Here's the set-up -- I signed up for Patreon in January, but wasn't sure how I would use it, or if it would be useful at all. The idea is that you have patrons who pledge to support you monthly (like a NPR pledge), and whatever they pledge gets charged to them at the end of each month, and in exchange, you send them your work. Whatever you write, photograph, etc. gets sent directly to their inbox (although I think they can opt out of that if they'd rather check the web page). Several people pledged, mostly at the $1 / month level, and I wasn't sure what I'd write; I quickly found that I was writing more poetry than anything else. It actually worked to motivate me to write a little more than I would have otherwise, which was the original hope.
Now, I'd like to turn it into a cancer-themed project. I'll keep writing these cancer logs, and the poems, and that's what I'll post on Patreon. I'll *also* post them on Facebook and my blog, so there's really no need for you to pledge at all. But if you do pledge, that'll ensure you don't miss any of them. Also, I'll plan (health permitting) to send all the donors a PDF (and possibly Kindle file) of the complete set, whenever I decide I'm done blogging about this. I may then try to turn it all into a book of some sort, but that'll mean editing, finding a publisher, etc., which may take some time.
As for what I'll do with the money -- I'm basically thinking of this as my treat fund. If I get thirty donors pledging a dollar each, then at the end of the month, I have $30, and I can go out and treat myself to a very nice sushi lunch. Or perhaps a series of coffeeshop chai lattes, or an Ethiopian dinner for two. I might pick up a cozy sweater, or a new video game. I feel sorry for myself on occasion, esp. when sitting through unpleasant procedures like last Friday's MRI, and it'd be nice to counter that with the expectation of something tasty (or warm, or entertaining).
I might occasionally write other poems/pieces too, parenting stuff, etc., but the main focus will likely be the cancer material. I'm also writing an epic SF novel, but that's its own thing, and my agent will take care of selling that when I finish it. :-) He'd probably rather I didn't post it all on the internet beforehand.
I think that's it. Thankfully, Kevin and I aren't in any kind of financial need -- we don't need these funds for my medical treatments at all, so please don't feel obliged to become a donor! Mostly, if you think you'd like to get a copy of these entries and poems sent directly to you, Patreon makes it easy to do that, relatively cheaply. :-)