I've been telling everyone I meet a particular story lately. It's a story that makes me smile. But it also gives me shivers.
It goes like this.
One of my favorite authors, Patrick Rothfuss, started Worldbuilders in 2008. Since then, the organization has raised over $7.4 million for charities such as Heifer International, Mercy Corps, GlobalGiving, and First Book.
I've donated during the fall/winter fundraiser in the past, throwing my "$10 per chance to win" into the prize pool but never winning anything. Two years ago, I bid on an auction item, which was for a friend of Pat (I don't remember which one) to critique my current writing project. At the time, I had spent a few years developing my created world and about a year writing the middle volume of an imagined trilogy.
After I made my initial bid, I realized that I wasn't ready to win. My story was too green. I watched someone else win the critique, knowing that I would be ready to bid seriously in 2017 as long as I wrote as much as I could over the next year.
Although I made significant progress on the middle story, I didn't finish it. In fact, I digressed heavily by jumping my focus to the first book in the series. I decided not to bid in 2017.
Now it is 2018, and I have almost 80,000 words of each story written. For reference, I imagine each of them will be 100,000 to 120,000 words when finished. I also have a half dozen very specific questions I would like to ask an expert reader about my characters, point-of-view choices, and the plot's direction.
When the fundraiser rolled around a few weeks ago, I felt ready to bid. I pored over the offerings at the Worldbuilders auction site, and I decided Pat's agent, Matt Bialer, was the person I wanted to talk to most about what I have and where I go next with the story.
So I bid.
And I won.
Matt Bialer will be critiquing the first 20,000 words of Lio and Lamb!
I kind of can't believe it.
Even better, my winning bid will be donated to support the good work of the charity. I encourage all readers to check it out and do likewise.
Happy Christmas to all!
PS I don't need any presents -- I got mine :)
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