Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

My name is Livia, and I'm one of your Municipal Liaisons (MLs) this year. It's my first year MLing in Chicago, but I MLed in NYC for two years previously and this will be my fifth NaNoWriMo (and hopefully my fifth win!) If you come to the write-ins, look for the crazy loud (as in crazy-loud and crazy and loud) Asian chick giving away stickers and generally making a pest of herself.

If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or you just want to chat, feel free to nano-mail me or any of the other Chicago MLs. We're here to help! Also to encourage, commiserate, celebrate, and nag - whatever is required at the moment. I'm online way more than I will admit to my therapist (what? these are real relationships) so you should hear back from me fairly quickly.

And finally, this year's random question is PIE. Because, as Dr. Horrible says about people and pie, "sometimes there's a third... even deeper level... and that one is the same as the top surface one." So, pie - yes or no? And if so, what kind of pie. I'm a rhubarb girl myself because not only is it made of deliciousness, I love the word "rhubarb".

Wow, I feel like I should yell, "FIRST!"

This will be my fourth Nano (I'm not sure how I feel knowing I've devoted a third of an entire year to this) and I'm going for my third win. I write a little of everything -- literary, fantasy, mystery and romance, and this year I'm going for a screwball comedy. Last year I finished but I ended it by having all my characters die in a lab explosion so I'm hoping for something vaguely more cheerful.

If anyone is up for write-ins in the mid-morning, I'm both in Wrigleyville and Hyde Park (not usually at the same time, but anything is possible.) And GOOD LUCK to everyone!

Hello! I'm Sharon, and I'm a Children's Theatre director and acting instructor from the south suburbs. This is my first year doing NaNoWriMo, but I am a two time Script Frenzy winner (2010, 2011). I'm glad I finally have a November schedule that makes it possible for me to give it a go.

I'm excited to be writing my first thriller this November, "The Burning Nursery". A very long time ago, it started out as my first Doctor Who spec, and a million changes later it is a psychological thriller with no aliens. It's completely unrecognizable, but I'm very excited to get working on it.

I've been writing a lot of science fiction and screenplays lately. As a rule, my writing depends on my desk (and my house) being covered in tons of notecards, and drinking an absurd amount of tea.

As for pie, I love it! Nano season is also Pumpkin pie season, and it is delicious, indeed. Also going to send a shout out to apple pie.

Feel free to message me!

Best Wishes! (DFTBA)

Sharon

I'm Stephanie, this will be my FIFTH Nanowrimo (how time does fly), and I'm going for my fifth win. As always, I'll try to recruit some friends to write with me. In past years, they've all dropped out early on, but hope springs eternal that this year, one of my companions will stick it out to the end.

I have no idea what I will write this year, but part of the fun for me is diving in on November 1 and exploring what comes to mind.

Pie--anything from Hoosier Mama! Chicago just west of Ashland, if you have not been there yet you must go. We lived around the corner for about a year and HMPC and Alcala's are the only thing I miss about that neighborhood. We live in Little Italy now, so the food is better but there is no pie to match theirs. Right about now the Chocolate Chess would hit the spot.

I'm looking forward to another November. How many Chicagoans can say that?

Good luck!
-Stephanie

Hey there. I don't even remember what number NaNo this is for me, because I've done it so often. I've only managed to scrape two wins though, sadly, but I'm aiming for my third this year! :D

During the school year, I live in Rogers Park. I'm a senior at Loyola University. :) As for pie, pumpkin is my fave. I would kill for pumpkin pie. Well, maybe not, but it is that good!

Hi, I'm Kate. I'm a third-time Wrimo looking for my third win. This year I am challenging myself to write a novel with a beginning, a middle, and an END, instead of a novel that is done just because I reach 50,000 words (give or take 100 for the sake of the word-count robots). I have a couple of ideas for novels-- so I am way ahead of where I usually am in my planning-- but we'll see what I actually write.

I live in Hyde Park, and I work in Lakeview and Ravenswood. I have three small children that keep me from participating in many of the fun live write-ins (although I would love to get to one or more this year), but I have enjoyed ChiWriMo chat. Last year I would not have made it without the online word sprints so I hope you guys are back to keep me on task again!!

I enjoy most pies, really, but I'm hung up on apple at the moment, thanks to a recent trip to the orchard with my family. I've made four really delicious super deep-dish pies (egg-washed and sprinkled with demerara... I go all out).

Hi! I'm Rachelle. I'm 31, social worker, first time Nano. I've wanted to participate for at least 3 years now, but always had school going on. I live in Tri-Taylor and hope I'll be able to participate in some write-ins.

Pies.....does cheese cake count since it comes in a pie tin?

Hey there!

My name is Nik, and this is going to be my second NaNo. Last year I participated in NaNo and successfully won. I'm what is considered a "youngin'" in some circles. I'm 17 and still going to High School in one of the many suburbs of Chicago. My football team is 3rd in the state, if anyone wants to be clever and figure out where I am.

As for pie? I dunno. I love pumpkin... But I've been itching to try Shoo Fly.

Hello friends! I'm smwalter, another one of your MLs, you can call me Stacy. I'm 28, just graduated from law school, and I love hosting the regional word war. Sign up for it and make me a happy ML! (see related thread in this forum)

I love my grandmother's strawberry rhubarb pie! Also pumpkin pie with a metric ton of Cool Whip on it.

