Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:41:00 -0500

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".

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

alias_amy — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:19:31 -0500

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!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

alias_amy — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:21:45 -0500

Oh, and I'm a big fan of rhubarb-raspbery pie (anyone had the one from Hoosier Mama? SO GOOD) but lately I'm trending toward banana cream, because really pie is just a delivery system for whipped cream on a graham cracker crust to me.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

sharonrenee — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:36:23 -0500

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

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

NatureGoddess — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:28:11 -0500

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

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lost in reverie — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:32:14 -0500

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!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lamaenad — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:00:15 -0500

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).

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sunydaze — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:42:46 -0500

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?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ZEFFER18 — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:51:09 -0500

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.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

smwalter — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:54:56 -0500

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.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

andy.josephson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:05:44 -0500

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.)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

groundsofbklyn — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:59:43 -0500

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

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:47:41 -0500

OK, obviously I must go to this Hoosier Mama place, as rhubarb-raspberry pie sounds like it might actually, literally, be the food of the gods.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

BlueDelirium — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:28:37 -0500

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...

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

fredrutz — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:36:45 -0500

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!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Kat Gentian — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:00:01 -0500

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.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

slrphebos — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:31:12 -0500

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.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

pPaddock — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:45:40 -0500

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.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

angelkutty — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:53:28 -0500

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 :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

MichelleBrewster — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:55:58 -0500

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!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

C.Rafe — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:12:59 -0500

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.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

reorchestrated — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:42:07 -0500

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:

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

akmargie — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:10:25 -0500

Hello, hello, I'm Amanda and this will be my third NaNo. I ruled year #1, sucked year #2 and have high hopes for this year. I'm a children's librarian in the north suburbs and live in northwest suburbs. I have a two roommates who I'm forcing to participate this year with me and two dogs who lets face it are pretty useless this time of year. To help my word counts I'm making my library host write-ins this year. Most likely I'll be writing a straight up contemporary romance this year. I'm longing to go back to Ireland so I'm going to set it there and be about families and love and Guinness and hot men...and maybe some cider too. I tend not to do too much outlining or pre-planning because what's the fun in that?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

akmargie — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:12:28 -0500

Yeah Nerdfightaria!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

akmargie — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:15:15 -0500

So the random question got me totally craving pie and than I forgot to say which in my favorite...chocolate silk with homemade whipped cream, not that dollop of chemicals that come in a tub.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Celebcuen — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:31:20 -0500

Hi everyone. I’m Sarah and this will be my firth NaNo, and hopefully my fourth win. I’m actually Italian and I live in Verona, but the project I’ve been working on for the past two years is set in Roaring Twenties Chicago, so I was… well… naturally drawn to this place ;-) I plan to write a part of my Chicago project for this year’s NaNo. Uhm… do muffins count as pie? I love them, and they are my speciality :-)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

DaWaterRat — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:49:16 -0500

Hullo I'm Nancy, and I almost didn't do NaNo this year (my 7th), since if I don't go into NaNo with a solid timeline (notice I don't say outline), I will not get finished, even if I abandon said timeline on November 2. October wound up getting seriously overbooked, but then a plot-bunny bit me, (technically bit me again, since it's an old story idea that never developed beyond some concept art) and I think I can wrangle that into a solid timeline to start from in the next two weeks. I'm a Chicago Suburbanite, born and bred. (Oak Park, River Forest, Berwyn area) My day job is stay at home mom to a tween, but I also consider myself a Graphic Artist and storyteller. At least my daughter's as much of a geek as I am. :) The story itself is a heavily Anime/Manga influence Cyber-punk piece. It would probably work better as a graphic novel, but I thought I'd try to write the actual novel first (and maybe convert it for Script Frenzy) Pie... actually, my favorite is my own cinnamon graham cracker crust apple pie that I make for Thanksgiving.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

fabnovelist — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:08:22 -0500

Hi I'm a fourth year NaNoWriMo but I only won two of them (the first two) and had a few years sabbatical right after my second win. I'm hoping I win this year as well but the fact that I THOUGHT I had my whole story genre/plot etc figured out by mid-sept only to completely reverse course and create an all NEW story genre/plot etc, I don't have much hope of me finishing successfully this year. ...and yes, I'm already bummed about that one but considering my life (and pressures) these past few years, I think I'm being realistic here.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ZEFFER18 — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:02:10 -0500

Have you read any of Jim Butcher's stuff? He has The Dresden Files (which takes place in our lovely city.). Also the Codex Alera. The Dresden Files is Urban Fantasy. Codex Alera is High Fantasy. Lots of inspiration from both. At least for me.

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carpetofstars — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:09:52 -0500

Nerdfighters unite!!

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LoriO — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:54:05 -0500

Hi, everyone! I'm Lori. This will be my second NaNo, and I'm hoping for my first win this year. Last year was tough because I was in the middle of another WIP when November came around, and though I tried very hard to put it aside to focus on a new novel for NaNo, I just couldn't do it. This year I'll be writing the sequel to the novel I recently finished, and I can't wait to begin. I teach English at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, and I'm teaming up with some of our amazing librarians to host workshops and write-ins for the second year running. Everyone is welcome, so please join us! We have a great group, yummy snacks, and prizes of questionable desirability at every workshop and write-in! More info: http://researchguides.oakton.edu/nanowrimo http://www.oakton.edu/user/0/loster/RaiderWriMo.html As for pie, I'd like a slice of cottage, please. :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

dkoziol3833 — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:57:18 -0500

Hello everyone. My name is Dominika. This will be my first NaNoWriMo. I plan on attending the write-ins at Oakton and the Niles Library. I have no idea what I will write about yet, but I usually prefer reading humorous books, so my NaNoWriMo novel will probably be lighthearted. I've never written anything except short stories and poetry. I was a participant in the Louder Than a Bomb Poetry Slam and attended a summer poetry writing workshop through the same organization. This will be a new type of writing experience for me, so I'm very excited! And I love my mom's homemade apple pie. Yum... :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

mollykoe — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:07:33 -0500

I'm Molly, fresh to the Chicago area and fresh to NoNaWriMo. I'm the biggest noob, or one of the biggest noobs, ever! I'm in the Uptown area, so if anyone is close--sorry, I didn't read everyone's bios. . . --and would like to schedule a round table discussions or a support group, let me know! I work better under encouragement, myself.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Raibean — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:11:56 -0500

