Chainmaile for Charity: “For Edgar”

Bran posted this on October 14, 2009, 10:42 pm

I know it’s October, but before we know it November will be upon us, and you know what THAT means…

November is National Novel Writing Month, during which time aspiring (and professional) writers accept the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in the space of one month. Participants create on-line profiles and can post their word count, add other writers to their buddy list, and hit the forums for writing advice. The driving force behind it is The Office of Letters and Light, a nonprofit organization that creates and distributes creative writing materials to classrooms nationwide with their Young Writers Program, in addition to running NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy in April.

A chainmaille necklace honoring Edgar Allen Poe - All sale proceeds go to the Office of Letters and Light

“That’s really cool, Rabbit Dance,” you say, “But what does this have to do with a necklace?”

Well, a year ago for Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday I made this necklace inspired by his life and his works. Poe has a special place in my bibliophibian heart, so to honor his memory I will donate the entire $50 sale price to the Office of Letters and Light. Donors get goodies, but I will eschew those and list your name when I donate, so people know that you’re awesome! A mere $50 can do a lot at the OLL. If you or someone you know is participating in NaNoWriMo, I can add their screen name when I donate the money so that the donor halo is properly distributed. Just tell me in the “Note to Seller” box that’ll be up during checkout.

On that note, if you or someone you know is taking a crack at NaNoWriMo, add Brian to your friend list! He’s doing it again this year, and could use some writing buddies. He’ll also be setting up a sponsorship page like he did last year, so if you really like the idea of NaNoWriMo but don’t have $50, you can toss whatever amount you like at the event via that. It serves as motivation for him to get to his keyboard and get crackin’!

Have I perhaps inspired you to give NaNoWriMo a shot? In November I will make a Sticky Post where I will list Brian’s word count, along with his sponsors and goal. If you would like on that list as a writer, comment here or on that future post, add Brian as a writing buddy, and I will post your screen name with a link to your profile, along with your word count. If you’ve got a website or blog, I’ll link to that as well. Let’s see how many people we can get on the Rabbit Dance Writing Team! If you’re on deviantART, I can post you there, too. Just let me know.

Why am I doing this? I love books and writing, but right now, with chainmaille and the Little One, I have little time for both. So, I will encourage and enable the literary arts as much as I possibly can. This article about Kanye West where he declared himself a “proud non-reader” damn near gave me an aneurysm. And HE wrote a book. And it’s being published.

I think we can do better than that.

Leave a comment, join the team, and let’s show them how mighty our pens (and keyboards) really are.