Roll-Call (aka WELCOME BACK OTTAWA WRIMOS!)

I was out of procrastination material and about to have to start my reading when I found out the Nano boards were open again. YES! I'm psyched because this is Year 5 for me, and it better be Win 5 as well because the bragging rights for that have got to be incredible. This year I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write, which is still better than last year, when I spent all of October planning an exciting fantasy story with necromancers, changed my mind on day 3, and spent the rest of the month wriitng about half-drunk fops, duels, and why it's a bad idea to hook up with your arch-enemy's sister.

My name is Rii, or Mary if that's too offensive to you, and in the spare moments when I'm not reading or drawing comics or writing, I'm studying the very useful subject of History at Carleton.

And my favourite ice cream flavour is cookie dough. It's cookies AND ice cream! You can' t go wrong with that.

Hello there!

I'm Lori (though some of the MLs may know me as lazigyrl over on lj). This is my Third year, so I've only participated with Limmenel as a ML. Interesting little fact (or not). I've been bouncing of the walls for a while now in anticipation of this year's NaNo, despite the fact I am so not ready for it to start.

I am a web/database developer who works in Carleton Place but lives in Ottawa, so I have got my daily commute a little confused. Apparently it is traditional to do it the other way around.

I claim to be writing a romance named Mime Abduction, where there will be no mimes and little chance of abductions. My favourite ice cream is Coconut Cream Pie by PC, only I don't know if they still make, because I had to stop eating it due to a gluten intolerance. In fact all my comfort foods contain gluten, so I am seeking new ones.

Woohoo. We're back. Aaah, the excitement of it all, I can't wait to mingle with the crazy crowd again.

I'm Anja, do freelance work in several fields and only have the vaguest idea for my nanovel. A love story I think, though not quite in the traditional romance style, a bit more serious than the paranormal romance romp I wrote last year. Two couples at a crossroads, something like that. I need to brainstorm, obviously.

Oh, and this is my second year and I hope to win it again. Yesss!

I second the votes for Ben & Jerry's and Cookie Dough Ice Cream, they come smoothly together in one delicious word: Brownie Batter. OoO

So *curious look* who's the third ML?

all bouncy,
Anja

Hallo!

This is my 3rd year doing the NaNo. I'm SO excited to start procrastinating in earnest! I look forward to seeing everyone again, and meeting the newbies - lots'o fun!

Since I struggled last year with my slow-going historical novel.. i thought i'd do something a litte more interesting and Free! I'll take a stab ( and chant) at fantasy. No idea what i'm doing... should be Fun.

I love anything with dark chocolate in it, fudge and minty stuff. *drool*

yeah... who's the mysterious 3rd ML?

Hi, I'm Scott. This is my second year doing this and won last year. (Of course, the editting is still taking time. Oy...) I'm a contractor/consultant, doing IT dogsbody work ("Tote that monitor! Lift that printer!") with a degree in Computer Science from Carleton. Ice cream preference goes to the chocolate ripple, especially if mint gets involved. Story this year is, well, um, I'd call it urban fantasy/romance, but details are still not nailed down. And, for an extra challenge, I get to try this over 25 days! Woo!

Oh dear me! You all post so fast! I meant to post right after Michelle, if not before her. Silly work getting in the way.

Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. I am the so called "mysterious third ML" or as Michelle would call me the "ML-IT", Munciple Liaison in Training. My name is Kay (short for Krystal). I am 20 years old and have been participating in Nanowrimo off and on since I was 14. Some years I have hid in the shadows, others I have been out and about loud and clear. Last year I had to pull out because of school problems, but this year I am back with vengence (secret plot: to take over the Ottawa section of Nano....Mwuahahaha). I have only managed to finish once, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying everything Nano has to offer!

Anyway, I look forward to seeing all of you again and welcoming in all the new participants.

In terms of ice cream, I would have to say that half-baked is my favourite. Half vanilla with chocolate chip cookie dough, half chocolate with brownie bits. Heaven. Michelle! Look what you have done, I am practically drooling on my keyboard!