Hi, guys! I'm Rhiannon. This is my first NaNo, and I'm not sure how many write-ins I can actually get to since I'm a student at UIC. I'm not entirely confident that I'll win this year since I have all paper classes this semester, but that's not going to stop me from trying. I've completed three novel-length stories, and I'm working on a fourth (that will get put on hold for NaNo). As for pie? My step-mom's apple berry - or even better, caramel apple pie from Mom's in Julian.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

mollykoe — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:19:47 -0500

Since we're talking about pies, I'll tell you that I love pumpkin pie (and Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte!) I'm from the south, Kentucky to be exact, and grew up pretty close to Bourbon County, ie. The Maker's Mark Distillery. Should this novel writing business go south (HA!) I'll be pouring heavy glasses of bourbon like my Daddy taught me to. But back to pumpkin pie, we put Maker's Mark in it. It's yum.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Raibean — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:05:05 -0500

Have you guys joined the Nerdfighters fundraising team for NaNoWriMo?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Clarity — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:34:01 -0500

Hi! I'm right in the OPRF area myself. Last year I was mostly going to write-ins down in the city due to my schedule, but it would be awesome to have other Wrimos right around home. What kind of group do we have around here, do we know?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Clarity — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:44:49 -0500

Hi, all. I'm Claire; been doing NaNoWriMo since 2004, though I skipped '07, so this'll be my seventh year. Good god, that's nearly a third of my life. I'm in the Oak Park/River Forest area, although I'm in and around the city a fair amount for things. I don't have one of those "conventional job" things; I tutor privately and for a local high school, I teach a few classes adjunct for a few local community colleges when they want me, and occasionally I sit around up to my elbows in museum specimens of snail shells trying to sort out which species is where up at Peggy Notebaert. Oh, and I write. Usually unconventionally gritty fantasy things. Nobody gets killed just for the sake of plot, but nobody survives just for the sake of plot either, if you like. This year I know fuck all about what I'm going to write, although I'm probably going to bend the rules just a little and go with something I've (just barely) started already. I've got too many universes already kicking around my head to open up another one. I am all about that 'pie' thing, everything up to and including the tragically misnamed cheesecake. My go-to is usually cherry, with blueberry or peach as a close second, but if it has a crust with sweet filling in the middle I'm basically there. Oddly, I think apple is actually my least favorite (though by no means would I turn a slice down if it happened to wander my way.)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

hmoats — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:45:34 -0500

Hello Everybody, My name is Heather and this is my first time participating. Unfortunately, in the past I would realize that it was National Novel Writing Month about half way through November. But not this year! This year I'm writing my fantasy novel that takes place partially in Chicago, something that's been buzzing in my head for the past two or so years while cats, boyfriends, and work generally got in the way. As far as pie's go, I'm a sweet potato kind of gal. I may live in the North now, but my tastebuds are all Southern.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

carpetofstars — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:00:47 -0500

Hi everyone! I'm Carey and this will be my eighth time doing NaNo since 2001 (I took a few years off while I was in grad school). I live in Lincoln Square and teach preschool in Winnetka, I'll be writing a contemporary YA novel of some sort (still choosing between a few ideas right now), and I would like all the pies, please, especially those of the apple, key lime, or cherry varieties. Yum.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

akmargie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:39:54 -0500

OMG that is the most amazing thing I have ever heard. I'm so spiking the pie this year!

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andy.josephson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:05:28 -0500

And, I changed my profile pic, so now my post is inaccurate.

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sunydaze — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:17:09 -0500

I live near Oak Park and Berwyn too. This is my first NaNo, so I'm interested in learning about and participating in different write-ins.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

sunydaze — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:27:33 -0500

Hey Molly! I'm newish to Chicago myself (I've been here almost a year and a half) and this is my first NaNo as well. I definitely work better under encouragement too, so let me know if you'd like to get together some time. I work in the Loop and live near UIC.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

DaWaterRat — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:15:13 -0500

I think there's a group that meets at the Oak Park Library. I know that their schedule never worked for me, though I don't remember exactly why (I I had something else planned). And I'm currently sans laptop (well, on a really crappy one since my old one had an unfortunate encounter with a can of Dr. Pepper) and as the replacement is my birthday present, I won't get it until the end of November... too late for any write ins. Not saying I'm adverse to a meet up or two, and I can certainly use pen and paper, but it's not the same.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Amlahe616 — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:05:41 -0500

Hi I'm Amy and this is my 4th NaNo. Going for win number three. I did do Camp NaNo this summer and I won that as well. I live on the South Side of the city and work at 35th and Michigan. I am planning on continuing my story from last year in the hopes that it will eventually end up to be the trilogy that I had originally planned. As for pie, I like pumpkin, and apple.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

i_love_nutmeg — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:55:07 -0500

So, this will be my fourth nano (I think...) and hopefully my third finish! I like in Park Ridge, a dandy middle class suburb of Chicago, and am a senior in high school. Hopefully I'll be able to get high school write-ins going like I have in previous years. Ummm...I'm continuing the novel I started last year and have been working on throughout the year, because, techinically, I am doing new material. Either way, it's a Harry Potter fanfiction, because everyone has to write one in their life! I'll continue to work on my original fiction novels on the side, but I figured why not keep working on this one? I like cherry-cranberry pie, especially when I bake it myself! (Wow, I've used a lot of exclamation points!) -nutmeg

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

cry_wolf — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:39:36 -0500

hi guys! i'm jenna, and this is my third year doing nano. i didn't win last year because cross country and school took up too much time, but i'm hoping for a win this year despite doing no planning and having no plot. yay for spontaneity! i've lived in hyde park for 9 years and i'm a junior at whitney young high school. i run track and cross country and couldn't imagine life without running. i love florence + the machine, girl talk, and drake. on the great pie debate, i'd have to say i prefer pumpkin pie or rhubarb. the others are just too sweet.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

tuff517 — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:36:05 -0500

Hello! I'm Dixie and this will be my second time around. The first time I didn't finish, and hopefully this year will be better. I'm really hoping to be disciplined and motivated to finish; I'm tired of wanting to write and being too lazy to do it. It will probably be full of a lot of nonsense with ideas of people in precarious situations wondering how they got there. I live in Elk Grove Village, about 10 minutes from Woodfield Mall. My Nana made the best pies ever, but in 2007 I made a pecan pie with pecans I picked up from my backyard and it was heavenly.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Celebcuen — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:38:14 -0500

Hi Amy :-) I'm working on a trilogy for NaNo too (started last year, having no idea it was going to be a trilogy). How's your experience? :-)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

mollykoe — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:18:37 -0500

I can get you a recipe, if you like. I think the measurements are a little off some a non-alcoholic pie.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

mollykoe — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:19:50 -0500

Sounds great! I haven't seen postings for workshops or round tables for the downtown area. I work in the loop, too, and I live further north in Uptown. I'm game for a Starbucks date, though!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

