The countdown is on! It’s almost time for the Muskoka Novel Marathon and I could not be more excited! I have a novel brewing in the brain-soup and I’m sitting here at the starting line filled with anticipation. It’s writing itself in my head and I can’t wait to get it out before it fills every nook and cranny of grey matter in there. I’m almost literally sitting on my hands as I attempt to avoid starting early!
We start the madness on Thursday July 11th! at 8:00pm and we write until 8:00pm Sunday July 14th. That’s 72 hours of creative bliss!
We writers do this for ourselves, I’m not going to lie! This is a purely selfish endeavour on our parts. When else throughout the year would we be able to allocate seventy-two straight hours to the pastime of writing?! Never. It’s a weekend of pure delight and we eat it up with the selfishness of kids in a candy store.
A digression…
Yes, we writers go into this weekend selfishly…relishing in the hour after hour after hour of creativity we’re about to jump into. I just want to be honest here. WE LOVE THIS MARATHON for our own selfish reasons. We live for July to come around on the calendar so we can jump back in.
BUT…we also know the importance of the other aspect of this yearly marathon. IT. IS. A. FUNDRAISER. The most important part of the marathon is the money we raise for literacy programs in Muskoka through the YMCA. The money we raise CHANGES LIVES.
Here’s the ABOUT THE MARATHON blurb from the MNM website:
We believe deeply in the power of words…of course we do, we’re writers. We see the change that the YMCA literacy programs have on its students. The outreach does not stop at those struggling with literacy issues, though. The YMCA programs teach English as a second language, help new Canadians navigate the system, help aging population with computer literacy…the programs are far-reaching. As they are underfunded, we see the need to fill the gap so the YMCA can expand their outreach to help more people. That’s where you come in…every single dollar helps. A small donation, a big one…it doesn’t matter. They all help.
Please consider donating to this most worthy of causes. Click on the photo below to go directly to my personal donation page. Together, we can help so many people to integrate literacy in their day to day lives.
This will be my last outreach for donations. The Muskoka Novel Marathon happens in 29 days…and I’m going to be sitting on my hands for the remainder of that time, attempting to stop the floodgates of creativity from over-flooding. When that bell goes off for the start of this marathon, I will be running full out into the world of this novel idea I have been cultivating. It is bursting at the seams and champing at the bit to get out!
Please consider donating…every cent of your donation goes directly to the YMCA literacy programs.
Here’s the link to my personal donation page once again:
https://secure.e2rm.com/p2p/fundraising/387426/participant/5418095/en-CA
KEVIN CRAIG 