My novel is going to be, well, um, I don't have a plot quite yet. I have about the first two chapters already planned with characters that don't go past a name and some mild detail....I have some work to do. I do know that it will be awesome! It will be a crazy mix of urban fantasy and darkness.

Anyway! Yeah! Nanowrimo 2007 here we come!

(See, Kay thinks she's here to take over. Actually, we've abducted her from the ScripFrenzy side to exploit her volubility. Everybody remember to play along with her megalomania.)

Hi, all. It's great to see so many veterans returning.

I'm Lee-Anne, and this'll be my fourth year, my third as ML. I'm in my middle thirties. I like roleplaying games, magic, aliens, and fanfic. I have something of a notebook fetish. And because I'm a free agent just now, I'll be lurking about quite a bit.

I'm not supposed to be eating ice cream or cookie dough these days, but I'm pretty sure that I'm addicted to Smartfood.

Hello everyone. I'm Steff and this is my first crack at this so if anyone has any advice I am open to suggestions.

Right now I am already in the middle of writing an action adventure novel so I think for NaNoWriMo I might write the back story to my main character and see how it develops. Hoping it will even help with the current project.

Favourite ice cream has to be the classic Heavenly Hash - although PC's Vanilla Chocolate Crackle is also realllllyyyy goood!

Hey, my name's Todd and this is my first time here. I heard about it from http://rattlebeak.com, a site with epic Labyrinth fan-fic sequels. I've never actually written a complete novel, I tend to only write prologues, and then abandon the whole project. I'm in grade 11 and have no job, which means I have no money, which makes me sad. So hopefully I'll write something amazing and sell it and become instantly famous and rich. *snort* Right ...
My favourite ice cream flavour is probably mint chocolate chip, that or anything coffee/peanut butter/cookie. Not all at the same time, though.
Looking forward to any write-ins, etc. and making new friends who'll be just as freaked out as I will when I realize that I've been procrastinating on my novel. I'm actually really horrible for that.
So, yeah. Hi.

Hey again,

Chris here, ready to start year four, and hopefully win number three! I am currently (thanks to the wonderful perks of the federal government) a stay at home dad. This should make for interesting intrusions of the real-life into my story, which will be a tale of suspense and intrigue set in 18th century Washington (Have you got the secret instructions? Yes, though they seem to have been written on a poopy diaper!).

As for ice cream, Cherry Garcia topped with chocolate chip cookie dough (which, after just perusing the B&J site, I've discovered are ranked 1 and 2 in popularity. I didn't realize I was so pedestrian when it came to ice cream... My new favourite is, erm, Miz Jelena's Sweet Potato Pie!)

Chris aka nano_berry

Hey. It's Kay again....I know I know....I talk to much. Well consider me your source of procrastination.

I just wanted to say welcome back to all the veterans!

I also wanted to extended a huge welcome to our two new participants, Steff and Todd!

Steff, my advice to you would probably be to just have fun with Nano. Don't get too serious about it. My best year, the only year I won, was writing a story that I knew sucked. The characters were all flat, but I had a blast with the plot. Basically I locked a class in a building at the University of Ottawa and tried to find creative ways to kill every single one of them off. Most fun I have had writing. So don't take it too seriously and if random idea sounds fun, run with it and see where it takes you. But that is just my way. I'm sure every single past participant could give you at least one good piece of advice.

Todd, I was and still am nearly incapable of finishing a project. I believe I am up to a count now of 27 different novel ideas that haven't made it past chapter 5. Just have fun and if you don't like the way your story is going, either kill off the characters and start a new story with someone else somehow connected to the dead ones (great way to say your word count) or have your next chapter be your new main character waking up and discovering the last who know's how many chanel's were just a dream.

Wow, I really like killing off characters. My killing story was two years ago and I still can't shake it. Oh well, might as well have fun with it!

Anyway, welcome!

I promise not to ramble on like this too much. (Please note the fingers crossed behind my back!)