AlanSKaufman — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:45:23 -0500

Hi! I'm Alan and this is my first NaNoWriMo! I've always made excuses as to why I never found the time to write a novel. This year I'm going to discard those excuses and plug away. My blog is linked on my user info page and everything else I've heretofore written was painstakingly edited by me. The idea of drafting a novel without first editing is a wonderful idea. Knowing that many others are simultaneously working out their thoughts gives you encouragement to proceed on. Especially nice is that winning this contest does NOT require you to beat someone else! That's a beautiful concept to dwell on. We can truly share in this experience and set an example for all other endeavors! My favorite pie? My favorite anything to eat has chocolate! The best to each and every one of you, Alan

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

mustardgirl — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:00:06 -0500

Hi everyone! I'm Lily and this is my 4th NaNoWriMo, hopefully my 4th win. Last year I practically killed myself writing a 75K thing with very little plot, so this year I decided to just go for crazy randomness, so I'm writing about time travel :D I'm really busy since I'm a high school student, but I'm pretty sure nano will actually keep me grounded in this crazy world of homework and 3 hours of sleep each night. Besides if anything keeps me happy it's writing :D Loving the pie question - pie is the BEST ever. My family goes up to Door County, Wisconsin every year and we go to this little shop called Sweetie Pies and get a raspberry pie & a chocolate-chip pie...to die for, believe me. But honestly I could probably eat any kind of pie you put in front of me, as long as it came with whipped cream and a tall glass of milk! Can't wait for November -- good luck to our awesome region!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

leahzero — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:23:21 -0500

Hiya. I'm Leah, 29, inveterate snit and purveyor of fine snark. I've been doing NaNo since the very beginning (which makes me feel flippin' old), but have yet to "win" one. I'm a slow writer and hope to kick myself into a spirited canter this year. Maybe a begrudging trot. Sullen walk? Dunno. This year I'll be writing a genre-busting literary SF thriller about parallel realities. Not too stressed about hitting 50k. As long as I make a respectable dent in it, I'll be happy. Obligatory bio stuff: Compulsive reader. Agented author. Shameless gamer. Graphic designer. Zombie lover. I write about these things on my blog. Feeling less antisocial this year, so we may meet at one of the write-ins. You'll want to cover your head, though, because all I wanna do is eat your brains. Good luck, kids.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

dead_end_moon_angel — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:15:11 -0500

Hello all. I'm Cindy, 29, and live in the NW side of the city. This is will be my sixth Nano and hopefully my fifth win. I have an idea of what I'm writing about, but I'm still trying to get a more concrete plot. More than likely, it'll be a YA with hint of spirituality (but that could all be tossed out the window on Nov. 1!). As for pie: pumpkin with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream... *drool*

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Amlahe616 — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:34:52 -0500

Not sure yet. I have tons of ideas and a basic plot line but not sure where it will actually go. Good luck.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Conor D — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:55:51 -0500

Hello everyone. I'm Conor, 27, and I live in the Lincoln Park area. This is my first NaNo. I tend to write science fiction. My first book is going to be published in December. The impending arrival of NaNo and the possibility of having people read my stuff scare me, but I'm excited for both. Also, I like biking, going to see matinees and climbing trees. Alas, I am not a pie person, but I always thought oreo cookie shakes were pretty amazing. I scribble nonsense on my site (http://www.conorpdempsey.com/). Stop by and say hi. I would love to meet other Chicago writers. Just curious, how do the write-ins work? New to this whole process.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

CrimsonBlood — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:44:35 -0500

Hello again! I can't wait to get going, although I'm probably not going to reach the degree of my previous years. College keeps me busy, and let's not even talk about work! This will be my seventh year, and I'm not out of ideas just yet. :) Unfortunately, I'll also be in the process of writing this giant paper for my English class, so maybe I'll have my main character be an expert in all things concerning the War on Terror with both its domestic and abroad impacts? Hm, we'll see! Anyway, hope to see you all around! :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

LoriO — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:50:11 -0500

Congrats on getting published! That's wonderful. Write-ins vary from place to place. Typically, a group of people gathers in one space, there's food to share, and we write for about an hour. Some people have little games and motivational word sprints at the write-ins, others just write the entire time. The write-ins that we host at our college are usually quiet (except for the tapping of keyboards) for the first hour, and then we talk for a bit after the writing frenzy. And we always have free food. I love your website. May I link to it from my website? I teach English at a community college, so my site is a resource page for my students. Thanks so much! (Feel free to decline, of course, if you aren't interested. It gets quite a bit of student traffic.) (Here's my site: http://www.oakton.edu/user/0/loster/Index.html )

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

obliviousunction — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:07:24 -0500

Hi, everyone! I'm Eleanor and I just moved this a few days ago from Florida to Wicker Park. It's a bit colder here than what I'm used to (just a bit, har har) but I love it and I'm looking forward to NaNo this year in Chicago. I've done NaNo once before in 2009 but unfortunately didn't win, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep the inspiration flowing and meeting creative Chicagoans that may help with that. My novel this year is a modern day retelling of the Biblical story of David and Jonathan. It's a love story, but beyond the basics of the changes in the story to fit the present day, I haven't had a lot of time to focus on the details what with my moving and all. I'll have to dig out a Bible and reread their chapters (it's been awhile). Though I enjoy "Pushing Daisies" and the occasional slice of warm apple pie as well as the word "rhubarb," I am personally not a huge fan of pie. I prefer red velvet cake.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Conor D — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:45:05 -0500

Thanks, Lori. It would absolutely be fine to link my site. May I reciprocate and link yours, or do you mostly want to keep your traffic to students? Let me know. Write-ins sound fun though. I will have to try to participate in one this year. Again, it's great to meet everyone.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

LoriO — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:49:59 -0500

Great! Thanks so much. My site is really only for students, so I don't think anyone else would find it all that interesting. I appreciate the offer, though!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

clearly_insane_87 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:33:02 -0500

Your story sounds intriguing!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lbblock22 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:53:20 -0500

Yeah high school Wrimos!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lbblock22 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:56:15 -0500

nutrition labels and cereal boxes are high quality reading! I figure they put them there to give people an excuse to read while they eat.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lbblock22 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:05:13 -0500

Hi world! This is my second NaNo and I hope it will not set a precedent for failure. I've never attended a write-in (a small matter called high school tends to get in the way there) but if there were one at midnight on Saturday... Pie is pie. If the world were a pie, the sun would revolve around it (unless it were a meat pie because as far as I can see, sticking meat in a pie defeats the very purpose). Sour cherry pie. This special-occasion restaurant called Erwin on north Halsted (great place). Or peach or apple. Oh, and pumpkin. Any fruit pie. Maybe just pie. If I had an oven full of pies I would be very, very fat and very, very happy.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

