This year I'll be revising THE HONEY QUEEN, my novel about a retired fairy queen and a recovering musician trying to start new lives while raising an obnoxious pair of supernatural ravens. I will send out progress reports along with my usual first-draft-of-a-poem-a-week to all sponsors. I hope to meet or exceed my previous fundraising goal of $750.

Links to my recently published poems can be found here, and below is a snippet from THE HONEY QUEEN.

Burr

I step out into Waterton, my new city. The new start to my new life. In front of me, summer-leaved street trees guard rows of old and new apartment buildings. Downhill there's a forest of glassy office towers, then bright water, then the snowy tops of the distant purple-blue mountains. But looking uphill I'm drawn by the buzz of a commercial street atop the slope. 

I hike up to blend into the stream of people, then let the stream carry me. Here I am, learning a new thing: wandering. It's both fun and uncomfortable, a kind of play. How long has it been since I played at anything other than music? Years? Maybe decades. 

I tell myself this isn't directionless. This is going with the flow. I can do this. What better way to explore?

Clarion West 2023 Write-a-thon

Amal El-Mohtar during the 2019 Summer Reading Series

The Write-a-thon supports Clarion West programs year-round. All donations support Clarion West classes, workshops, panels, and other programs for emerging writers, including our Six-Week Workshop. We also hold events, offer scholarships, raise awareness, and promote diverse speculative fiction in Seattle and all over the world. 

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