*wavewaves*

I'm Melissa, though I'll answer to Mel, Lissa, and sometimes even 'hey you' if my headphones aren't blocking out all outside sounds. XD

I've done Nano since 2004, though I haven't managed to win it yet. *shifty eyes* Closest I've come was in 2005 with 30k or thereabouts. Last year I ended up backing out due to random physical weirdness/illness that I still can't quite explain to this day. o.O;

I haven't totally finalized my Nano plot this year, but suffice it to say, my biggest inspiration is what's been eating my soul since December: Il Divo. XD

Favorite ice cream? Cookies and cream. Yum. That's the good crack, there.

Yo-!

I'm so excited about NaNo 07. I've done it (unsuccessfully) in 2005 and (successfully) in 2006. I recently moved to Ottawa for University, so this will be my first year doing it here :)

I'm in Computer Sciences at uOttawa.

I dunno about nothing being better than Ben & Jerry's, but it's definitely up there :p

Hi! I'm Mike and this will be my first attempt at NaNo. I fully intend to win! It was an impromptu decision to sign up, but I've already managed to write my basic synopsis. Stoked!

So what's the deal with the local to-dos? Is there usually a party on December 1?

Hi Mike,

There are several local to-dos throughout the month of November, called write-ins. A post about those will go up within a couple of days, we're just waiting to hear back about a couple of dates/times. There are also TWO parties! The first is a kick-off party, the second a THANK GOODNESS IT'S OVER (aka TGIO) pary that will happen on/around the first weekend of December.

Keep an eye on the forums, and good luck this November!!

My name is Nancy, and I'm a NaNoholic. Oh wait! That's another group. :-)

Hello to all the returning NaNoholics and welcome to the newbies. You are in for a rollicking good time.

I'll begin NaNo 2007 as a 43 year-old and end it as 44. I own and operate an electronics recycling company: www.tter.ca. I am really backlogged in taking stuff apart, so I'm hoping it doesn't cut into novel time.

This is my third year doing NaNo. And with the grace of a functioning PC, it will be my third win.

I learn something new every year I do NaNo. In my first year, I learned that I can write a manuscript. (I hesitate to call it a real novel.) Year two taught me that I can't write porn. I'm looking forward to seeing what I'll learn this year.

I just posted my first year's story on lj http://wearethebeaver.livejournal.com/1248.html It is a sort of Bridget Jones's Diary meets Pride and Prejudice.

Last year's novel has not seen the light of day (yet). It requires a major overhaul if I want to post it. It was my attempt at porn. Apparently, I prefer plot. Who knew? It turned into a revenge story. Some day I'll get around to editing and posting it.

This year will be the story of a man who falls in love with a woman in an abusive marriage. He befriends her and tries to protect her within the confines of the morals at the time (circa 1900). I plan to write the story from her point of view; but these things often change once the writing starts.

I have a couple of pieces of advice that I'd like to pass along.

• If you get stuck, check out the forums (fora?) for challenge ideas. I did that my first year and put in a "door that goes nowhere". This addition led to a chapter that got rave reviews from my guinea pig audience.
• The most important bit of advice is to make a backup every single day. Save your file on your computer. Save it again on a memory key. Burn it to CD. Do backups every single day. Store the CDs off site somewhere. You'll thank your lucky stars if something happens to your original file. Do backups every single day. I can't say it enough. Even if it is three in the morning and you're tired, do your backup before you leave your computer.

My favourite ice cream is Haagen Das Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Hello!

I'm Louise, and this is my second year doing NaNoWriMo. I'm in a mechanical engineering type of job for a medical device company, and I quite like this job (but not the paperwork!).

Last year I was thinking I was crazy to do NaNo. Then I got through it in one piece and realized it wasn't so bad. Then again, I didn't have a job at the time. This year, I was going to skip NaNo, but then I did the 3-day novel challenge over the Labour day weekend and realized that if I can pump out 26,000 words in 3 days, I should be able to do 50,000 words in 30, even with a job and 3 hours a day commuting! (and orchestra, and dance class/competition, etc!)

About my novel... I'm going to do a sequel to last year's NaNo (since that worked so well). Unfortunately, I haven't actually finished last year's NaNo yet so I don't know where it ends and where the next novel would begin. Which doesn't matter anyway, since I have no plot yet. :-) I really like my characters though!

