Now that the holidays have wound down and we’re all embarking upon our new years, I thought I’d share another installment of Deadlines for Lifelines: notifications about exciting opportunities in the worlds of travel and letters…

First up, my friend Amanda Castleman, travel writer extraordinaire, is about to launch her dream workshop: a 12-week, online, travel-writing master class. It will include one-on-one feedback from a roster of rockstar travel writers, including David Farley, Charyn Pfeuffer, Thomas Swick, and Edward Readicker-Henderson. Assignments will range from Tweets to You-Tube videos to extended, magazine-style travel narratives. The party starts on Monday, January 10, but late enrollment will be accepted until the 19th. The cost is $445, but if you say the magic code — MC111FAX — you can receive a five percent discount.

Here are some amazing opportunities to help fund and/or publish your latest book idea:

* The Charles Pick Fellowship offers $15,000 and a six-month fellowship at the University of East Anglia in England to a fiction or creative nonfiction writer for a first book. Due January 31.

* Black Lawrence Press is offering $1,000 and publication for an unpublished novel, due January 31.

* Penguin is offering a $15,000 Breakthrough Novel Award plus publication for a first novel. Due February 5.

* The University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Creative Writing is offering $27,000 and an academic year-in-residence to poets and fiction writers. Due February 28.

And here is a writing contest:

* The Normal School is offering its second annual literary prize in all the genres. Fiction and nonfiction must be 10,087 words or less; poetry cannot exceed five pages or five poems. Submission fee is $20, deadline is March 4, and the judges are stellar: Susan Straight for fiction, Eula Biss for nonfiction, and Nick Flynn for poetry.

Best of luck and keep me posted!