gatherings. Some I’ve known online for a while. It was a real treat to spend time with writers I greatly admire, like Vonda McIntyre and Eugie Foster (just to name two). We had a lot of fun in the classroom and at dinner and at the evening outings.
One of my favorite things was getting to look through telescopes of various sizes. It’s amazing what you can see with greater and greater powers of magnification. But also amazing what you can see with the naked eye on a clear night, or a pair of binoculars. On Friday night we went to WIRO, where the telescope was so huge that they didn’t even bother having an eyepiece hooked up to it, just a camera. The students there recorded an image for us and Jeremy Tolbert put it together (see above).
That was another thing we learned - how those beautiful images of deep space are actually put together. If you look through a telescope, or a camera attached to one, you don’t see the full-color beauty of the finished product. Through the compilation of images taken with filters or taken with different kinds of scopes (radio, infrared, etc.) you can cobble together an image that makes sense to us color-viewing people.
This was the first year of the workshop and things went extremely well. All down to Mike and Jim and their assistants. Next year it should be even better.
There were 13 attendees. Of them, 8 were female and 3 were people of color. (We would have had four, but one person had to drop out at the last minute.) On the application, the administrators specifically stressed their desire to bring in women and writers of color. It’s definitely something they are paying attention to and I cannot but agree.
They’ll probably be accepting applications for next year in January or February, so keep an eye on the website. Even if you’re just a writer starting out and only have a few pub credits under your belt, it’s worth it to apply. They’re looking for writers with a commitment to educating through fiction that reflects accurate scientific knowledge.
So, once I’ve slept and recouped I’ll start on my, very short, week 6 story. And then the Write-a-thon will be over! I hope the Clarion West kids are having fun. This upcoming week will be tough.
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Write-a-thon Week 4, Carl Brandon Awards
This last week was hell, but I got my story done right at the last minute! It’s actually the first draft of a children’s book that I need to turn in soon. I’ll get started on revisions as soon as the Write-a-thon is over.
Sorry this report is a little late. Yesterday I had to get up very, very early to get on a plane to come to the LaunchPad workshop. Despite the fact that the plane was very uncomfortable and the flight long, I am so thrilled to be here! I’ve always had an interest in astronomy but only dabbled lightly in it because I was a bit intimidated by it. But when I learned about this workshop, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Plus, it seems very non-intimidating.
There are many times that I wish I hadn’t gone to college right out of high school. I wish I had known a little better what I was interested in and wanted to do in life before going. Would have made all those years a little more productive. Maybe I would even have studied astronomy a little more seriously.
Since I’m at the workshop, this is the week I’ve chosen to do my second revision. I’m fixing Elan Vital up for prime time. I’m probably going to send it to Asimov’s when it’s done. I promise to take pictures and give a full report of the workshop at the end of the week. If you want more frequent updates, check my LJ. I may post more over there.
The Carl Brandon Society is taking nominations for the Paralax and Kindred awards until July 31st. See their website for details on the awards, but essentially one is for the best work written by an author of color and the other is for best work that addresses race (regardless of author color). They’re looking for works published in 2006. Anyone can nominate, and I encourage you to do so. I’m trying to put together a list of stories and novels available online that fit the criteria so that I can start making my choices.I had two stories published in 2006, one of which deals with race: The Seventh Reflection. I wrote this story about body issues, which includes skin color issues. I’m what folks would called “light-skinned” myself, but it still really bothers me that American media holds up light-skinned black women as closer to ideal beauty than dark-skinned women. One of the reasons I included skin color issues in the story was a response to that.
Anyway, the story was published in the Thou Shalt Not… anthology but I’ve put it up on the website here so that people interested in nominating for the awards can read it.
That’s all for this week. Next week is week 6! I can pretend I’m there in the classroom with Chip Delany, standing in the glow of a genius. Sigh! I miss Clarion.
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Write-a-thon Week 3
I reached my week 3 goal! Go me. It was difficult with ReaderCon impinging on my weekend writing time, but I had a lot of fun and it was worth it. I didn’t end up taking any pictures, so unfortunately you’ll have to do without.The con itself was great. I ended up not going to many panels. I think that I completely paneled myself out at WisCon and felt more like relaxing and talking with friends. I spent a lot of time in the dealer’s room behind the Wildside Press table. Lots of people hang out in the ReaderCon dealer’s room, though, so I was sure not to miss anyone standing around in there.