As for ice cream, I'm not really a huge ice cream aficionado (to my knowledge I don't think I've ever eaten any Ben & Jerry's ice cream, ever...). I'm fond of fruity flavoured gelatto (e.g., raspberry, peach, pear, etc, - but not orange).

To the veterans, it's good to see you back, and to the newcomers, welcome aboard!

my name is mike. second year doing nanowrimo. currently working in social services. favorite ice cream is either mint chocolate chip or chocolate chip cookie dough. this year's novel is planned out to be a sequel from last year's winning submission.

Howdy!

This is my second year participating. My first was in 2003 (my first year attending Carleton U). I flopped miserably. Being my first year, I had so much work and so much stress trying to adjust. After that, I decided that I should focus on my studies and not be distracted by huge projects like NaNo, so this is my first returning year (I graduated in the Spring). I took English and Religion, but now that you've mentioned it, Michelle, I have a feeling that maybe I should have added Medieval Studies to that. It sounds like something I would have really enjoyed.

I have a larger fantasy project that's being put on the back burner until December. I wanted to write something that wasn't serious, something I could just have fun with. So I'm writing a post-apocalyptic fantasy zombie story. Yup. This oughta be fun ;)

Hello! My name's Stephanie and this is the first year I've done Nanowrimo! Yay! I'm SUPER excited because I learned about nano last year, about Nov 27th? lol.
My favorite ice cream is plain chocolate, from Tillamook. I don't know how far Tillamook gets from my homeplanet of Oregon, but it's amazing! I'm going to school in Ottawa this year, so I'm hoping to get to some write-ins here. :D
My novel is actually a novelization of Catullus' version of Ariadne and Theseus, their fight with the Minotaur, Bacchus, etc. Good stuff.

Hey Stephanie!

Sorry, random question. Are you an American and going to school up here? I just ask because I am, so I'm always excited to meet other Yanks who've ventured northwards :D

Alright, I'm here...the party can officially begin!

Hi, I'm Sandra! This is my second year of Nano, and I'm aiming for my second win (I'd be very disappointed with myself if I could win my first year, and not my second...I have a reputation to uphold!). I'm currently unemployed, but I'm hoping that will change in the next couple of weeks. This years story looks to be super hero based...however I still have 3 weeks to completely abandon that idea.
As for ice cream flavour...I don't like to pick favorites, because then the rest of the flavours get jealous, and then a huge fight will break out....and I don't want to be held responsible for all the casualties.
Let the insanity/fun begin!

Sandra

I can't answer for Stephanie, but I was. I came up from Pennsylvania and I just fell in love with Canada - so now I'm saying :)

Hello! Yes, I am. :D I'm from Oregon, on the West Coast. I'm probably just here for a year.

Hey there!

I’m Erika. I participated in Nano the last two years and won both times. I’ve been on the fence about this year, though, partly because last year’s story was painfully dull except when I was finding ways to incorporate the 15 forum dares I took up, which included the likes of:

-"Make at least 15 references throughout your novel to the game of Monopoly"

-Have a character wear a stethoscope all the time. Bonus if they're not a doctor or aspiring doctor. Double bonus if it's used to check another character's heartbeat in order to determine if the second character is in love.

-Include the dictionary.com word of the day somewhere in your daily word quota

Things got to a rough start on day one when my first word of the day was "rhadamanthine," which, to this day, I maintain is a stupid word. ;P

But everyone’s enthusiasm is so infectious! And if I don’t do it then I won’t get to go to write-ins (and chatter endlessly instead of getting any writing done)... Hmm... I’m tempted. I have no plot, no story, nothing at all, but heck that was never a requirement to begin with, was it?

Oh and Haagen-Dazs chocolate is the king of ice cream as far as I’m concerned.

Erika
aka wolfraven80

Hey there! My name is Claudel and I work for the federal government. Amusingly enough, I got the call that I had my job at the end of last November, when I had already reached my word count. I hope this November will be just as lucky. :-)

This is my sixth (!) year doing nano. I managed to win five of those years... though I would say that only one of them was worth trying to edit. I honestly thought I wasn't going to participate this year, because I seemed to have lost all my interest in writing. Then I got this reminder in the mail about the forums opening up and suddenly I was bouncing around the room. Obviously, I have to do it now. Of course, I have no idea what I'm going to write about this time. I'm torn between urban fantasy, which is my usual, a weird scifi dream that I had, or just fanfic to slowly get myself back in the saddle. I'm not planning on doing crazy word counts like I did last year, I'm just trying to figure out on what remote beach my muse decided to go sip cocktails so I can drag her back by her hair.