AylaSkyrider — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:03:08 -0500

So wonderful to see so many lovely people in the area! I've been Nano'ing for four years now, but only finished half of those; the past two years have been crazy, crazy Novembers. I was actually doing Nanowrimo abroad in England last year, and used it as an excuse to get up in word count for my senior thesis, which was a novel, so it was a pretty perfect coincidence for me. (Never mind that the novel never hit 50k, 30k was all the story needed.) This year I'd like to take the novel that never got finished my third year off the backburner, dust it off, oil the wheels, and take it out for a longer, harder spin. It's gender-bending/exploration fantasy with hopefully a good deal of grit and love mixed in, so we'll see where it goes. Also, you posed a pie question to a baker. I'm afraid this might result in me showing up with several random pies some write-up, should my full-time job leave me with enough energy to do so. Pies like... chocolate coffee cream... or chocolate mousse pie... or pumpkin pie... maybe with maple syrup and cranberries... or even cream cheese... but I dun do animal products. So all of the aforementioned are made with total love and no skinned puppies.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Thomas Enlo — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:05:13 -0500

Hi. I'm Thomas, or Tommy, or Tom, or To, or T.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Jean_G — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:11:55 -0500

Hi everyone. My name is Jean and this is my first NaNo. I write MG fiction and live in Libertyville. I've never met a pie I didn't like. But if I get to choose, it has to be French Apple warmed in the oven.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:43:14 -0500

Pie? You would bring pie? Tell me the days, times and locations you would like for write-Ins and I SHALL MAKE IT SO. :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

olivertwisted — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:52:10 -0500

Hi everyone! My name is Kate, and this is my second time doing NaNo. I'd like to try to pull together a cohesive story this time. Last time I made it to 50k and considered it done even though there was no ending in sight. I've never been to a write-in, but I'm hoping to make it to a few this year. I love fantasy with an occasional side of sci-fi. My novel this year is epic fantasy about a boy-vs-dragon tournament to the death. Pie-wise I like pumpkin pie, apple pie, most any pie.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

JonieAuthor2b — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:01:12 -0500

Hello all. I'm Joan. I'm just hoping I can do it this time.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lbblock22 — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:59:54 -0500

That's cool, my brother's a freshman at whitney! I'm a junior at Payton. Maybe we should have a city high school write-in some time?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

onlyobsess — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:20:37 -0500

Hello fellow writers! My name is Laura, and I've recently moved back to Evanston after college, trying to figure out this whole thing called "real life." It's rather confusing and sort of sucky, so I figure that's a great reason to bury myself in the world of fiction for a month. Not that I don't already do that -- I read a ridiculous amount, particularly of fantasy, and write about that fantasy at the blog I co-write with a friend. I also love to sing, and would probably die if I lost my voice. This is my first NaNo, which is exciting and terrifying. I wrote my first historical fiction piece this spring and realized that I was born to that genre, so I'm planning a novel set in the last days of wagon travel west in the 1870s, and a woman who gets convinced to go to Oregon, but never makes it there. I'll be doing a lot of research before November 1st. As for pie, I love a homemade apple pie, a joint venture of me and my dad. Lattice crust FTW.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

nak — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:08:40 -0500

I'm back for more adventures. I've won the last couple of years, and failed a few times before then. I wasn't living in the Chicago area last year, and missed Chicago a lot during November. It's good to be back. Not sure what my novel's going to be about this year, I guess we'll see when I start writing it.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

goodbyewaffles — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 07:43:19 -0500

I'm Amanda. I live in Ravenswood, and I have tried to do this...a bunch of times. I've finished twice, and both of those times I pretty much wanted to never see my "novel" again afterwards. Soo...this time I'm trying to, like, outline? And plan? And maybe have characters? Turns out that is harder than anticipated. If you have not gone to write-ins in the past, you should DEFINITELY GO. Official ones are awesome because there are snacks and you meet everyone, and other ones are awesome because they are by your house, and Wrimos tend to fall within the range of people who are really neat to talk to. So that's my plug for that. I like all the pies. Pumpkin pie is the best, and then berry pies. Someone else mentioned Shepherd's Pie, and in my pre-vegetarian days that would sooo have been my answer.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

knaffhauser — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:40:21 -0500

Mike here. Third time trying this. Unsuccessful twice now, though I wrote more than I would have otherwise, so limited success in that sense. Tried to follow the rules the first two times, but since that hasn't worked, I'll be a rebel and start early this time. Should try to go to some write-ins this time, as I generally write more then, and I didn't go to any in previous Novembers.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Satai Delenn — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:25:05 -0500

Hi everyone, I'm back. I think this will be my fourth attempt at Nano. I have yet to win, but I keep coming back each year to try again. I'm thinking that this year I'm going to try to work on three of my novels at once so that if my motivation wanes on one, I can work on one of the others, thereby continuing to write everyday. All three are set in the 1850's. Two are semi-steampunk/adventure, and of these, one is set on the sea and the other is also a romance. It was supposed to be a trilogy, but after some recent thinking, and discussing with a friend, we agree that maybe it would be better as a novel with a sequel. The sea adventure story is actually an offshoot of the first two. It takes one of the side characters, and focuses on her life as a merchant captain, and she gets sent on a secret quest. The third, separate story is actually very LOOSELY based on Sweeney Todd, but is different enough that it's not really recognizable, and though it's supposed to be set in the 1850s, I've fudged a bit of the timeline so that I can utilize Picadily Circus, which really didn't form into an entertainment district until the 1860s, from what my research revealed. I've been published two years in a row now in my college's literary journal. I'm very proud of this. It gives me hope that when my novels are completed, I'll have a chance at getting them published. I've never heard of Hoosier Mama, but then, I'm not from the city. I live in the north suburbs, and I don't like driving into the city, especially with all the construction going on right now. I don't really have a favorite pie anymore, but when I did, it was the chocolate caramel, silk supreme from Baker's Square. Sinfully rich and decadent. Anyway, I'm really hoping to make it to 50,000 words this year, and I'm going to try and make good use out of Dr. Wicked's Write or Die program. If that doesn't motivate me, nothing will! Good luck to everyone this year!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Kat Gentian — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:52:40 -0500

Several people have recommended Butcher to me. I haven't read any, though - his books aren't even in my To Be Read pile yet! They will be, though, for next year. I've read Emma Bull (Territory, and War for the Oaks) and Elizabeth Bear (Blood and Iron, and the rest of that series). I'm thinking to go with some level of magical abilities (like Territory) rather than an actual interaction with faerie (like Blood and Iron or War for the Oaks). I don't (yet) know how that compares to Butcher's work. Good luck, Zeffer.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