I finalized all the details of my new position as Fantasy Magazine’s non-fiction editor. I know now exactly what I need to do and when. I already have my first interview in the bag and I’m ready to start on at least three more. I’m very excited about this job! I get to have conversations with awesome people about fantasy and writing and literature. How cool is that?
This next week is all about getting stuff done before I go to the LaunchPad workshop (and still having to write a story). I may also have a small surprise.
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Write-a-thon Week 2
I’m pleased to announce that I reached my Week 2 goal of writing a new story! It’s short (under 2K) and has no title yet, but it exists.
The next piece I’m going to work on isn’t a story, exactly. It’s a combination of prose and graphic novel script for a “Choose Your Own Adventure”-type book. A friend of mine asked if I could produce a short novel for them in less than a month. Might as well use the Write-a-thon to get the first draft done! It’ll be about the same length as a short story.
My Tuckerization auction earned Clarion West about $51! I hear the other auctions went even better than that, so at least $200 raised, but probably more. I think I will Tuckerize the winner in next week’s project.
I’m also going to Readercon next weekend. Doing another Interfictions reading. I’ll post pictures and a con report next Sunday.
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Write-a-thon Week 1 & KGB Reading
Write-a-thon Update Week 1
I reached my Week 1 goal of revising a story! I revised Imperative, which I will now send out to some suitable publication. Excitement :)
To everyone who is sponsoring me, a big Thank You. I hope to keep up this momentum for the next five weeks.
If you’d still like to sponsor me, please see this post for details. You can also bid on a Tuckerization in one of my stories.
KGB Reading
Though I was very, very nervous, the reading at KGB went well. All of the readers and stories were awesome. And I was excited to meet Matthew Cheney for the first time.
Some pictures:
also by ellen datlow
photos by matt kressel
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2007 Clarion West Write-a-thon
It is time again for the Write-A-Thon! June 17th through July 27th.
“During the six weeks of the workshop, while the current students are writing their hearts out, CW grads and other writers will join the frenzy, write like crazy, and raise funds to help the workshop break even. The result is a lot of excellent new writing, but the event’s overall purpose is to raise money to support the workshop.
This is our fourth annual Write-a-thon.”
My goals this year include writing 4 new stories, 1/week for 4 weeks, and revising two stories, 1/week for 2 weeks, making a total of 4 new and 2 polished stories in the 6 week period.
I’m raising money for both Clarion West and the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund. I’ll split the money right down the middle (unless a sponsor wishes to only pledge for one entity or the other).
The Butler scholarship is important to me for the obvious reasons. Also because, when I applied to Clarion West, I didn’t really have the money to go. But I had the time and the opportunity, so I went for it. When I got in, I asked for financial aid, hoping I would get some money and then find a way to get the rest. Then I got the shock of my life when the administrators told me that an anonymous donor had paid my full tuition. Specifically did so for me! I still don’t know who that person is/was (though someone once gave me a hint), but I will always be grateful to them. One of the ways I can honor this person is by doing what I can to help other writers of color who may only be able to come if they get this scholarship.
To sponsor me, please visit my personal Write-A-Thon page. To read more about the project and see the other writers who are participating, go to the main page. If you’d like your donation to go to only the Butler scholarship or only to Clarion West, email me for instructions.
What do you get if you sponsor me? Other than the satisfaction of helping along a new crop of SF writers, of course. Anyone who sponsors me for $15/week or more gets to see all of the stories I’m writing/revising once I’m done. I’ll email them to you or I’ll show you the secret place I post works in progress online. If you sponsor me for $75/week, I’ll name a character or a place in one of these stories after you. (I’m also auctioning off a Tuckerization, if you want to bid and try to get your name in “lights”.) I’m crap at coming up with names, so you’d be helping me out, really. If you get on board with $100/week or more, I’ll send you a signed copy of the latest anthology I’m in, Interfictions. That book has some amazing fiction in it. Mine pales compared to the other stories.
Please email me to let me know at which level you sponsored me if you’re interested in claiming one of these fabulous prizes. ;) And remember, the money is going to Clarion West and the Butler scholarship (both non-profit orgs and, yes, tax deductible), so you’re supporting writers of color and the other writers who will have the benefit of diverse voices in the class.
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