Hey kids. This is Alex, and I'm still not sure if this year will be my 5th Nano. I'm working full-time for the army as a computer shepherd (same as always), and also taking two classes. I'm a hack artist; painting, drawing, writing poetry and prose, making clothing, knitting, you name it. I have a pretty full plate this year, and may be having surgery in November. I'm not sure if that's an excuse *not* to do Nano, or a reason *to* do it.

I've been working on my novel from 2003-2004, and would like to get it ready to submit somewhere. So if I don't write a new novel, I'll definately be spending two hours a night editing the old one. Either way I'm going to harrass you all at write-ins. Ha.

It's been a busy year. I'm a single parent again, which has surprisingly been a good thing. I went to Cuba with my mother, which was also good. I read more books that I had in a couple years.

Ideas for a new novel: I'm still contemplating my "Queer Eye for CSI" type original mystery. Or maybe something Steampunk. Can I say that I'm thinking of taking requests?

Good luck wrimos! And as a three-time winner, you noobs are free to ask me for advice if you need it.

I'm Hugh. First time for Nanowrimo. Interleaved between all my other activities, I occasionally do some writing. With a degree in Physics and SF being a favorite genre - my stuff tends to have a scientific bend. So far nothing accepted for publication.... although one publisher thought my Title for my Salvador Dali short story was really good. ;-)

I have this story in my mind that occasionally I get glimpses of, and parts roll out into the real world. Are "we" software or hardware? (a question raised in "Godel, Escher, Bach") If software, can "we" be moved onto a different hardware platform? Would a sufficiently complex hardware artifact give rise to a concious being (Futurist magazine)? How close are we to doing so (2045 according to Ray Kurzweil in "The Singularity is Near") .

Today my mind generated a first attempt at a title ... "Platinum's Universe (Adam and Eve in the 21st Century) ... which will follow one particular universe to its logical conclusions. It is likely to be a futuristic crime solving story, interwoven into other themes. I figure the only way this thing will emerge from the depths of my mind is to "force" me to do so - and Nanowrimo seemed to be the vehicle to make this happen. I can't wait to read the story. ;-)

In between times, I am producing multimedia promotional material; producing my first attempt at moving another of my stories (Becoming Human) into a multimedia format (I previously got to read this story at a Patrick White poetry session in Ottawa); and have just embarked on a project to produce a docu-drama about Daniel Daverne (and not having done this before - am blissfully unaware of the problems to come). Lately I have started performing street magic (as Prof. Hughdini) - and just for fun you can check out my first sculpture exhibit on Mars.

Favorite ice cream flavour?? Hmmm - once you are into "ice cream" - does it matter what the flavour is? That chocolate crackle stuff from Loblaws is pretty good though. I once had "garlic" ice cream at the Perth Garlic Festival - and strangely enough it wasn't gross.

Welcome to Nanowrimo, Hugh!

Your story sounds really cool, although a little over my head. My knowledge of science is a little on the weak side (Star Trek often confuses me :) )

I hope you really enjoy November!

Garlic ice cream......intriguing.

Y'ello.

I'm a newbie - first attempt at NaNoWriMo, though I have done the Three Day Novel Contest for Anvil Press three times (having ten times the time sounds like a really good idea, after suffering through that). My name's 'Nathan, and I was pointed here by various people on LJ and Bookcrossing.

Now, one thing... *hangs head* I can't eat ice cream. It's sad, but it's true. Most contain traces of nuts, and I'm allergic to peanuts. So, I'll be pulling up a big bowl of wine gums.

I'm going to write something that's been percolating in my head for a while, something too long to be a short story, and too short to be a novel, so this seems about right.

I also manage a bookstore, so finding time to write amidst the month-before-Christmas might be a bit of a tangle.