EllenA — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:50:36 -0500

Hi, I'm EllenA this is my second NaNo. I did one about five years ago--it still is begging for a re-write, but I'm using Nano to get a different story out of my head, and to jumpstart a new writing habit. Wish me luck!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

srlmort — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:09:17 -0500

Hi I'm Sharita writing under Michael Mandrake I'm an erotica writer and my novel is a gay erotica romantic suspense. Good luck to everyone this year, this is my 2nd Nano. I won last year and my first Nano Novel is on my editors desk. Lets go Chicago! Closely Guarded Small Synopsis Agent Darien Moseley leads a double life. A musician by day and when not playing, an agent in a special organization called PROTEKT. He’s called upon to travel to Russia where he is to investigate the death of a dignitary as well as protect the son from harm. That dignitary’s son is intrigued by the prospect of meeting an American. His boyfriend, Ivan is jealous about this and due to his behavior, Darien is suspicious about his involvement. The two square off for Nicolay’s love while trying to catch the killer and keep him safe from harm.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Doug Story — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:20:24 -0500

Hi, My name is Doug. I'm an old guy with a new puppy. Since I was somehow not picked o be the Cubs new G.M., I've decided to try this writing thing again. I'm hoping to write a novel of ideas disguised as a political thriller. Good luck all.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

thoroughgreg — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:42:34 -0500

Hi All - My name is Greg, this is my first attempt at Nano, and I can't wait to get going. I will be attempting to write a third novel while revising my second. They're both technothrillers. Good Luck!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

rebeccasturgeon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:05:24 -0500

Hello. I'm Rebecca and I'm a massage therapist living and working in Evanston. This will be my second NaNoWriMo, and hopefully my first win. MLs -- I need to be kicked in the pants around November 15th, okay? Will massage your shoulders in exchange for pants-kicking. Thx. Pie. Anybody else remember that scene from "Michael" where Andie MacDowell sings "Pie, me oh my, I love pie?" Am I the only one who saw that movie? I like anything as long as it's vegan. Even better if it's made by the Chicago Diner.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:24:54 -0500

Pants kicking duly noted and scheduled :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Suburban_Wulf — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:37:17 -0500

Hi all! I'm Nicki, though I typically go by Suburban Wulf. This will be my second NaNo, and hopefully my second win. I kind of tentatively stuck my foot in the water with a 50k fan fic last year, and now I'm hoping to take the full plunge of not stopping until (just before) the clock strikes midnight in December! This idea is all mine, and is already proving to be quite annoying in the outlining stage.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

letterbyowl — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:15:26 -0500

o hai. Letterbyowl here... i am new to Nano... not that good at writing stories... don't really know why i decided to do Nano... But I'mma try my best to complete it... and yeah... kthanksbai.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

klewis128 — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:42:53 -0500

Hi, my name is Kimberly. I've participated in NaNoWri a few times, but have won only one once. I'm looking forward to participating again and (hopefully) winning! I haven't hammered out all the details for this year's NaNo, I'm trying to decide between a YA fantasy or a YA Post-Apocalyptic/Adventure story. I'm a lurker, so it's unusual for me to post in forums, but I'm trying to be a little (teensy tiny) bit more active with participating this year. Who can say no to pie? My favorite is cherry pie with a smidgeon of whipped cream. I also love pudding pies (especially banana cream). Good luck everyone!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

sunydaze — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:14:29 -0500

Oooh, i used to make an awesome tofu pudding pie....

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Spatsy — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:43:47 -0500

Hi there, I'm Chris and this is my first NaNoWriMo. I'd always meant to do one, but for whatever reason, it got lost in the shuffle. Having graduated with a double-major in English and Creative Writing, well, I really should have been doing this a while ago. In any case, I'm in the process of getting the proverbial lead out and I figure the best way to do it is to give this event a shot. And I second the previously mentioned notion for mid-month pant-kicking, as I'll probably need one as well. As for pie, I am a huge sucker for Pumpkin, which makes me a very very happy camper with the coming holidays.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Jason Runnels — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:38:57 -0500

Hello, I'm Jason and this is my first NaNoWriMo. I'm always up for a new challenge. Apparently it's not enough to relate writing to the Rubik's Cube on my blog, now I have to write a novel in a month! We'll see how it goes. I live on the north side and will try to drop by as many local gatherings as I can. I am looking forward to meeting other ChiWriMo's --I hope I did that correctly ;-). Sorry, I don't really eat pie. I prefer other types of dessert instead. (I did see someone else say Shepherd's pie, yeah that's pretty good.) Here's a fun intro to my blog: http://jasonrunnels.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-writing-is-like-rubiks-cube.html

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

dextuur — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:24:19 -0500

I'm Julie and this is my 4th (!!!!!!) Nanowrimo. I'm from the South suburbs, but attend university in the Northside. Hopefully, I will be able to join for some write in this year. Pie is amazing. Its never bad. All flavors are good :D

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Page2Deb — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:59:47 -0500

Hi all. I'm a first timer. I've written one novel previously (took WAY longer than a month!) and just submitted the finally-completed manuscript to my agent. Trying to keep my momentum up. Hope to see some of you at the Friday evening write ins!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

presswest — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:35:34 -0500

Hi everyone, This is my first time doing NNWM. Remember a/s/l of the good old Yahoo chat room days? I'm almost tempted to follow that format here. I'm 27, originally from California, and I live in West Loop with my fiance, cat, and dog. We just moved to this new apartment a couple months ago, and I even have an office. So no excuse not to write (except maybe a lack of dedication and talent... can you tell self-deprecation is my hobby?). I hope to meet you all in person some time, especially if pie is involved. I'll bring the banana cream pie.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Maux — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:47:30 -0500

Hi. I'm Maureen. I don't actually have any pretensions to being a novelist, but I like the idea of the challenge. I'm currently studying animation, improv and sketch writing and I think that NaNoWriMo can only help with those things.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Jedi Scaper — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:00:22 -0500

Hi. I'm Lance. Introduced myself in the Newbie group because this is my first year. Born in Oak Park, raised in Edison Park, lived most of my life in Park Ridge and Des Plaines. Uh... that's all I got. OH, French Silk.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Ailelie — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:36:10 -0500

