Clarion Write-a-Thon: The results

What was I thinking? By raising money in the Clarion Write-a-Thon, I was creating my own competition.

But I did. In fact, I raised $610, which places me in the top 10 fundraisers. Overall, the 2011 Write-a-Thon exceeded its goal and raised $16,500, which will help the 2012 class attend the world-famous six-week workshop and hone their skills as science fiction and fantasy writers.

I spent the six weeks of the Write-a-Thon making the final edits on my novel, due out in 2012 — more (much more) about that when the date draws near.

Let me thank my sponsors:

• Jennifer Walker, evilshrubbery, a talented and ambitious fellow member of the Madrid Writer's Critique Group.
• Jerry Finn, my muse.
• Patricia Bowne, a member of the critique group I belonged to in Milwaukee; you can buy her wry, inventive fantasy novel, Advice from Pigeons, here. (I have my copy.)
• Ginnie Finn, a fine sister-in-law.
• Lou Burke, my beloved baby brother.
• Oz Whiston, a member of my Clarion class.

I had promised that the highest donor would get to name a character in Chapter 6 of the novel. Oz won, and that character shall henceforth and forever be known as Osbert.

— Sue Burke