Hello readers! I’m here with a plea once again. The 2024 Muskoka Novel Marathon is on the horizon! I can almost see it! We’re in person this year again! Yay! The first time since 2019. That pandemic was something awful, wasn’t it! I’m so grateful to be heading up to Muskoka again for an in-person event. I miss my writing people. This is going to be a year of celebration. We get to get together! I had no idea this would mean so much…just the sheer joy of sitting in a room with my fellow marathoners and hearing all those keyboards pounding out all those words! I cannot wait. (You can click on the copy/paste photo below to be taken directly to my donation page! There’s also a link to the page at the bottom of this blog post.)
Here’s where you come in! I’m just a writer. I’ll be sitting there writing for 72 hours. You’re the one that makes all the difference in the world. As a writer, it’s easy for me to forget what this weekend is about. I’m all about the writing. But we do it as a fundraiser. Sometimes it’s easy for us writers to forget about that side of things. But that’s the reason for the season. We raise funds for the YMCA Simcoe/Muskoka literacy programs. I’ll cut and paste my message from my donation page below. It kind of explains the full thing and shows my level of passion for this event and what it brings about for people who need our help…
Hello and welcome back to another year of the Muskoka Novel Marathon! We’re WRITERS HELPING READERS READ! and so much more! The marathon writers each collect sponsors for our 72 hour novel writing marathon. Donations are 100% funnelled into the literacy programs of YMCA of SIMCOE/MUSKOKA. These funds help not only towards programs helping those with literacy challenges, but also new Canadians gaining a foothold in Canadian society through various programs from English as a second language and beyond. The programs also include computer literacy for the elderly. In short, YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka is enriching many many lives through their various literacy programs. Here’s where you come in! Us writers have raised well over $200,000.00 throughout the years that the Muskoka Novel Marathon has taken place. We did this through the generous donations of people like you. YOU…You’re the one who makes the difference. It doesn’t matter how much you give, the entire amount goes towards these programs. Please consider sponsoring me this year for the 2024 Muskoka Novel Marathon. I will be forever grateful. I know, I know…I have been doing this for several years now. This is my 16TH YEAR! You’re probably thinking, ‘enough is enough!’ But it is never enough. There are always new people entering these programs and having life-changing experiences through them. I want to be a part of that! And I’m sure you do too! Please consider a donation! The YMCA will be eternally grateful. AND SO WILL I! Thank you so much in advance!
A little background on the event and my experiences with it!
I started writing novels at the Muskoka Novel Marathon back in 2007. Seems like a lifetime ago now! That year, I wrote a novel called SEBASTIAN’S POET. It won Best Adult Novel for that year’s Best Novel Award. I was HOOKED! The next year, I wrote THE REASONS. Guess what! It ALSO won Best Adult Novel Award! You can see that this event, the way we write most or all of the novel in one sitting, works for me. I’m a flighty person with poor concentration skills. The MNM just WORKS for me. It’s the way I successfully get through the writing of a novel. I’ve been struggling these past year’s without the marathon. YES, I’m doing this for the fundraising side…but I won’t lie. This is my creative magic space. I NEED the marathon. I thrive at the marathon.
I have now won the BEST NOVEL AWARD 6 times. Most recently, I won it last year during the online marathon for my mid-grade novel TYLER FREEMONT WRITES A PLAY. It remains unfinished, so unpublished. Here’s hoping, though!
The camaraderie I feel with my fellow writers at the in-person marathon is something I don’t think I’ve ever experienced elsewhere, with the exception of the WCDR and the now defunct Ontario Writers Conference.
It’s a new venue this year. I can’t wait to discover our new safespace together! I’m sure we will continue to thrive together. This photo is steps from our new venue:
We’ll be at the Port Sydney Community Hall this year. From Thursday, July 11 to Sunday, July 14!
Now, I really have to get down to figuring out what it is I’m going to write this year. Before I go, I just wanted to ask for your help. Please consider donating to the cause. We writers can’t do this without you! You’re the reason we have already raised those $230,000.00 plus funds. Thank you for your past contributions! Let’s help the new people entering the programs! Thank you so much in advance for your help!
HERE’S MY PERSONAL DONATION PAGE LINK! JUST CLICK ON THESE WORDS TO GET THERE!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
KEVIN CRAIG 