Hello. Ailelie or just Aile here. Still in my first year of living in Chicago and am looking forward to attending several write-ins throughout November. I enjoy pie. My favorites are coconut, pumpkin, and dark chocolate.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

seeker1161 — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:10:06 -0500

Hello, my name is Chevin (rhymes with Heaven, go figure) and I need to finish this novel. It is my sincere hope that this event will keep me focused and on task and give me something productive to do other than watch H2 until my eyes bleed. (except for the weekend of November 18th at which time I'll be celebrating my birthday and will not be available for writing duties AT ALL)... Nice to meet you all.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

daisypappa — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:57:59 -0500

I'm Lisa. I haven't participated in NANO since 2006, so I'm very excited about this year. Hopefully I am not too rusty. I really haven't written much in the past 4 years. Key Lime!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Mistress Lrigtar — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:04:40 -0500

I'm Bethany, and very new to NaNo. Originally from North Carolina but have lived in Chicago for 11 years. I dabbled in fan fiction several years ago, but haven't written in awhile. I"m hoping joining NaNo will motivate me to jump back in.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Rehearsal_Dweller — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:26:34 -0500

Hihi! I'm Finnie & this is my 1st year doing Nano. Yaaaay! As far as my opinion on pie goes, I usually prefer cake. Although when it's available, I'm quite fond of Pumpkin Pie.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

KendallRichelle — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:44:46 -0500

Hi, My name is Kendall. I live in the North Suburbs. I have attempted to do nanowrimo once before...but I failed. I'm excited about the challenge this year and I look forward to meeting fellow writers during our month of writing. As for pie, I can eat blueberry...but I prefer cake, large layers of luxurious, chocolately cake.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Pete Mayhem — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:45:54 -0500

Hey folks. My name is Pete and I just moved to Lakeview. This is my fourth NaNo and I'm going for my third win. I lean towards writing literary fiction though it very often contain themes that read more like science fiction and horror at times. I belong to the Red Herring Writers of Champaign, Illinois though I haven't been down in a few years. My tools of the trade include an iPad with a keyboard dock (It's the perfect 4:3 ratio of a piece of paper and very minimal), Dropbox (software), and an Evernote (software) notebooks full of ideas and writing prompts that I'm willing to share with others. If you happen to see an angry tattooed young man with blonde hair around Lakeview, it's probably me. Come say 'Hi' and talk to me about your novel. You might find out I'm a really nice guy.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Winters_Knight — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 09:18:26 -0500

My name's Phil and I live up in Andersonville. While I've been a member for a couple years, this is my first real attempt at NaNoWriMo. I have this thing about perfecting every sentence, every paragraph, every page and this causes my stories to suffer in the end. I need to let loose and write. I have given up writing on the word processor. The computer's too distracting. So I've been writing my stories off a 1934 Royal Potable for sometime. I enjoy writing in this fashion because I can't go back to rewrite, edit or reedit. The typewriter allows me to push my story forward. I'm excited about working on my first official NaNoWriMo novel.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

stars_to_go — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:19:14 -0500

Hello everyone! Though I apparently created this account three years ago, I have not yet participated in the actual writing aspect of NaNoWriMo! So this is me trying to kick my butt into gear! I live in Lincoln Square but work long hours out in the burbs, so we'll see if I can actually get to any of the write-ins. Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to write about so, hmm, better get to that! But I will win this thing this year. I will! ;-) And as for pie, anything but apple (yes, I realize this makes me completely abnormal!).

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ChicagoPatty — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:47:15 -0500

Hi NaNoMoFo's, My name is Patty, and I am pleased as pie to be participating in my 2nd Nano. I didn't win last time, was so close, made it to 47K...and a good start to a book I love that I haven't touched since. I love to write, but this year, I'm having a hard time finding a story that will keep me engaged. Yes, I have nothing...absofuckinglutely nothing planned to write. I have a working title, I have some bizarre obsessions, a few scenes, but nothing connected. I'm getting nervous this will just end up being a twisted little journal entry of my sick mind, but oh well. I hope to network more, and not be freaked out so much by you weird writer types. I have much love for all people and most animals. Let's be friends m'kay? Buddy me, pal me, bff me..just don't dp me. Thanks. I like humble pie the best!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Khall6 — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:41:02 -0500

Hi Wrimos! My name is Katherine Hall. I've been writing NaNoWriMo since 2005. I live in the Chicago area, and I am excited to write the piece that's been kicking around in my head for the past month or so! I hope everyone is looking forward to a very productive, crazy November! And: if it has pie in its name, it is good to be eaten. Particularly if the word "pie" is preceded by the words "pumpkin", "pecan" "lemon meringue" "key lime" or "apple". The end!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

SundaysClown — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:30:09 -0500

Hey all, I'm Kei. Short summary: I'm 24 years old, originally from California but have lived in Chicago and the surrounding areas for most of my adult life, currently in Logan Square, and itching to finally win NaNo after an embarrassing number of botched attempts. I doubt my amazing writers group will let me fail this round, so we'll see. I'm pleased with my concept (which straddles the line of black comedy/slice-of-life angst/suspense/road trip hijinks), but not so much that I'm afraid of making it an absolute trainwreck, as I intend to do with gusto. I am firmly Team Pie. Lemon meringue, apple, peach, and strawberry are my favorites, but I'm very much looking forward to pumpkin pie season.

malljand — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:32:26 -0500

Hey everybody. I'm hoping third time's a charm with my third attempt at nanoing. I'm Mallory, 25, and super stoked to start this thing!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

NoraLeif — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:41:02 -0500

hi! I'm Nora. I'm moonlighting here as an escape from my regular life, which is full of many odd and eccentric pursuits. This is my third go-round, and hopefully will be the second time I finish!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

KatharineTheGreat — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:18:59 -0500

Hullo all! I'm Kate and this is my first hack at NaNo. I'm going into this full steam ahead with a minimal (read: no) planning, so it should prove interesting. As far as pie is concerned, leave the pumpkin. I looove blueberry!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

benedictify — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:38:20 -0500

Hi!!! This is my first year being amongst a group of fellow Nano's -- or Wrimo's? -- and it's really great. Loved meeting so many folks at the meet-n-greet at Wishbone on Sunday. Looking forward to meeting you again at write-ins, and keeping in touch online :) I've participated in NaNoWriMo to some degree since 2004, but never really got very far. But, I've never been near a NaNo group :D So I'm looking forward to diving in headfirst and re-committing to it once again. I don't get home from work until 8:30-9:00pm - I live in the Lincoln Square / Andersonville area (Bowmanville to be specific) so I might not be able to make some of the write-ins I've seen on the calendar. But I might be interested in putting together some informal write-ins on some of the coffeeshops on Clark street - and there's one place I'd love to try this place (I guess it's in Lakeview so it's a bit south of me) at 3408 Clark, called the Pick Me Up cafe, that seems to be open all night! Perfect place for NaNo'ing! Hope to see you all soon and share some hastily-produced prose Thanks, Benedict aka Ben E Deekt

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Le Domino Rouge — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:32:52 -0500

Hi, I'm Liz. I live in Beijing right now, but I'm moving back to Chicago on Nov. 7, so I guess Chicago's my home group. This is my first Nanowrimo, so I guess I'll see where it goes. Take care, Liz

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

artsgirl — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:53:21 -0500

Hey everyone! I'm Tobi and I live in Wicker Park with my new hubby and our two cats. This is my second Nano (I participated but didn't win in 2006), but this year I'm proudly a NanoRebel. So as not to reinvent the wheel, let me copy and paste a bit from my intro in the Rebels forum: I've never really been much of a fiction writer - I've tried it a few times, but I just don't think it's really "in" me or whatever. I did participate in Nano in 2006, mostly because I was on disability and bedridden at the time and thought it sounded like a fun thing that I could do from my bed! Sadly I only made it to about 12,000 words, but I loved loved loved the atmosphere, the environment, the camaraderie, the whole experience. I've wanted to do Nano again almost every time November has come around since, but never felt like I had a story in me that was just dying to get out. Well, about a month ago I was thinking about this non-fiction book I've been planning to write for about a year now, a sort of how-to guide for teaching theatre to kids and directing them in plays and musicals (coupled with stories from my own years of teaching and directing). As I thought about getting started on it, I realized that Nano was coming and wondered if I could sort of surreptitiously piggyback onto the wave of momentum and inspiration that is NanoWrimo and get my book knocked out. So that's me! I'm here participating as a rebel but still hoping to get to that magical 50k point by the end of the month. I plan on hitting as many of the Tuesday morning Wicker Park write-ins as I can, so maybe I'll see a few of you there!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

DannyWriting — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:16:56 -0500

So it's NaNoWriMo time again. Sigh. This is the year I take it seriously. Alright Lincoln Square, I'm counting on you.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Matt B — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:38:42 -0500

Hi, I'm Matt, and I'm one-for-one on NaNoWriMos. I joined last year just before the first of Nov and somehow completed on time, even though I'd never written anything approaching that length before. I think it was the encouragement of the group and the constantly looming deadlines that kept me going. I'm hoping it will be the same this year. I didn't attend any events last year (and I'm not starting out well this year with missing the kick-off) but if there are any events in the Oak Park/River Forest/Berwyn/Brookfield/LaGrange area, I'll try to stop by. I think my favorite dessert pies are lemon meringue and apple, but I really go for a chicken pot pie! Shepherd's Pie would be a close second.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

NoHayOlvido — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:38:21 -0500

Hello folks. I'm Reggie. I just moved to Chicago a couple months ago, and I'm eager to get involved in the literary scene. Thus far, I've done some poetry readings and open mics. This will be my first real attempt at writing a novel in a month. I'm excited about the opportunity, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you at the write-ins!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

tichwi — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:43:25 -0500

Hi, I'm Tiffany! I live in the south suburbs, but hope that I can get into the city for a write-in or two. I've attempted NaNo a couple handful of times, but haven't won yet. I feel good about this year though. My favorite pie is pumpkin, and then french silk. Actually, pumpkin silk is pretty damn good too. Mostly, I like pie of any kind. Good luck everyone!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

IcyBrian — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:22:08 -0500

Hi, everyone! I'm Brian. Just moved to Chicago from Atlanta last week, so I'm acclimating myself to the cold weather by participating in something that requires me to drink lots of hot coffee in order to survive. Most of my writing has been plays & screenplays, with some short fiction here and there. I just wrapped production on my first feature film two weeks ago, a romantic comedy that I wrote, directed, & produced. Weirdly enough, I'm using NaNoWriMo as a way to regain my sanity from the craziness of a filming schedule. I'm sure it'll take me all of three days to realize that was a bad idea. I'm living in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area, so if anyone has suggestions for coffee shops/restaurants/good places to write in the area, I'd love to hear them! As for pie, pumpkin has long been a favorite, although I'll eat just about any pie that's set in front of me.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:20:10 -0500

Hi Brian - I really like Filter on Milwaukee, near Wood. But it gets a little too crowded for us to have regular write-ins there, so we're meeting at Just Indulge (which is also lovely - much smaller but also much less crowded) at the corner of North and Wood. We'll be at Just Indulge on Tuesday mornings (including tomorrow!) between 9:30-11:30 (I might get there a little earlier!) and also again the second and third Thursdays of November. I hope to see you there!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:21:36 -0500

Hi Tobi! I'm so glad I won't be the only one at the Wicker Park morning write-ins ;-) I can't wait to meet you and get some writing done!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

zoopstah — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:45:31 -0500

Hi, I'm Lindsey. I've told myself in the past that I would do this, but never had the time. I'm on maternity leave now, so my plan is to write while baby is sleeping :) We'll see how that goes. I haven't prepared myself at all. I like pumpkin pie. My sisters and I always helped my dad make it for Thanksgiving and that's always been a fond memory of mine. I'm looking forward to making it with Baby when he gets bigger.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

jedishan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:47:26 -0500

Hello fellow Chicago writers!! My name's Shannon, and this is my first NaNoWriMo...kind of sounds like an AA meeting greeting, heehee. This story's been pounding the inside of my head for a few years now but I've never been able to find the discipline needed to pound it out. I'm so excited to have been told about NaNoWriMo, I really think the community support is what is going to get me through this! I'm in the Humboldt Park area, but I'll mostly be attending some (if not all) the write-ins being held at Oakton CC, since it's close to work for me. Hope to meet some of you there! Best of luck to all of you--and let's show those Glasgow jokers that we Chicagoans mean business!! =D

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ShutyourEyesandSee — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:43:57 -0500

Hi! Just introduced myself on the newbie thread...but thought I should introduce myself here too. I'm in Hyde Park, and should be dropping by some write-ins around there. Also--cherry pie all the way.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ChicagoPatty — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:49:51 -0500

Yay! I may meet you all there!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

diegogreen3 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:33:55 -0500

Hello, I have tried Nano once before but gave up halfway through. Going to do my best not to let that happen again. From Norwood Park up on the Northwest side. Joining up with a write-in would be cool as long as I could fit one in with my strange work schedule. I have a deadly weakness for banana cream pie.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

nathaaallliaaa — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:38:40 -0500

Hey folks! My name is Nathalia. I've known about NaNo for a couple of years and I've given it the occasional noncommittal try. I have the very bad fortune of going to a university where my finals coincide wooooonderfully with the month of November. :( I'm hoping NaNoWriMo can give the push (shove?) I need to make the ideas knocking around in my head transform into reality. I'm totally interested in the write-ins because I love the idea of writing in a group of people. I'm over in Humboldt Park, which is quite close to Wicker Park so.... Hopefully I'll get a chance to meet some of you sometime! :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

