Write-a-thon time has come around once again, and as usual I’m itching to work on something new but also have oodles of edits that need to get done. So this summer’s goal will be to reestablish a writing routine where I spend at least two hours a day doing some kind of writing, whether it’s editing or drafting, rather than tying myself to one particular project. I’m hoping that will result in making progress on final edits for one novel, doing both some drafting and editing of old material for another, and polishing up one short story to start sending out on submission.

One of the things that’s fun about joining the Write-a-thon is seeing your name on a list shared by so many interesting writers, including some who are quite successful. Naturally there are many who are graduates of the Clarion West workshop, which is certainly a noteworthy accomplishment in itself. I’ve also found that when I peruse the profiles there are plenty of authors with impressive publication credentials — such as having short fiction published in some of the most hard-to-get-into speculative fiction markets — even if their names may not yet be familiar to me. And sometimes the most impressive part of a profile is a beautifully written excerpt. So it’s a great place to find the names of new writers to check out.

And speaking of author’s names, just by chance my name ended up directly above Vonda N. McIntyre’s on the Write-a-thon page this year, and I can’t help getting a bit of a ‘fan-girl’ kick out of that, since she’s definitely high on my list of all-time favorite authors. 😀 She’s also a regular participant in the Write-a-thon — I think she’s done it every year since I started — and it’s exciting that for some time now she’s been making references to a big novel in progress that she’s been working on; now that’s something to look forward to! 🙂