I'm Andy. This will be my first NaNo. My hope is that something coherent can emerge from the maelstrom of words I type next month, but--as we all know--hope, like pie, is a dish best served cold. With ice cream. Speaking of pie, the patriot in me likes apple, especially from my mom's recipe (the trick, apparently, is using some lemon juice in the apple mix and enough brown sugar in the crumble top), but the kid in me likes French Silk . . . which, I suspect, is not actually French. I like commas and comma-related punctuation (see, e.g., semi-colons). I work downtown and live in Edgewater, and am looking forward to these live write-ins I've heard so much about. Social pressure is such a panacea for procrastination.

(BTW, my user pic is the head of Chicago Bull Taj Gibson superimposed on the Taj Mahal. I like both the Bulls and puns.)

Heyyyyyy youuuuuuuu guyyyyyyyyys! (Goonies anyone?)

My name is Aly, I live in Rogers Park (Loyola alum! *waves*) but I work in Evanston (coughbarnesandnoblecough) and also downtown in a swanky building on the Magnificent Mile. I am an actor, an amateur ukelele player, and a full-time nerd. I share a geeky girl blog with my buddy AM called "Something Cute & Nerdy" and you can find us both on twitter as @LadyNerds. I am thus obviously into scifi, fantasy, and all things unusual. This will be my third NaNo; last year was my first win. ;)

Pie? YES. French silk. But if not, pumpkin. Or apple. But mainly French silk. >_>

Did I mention I haven't decided what genre I'm doing this year? :D wheeeee

Hey, I'm Rachel. This will be my 4th NaNo, and hopefully my third win... last year was not a good November for me, but this year will end triumphantly! I'm in Wicker Park, currently a hausfrau with three codependent kitties. I like fantasy and swashbuckling stories more than any others, though I'll read just about anything put in front of me, right down to cereal boxes and nutrition labels. I play video games, bake, and make soup to procrastinate.

Right now, peach pie is what I want, but apple will do. I'd rather have my apples in cider, though!

I still have friends up in the Milwaukee region, and hope to get to write-ins in both cities at some point...

Hi, I'm Fred and this is my seventh year of nano and I am looking to get my seventh win. I live in Mokena, but work in St. Louis Monday through Thursday. This gives me lots of quiet time to write Monday's through Wednesday's. It also gives me a lot of time to think about my story on Monday morning and Thursday night while making the horrible drive.

I am a Cobol programmer which is where I get absolutely none of my ideas from.

Pie? At 6-3 and 325 pounds you can judge for yourself if I like pie. February is my favorite month at Baker's Square, it's when they have strawberry silk pie.

I have about a page of story notes so far, so this years novel could end up with a lot of filler. Maybe this will be the year I use some of my vast Cobol knowledge.

Good luck all!

Hi, there. I'm Kat and this is my 7th NaNo also; going for my 6th win. Last year I wrote high fantasy. This year I might tackle an urban fantasy, but there's no telling what will happen once my characters take over.

I work in Lincolnshire and hope there will be some write-ins near there this year.

For pie, I cast my vote for Wild Blueberry, with vanilla ice cream.

I'm Maria (aka Ri) and this is my 5th NaNo. I do vampire romance and I love every moment of it. I live in Itasca (which is one of the suburbs near O'Hare) and due to working 2nd shift as a Nurse Aide I don't get to do a lot of social things sadly. I have Skype that I use to talk to people so if you need a local writing buddy with weird middle of the night hours NaNo mail me.

I'm patrick, another 2nd shifter (I work as a dinner service cook). I've been on a couple of year hiatus from prose and I'm eager/anxious to use NaNoWriMo to jump back into it.

Historically I've written mostly literary fiction but this year I'm thinking I might let my characters do most of the driving, may god help my novel.

Hi everyone!

I'm Rincey, and this is my second year doing NaNo with last year being my first win. :) I live in Des Plaines so I'm hoping there will be something going on the northwest suburbs that I can attend this year. I haven't decided on what I want to write about this year, I'm still early in the brainstorming stage.

As far as pie goes, I always gotta go with apple. Classic and delicious :)

Hi All!

My name is Shelly and this will be my second attempt at NaNo. I got about half way through last year and life got in the way.

I live in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood with my husband and our zoo of animals and work as a kitchen designer.

I will be working on a fantasy novel this year and I am really excited to get going!

Hello.

I'm Rafe and I can't believe I just signed up for this. I must be insane. Ah, but then, insanity is so much more fun than sanity. I am writing a story that is looking like it will be a mix of the utterly absurd and existential crisis. I'm bringing two characters from pride and prejudice to life and they'll have to deal with the fact that 1) it's 200 years from when their story is set (enter the funny) and 2) none of what they know about themselves is actually based in any kind of reality as we know it. I think therefore I am? I've classed it as mainstream fiction because I really just don't know what else to call it. And now I'm done rambling about that...

I live in Chicago and have done for just over 6 years (minus the 2 years of that time I spent in another country keeping Chicago as my permanent address, but I digress)

Can anybody actually say no to pie. All kinds of pie? Personally, I love shepherd's pie (the vegetarian version) but if we're talking desert pies I think I'll have to go with key lime pie as my absolute favorite.

Hey, all :) This is my first year doing this; I'd known about it in the past but haven't dived in before now. Since it was only ever a passing fact before, it kind of snuck up on me and I've done next to no planning ^^;; I will not fail to be excited, though >:D

Pie... Honestly, I'd have to agree that shepherd's pie is the best, I'm big into savory things. Next to that, though, it'd have to be banana cream P: