What I'm Doing

As those close to me know, I mostly stopped writing during the pandemic.  I recently had the great gift of a month of leave where I could do exactly as I pleased, and one of the things I did was to restart my writing practice.  With that in mind, I am working on a gentle goal of 500 words every single day, which is enough for me to feel like I'm making progress. I'm currently working on a novel with the working title Phoenix Crown, which is also known as "the book I am not yet good enough to write.

My Fundraising Goal

I would love to get at least $100 in donations--and I pledge to match every donation from my own funds (up to $1000), so Clarion West will get double the money!  As you may know, I'm a Clarion West alumna and I beleive in the mission so deeply that I now sit on the board as the treasurer. Every cent goes to the cause of helping writers learn and grow in their craft.

How It's Going

• June 16, 2024 - Day 1!  The Write-a-thon begins today!  I actually helped move things from storage to get the workshop set up before the students arrived, and my 500 words for today are in the bag, written in a bit of a post-lunch fuge state.
• June 23, 2024 - Week 1 is done, and I am proud to say that I have written my 500 words every day, and a little extra on a few days.  I worked out a plot problem that had been bugging me (how I was going to get my protagonists to the confrontation at the end of the book if they had changed their minds about wanting to rule) and in the process worked out a character motivation issue.  Not bad for a week's work!
• July 15, 2024 - Workshop season is always a transformative time in my life, and this year has been no exception. Without going into detail, my personal life has been interrupted by some (happy!) stuff, so the words have faltered a bit. I've been writing as I can, though, and I'm still working through the book rewrite.
• July 28, 2024 - And we're finished!  The really fun part off rewriting for me is beuilding on the previous foundation and making everything stronger.  My two wayward protagonists have made important decisions, I have introduced some more consequences for everyone's actions, and everything is just generally going pretty well.  Other than the volcano that's about to erupt, of course.  That's going to ruin everyone's day.  If you haven't donated yet, there's still time, and I'm still matching donations!

About Me

Kris Millering is a linguist by training, a tech tinkerer by trade, and a writer and photographer by avocation. Currently, she works at a tech firm by day, and writes by night. Her fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apex, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, and other publications. You can find out more at http://www.krismillering.com/.

2024 Write-a-thon

Tobias Buckell and Nisi Shawl on stage at Town Hall Seattle during the 2022 Summer Reading Series.

Participants are listed in alphabetical order by first name. You may want to confirm with your writer to find out if they are using their public name, a nickname, or a pseudonym.

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