IcyBrian — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:48:01 -0500

Ah, cool. I'll try to make it out!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

I Am...Butterfly Joi — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:59:11 -0500

Hi I'm Cheryl better known as Butterfly Joi or B Joi. This is my second NaNo, I attempted in 2009 but didn't win. I'm on a mission this year though. I really am not sure what I'm writing but I already have a good cushion of words started. Hopefully it will start to come together as the week progresses. Good luck everyone. Feel free to buddy up with me, I'm sure I could use the encouragement and can give some too. ~ B Joi

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ChicagoTypewriter — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:09:34 -0500

Hi, I'm Mark, and all I've managed to do since midnight is eat chips and spill my Mountain Dew.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:14:53 -0500

Hey Mark, that's a better start than all those people who decided not to do NaNo at all this year!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

danopticon — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:34:44 -0500

Halloo all, Dan, or Ricky, here. I've lurked NaNoWriMo for probably four years now, but this is my first year throwing myself into the mix of things. I have about a dozen first paragraphs to first pages of prospective short stories or novels, but I have a tendency to admire them for a while, decide I can't maintain the tone, then move on to something else. I figure this'll motivate me to plow through to the end one way or another. I did finish a 100-page screenplay once in a hectic 72-hour writing binge. The plot was good, but the characters had no reason to do anything other than for the sake of advancing the plot. Funnily, if I had my druthers, I would probably write plays and work in live theater. It's just difficult to make things both good *and* coherent, let alone readable, all at once. Pie, eh? I began eating vegan October 5 of this year, so something without dairy, I guess. Pumpkin is out, since -- once a year, anyway -- it's food that has a face. I add a lot of qualifiers to my sentences … it seems.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

atrumsolsolis — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:50:08 -0500

Hey all! I'm Carleigh (pronounced like Carly. Not like Car-Lay. I've had people think that before!) I'm a sophomore in college majoring in theatre. As a matter of fact, I'm in a play right now, which is the only thing that might hinder me in getting all 50,000 words. My novel this year is going to actually be a sequel of sorts to the play I'm in! XD I figure I'll have that on my brian a lot and I have some good ideas about it. :) As for favorite pie, you can never go wrong with good ol' apple pie!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Janelle Jensen — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:47:32 -0500

Just popping in quickly to introduce myself. I have a pretty hectic schedule with a full time job and as a part time student, and I volunteer on weekends out of state, so I'm afraid I won't be able to stop into any write-ins, but just wanted to say "Hello!" :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

DZW_21 — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:56:35 -0500

Hey all! My name is Dezz. I've spent most of my life in Chicago, but right now I am living in the NW suburbs and missing the city like crazy. This is the first year I've decided to attempt NaNoWriMo, so we'll see how it goes. I'm not even sure which story I'm going to work on, so totally unprepared. My favorite pie is mixed berry.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

tanistanis — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:00:07 -0500

Hey y'all, This is my first year. I'm writing either a fantasy or sci-fi. Right now it's a toss-up between a queer reverse-Cinderella story and a dystopian Chicago bicycles and zombies story. I'm going to start tonight, so we'll see... And pie! Can't go wrong with pies! I'm especially fond of hand pies. All that tasty, in the palm of your hand. Awww yeah. I'm excited for pecan pie right now!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Aubrette — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:02:41 -0500

You sound fun, Pete! Hooray for angry-looking tattooed men who are really just peachy :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Aubrette — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:08:39 -0500

Hallo, Ri! I am rewriting the Twilight saga (book 2 for NaNoWriMo) I'm not a skyper, but we should chat sometime! -Aubrey

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Aubrette — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:17:01 -0500

I live next to Uptown in Ravenswood AND I have a handy bicycle so I can ride anywhere I want! I'm closest to the Wilson Redline, if that helps :) I love meeting people!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Aubrette — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:28:16 -0500

Ravesnwood FTW! I hope to see you at the Perfect Cup write-in or the Starbucks sometime :) -Aubrey

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Aubrette — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:33:03 -0500

I hope I see you at the write-ins! Starbucks will meet regularly, and next week we'll be at The Perfect Cup :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Aubrette — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:36:39 -0500

Greetings, Chicagoans! My name is Aubrey and I am in Ravenswood, perfectly positioned among a distillery, a brewery, a local coffee joint and quite a few bakeries! I'm rewriting Twilight ('nuff said). My best pie that I make is apple-butter pumpkin pie (oh yeah, I just pwned all your pumpkin-pie asses. I'm adding Makers Mark to the next one, btw, to make The God Of Pies) But I also make a thuper-easy vegan strawberry rhubarb (crust is just crushed nuts). See y'all at the write-ins!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

bluishweeg — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:13:52 -0500

Coffee and Pie, "Oh My"? Hi. I've never been able to get my friends to join me in NaNoWriMo, so I'm hoping to go to some write-ins this year. I live equidistant from Loyola and DePaul on the Red Line. I'm Pete.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Samantha_Rill — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:45:20 -0500

Hi there! My parents decided to name me Samantha and the world felt like naming me Sam, Sammy, Sammykins, and the list goes on (and gets embarrassing too!) This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo (I only made it halfway to the goal last year, but hey, 25,000 words isn't too shabby.) I'm super pumped to get things going and off to a good start! The "novel" I plan to write is one I've been working on for quite a bit and then decided to strip it bare and begin fresh, disregarding any and all previous information, plot points, and importance. Daunting task, but I figure NaNoWriMo could help me out. It's a fantasy (now) and in third-person (which is VERY new to me.) I'm all in for any writing buddies and buddies in general. I love making new friends, 'specially in the writing realm. Oh and I tend to be a super nerd from time to time, so if it slips out of its cage, don't worry :]

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

lilliemae — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:47:31 -0500

Hi, I'm Lillie Mae. I just moved to Chicago for grad school at Loyola University, and for some reason decided to do this for the first time as well. November will be a fun month :) As for pie, yes. Yes to pie. Yes to all pie. Pie is way better then cake. Fruit pies are my favorite. (All fruit pie. I can't just pick one) In fact, my picture is me with pie. That's how much I like pie.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Samantha_Rill — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:51:09 -0500

A) you are perfectly positioned between good food and drinks. B) apple-butter pumpkin pie (!) sounds delish. just sayin'

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Sancho Panza — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:31:34 -0500

Hi, I'm not used to introducing myself in --let's be honest--anonymous forums (situations). Truth is, I see the event as an incentive to write, balls to the wall...for thirty days. I'm hoping you guys will achieve your best. And I'm hoping I will achieve great things. Each time I write, the forces that be in the universe, scratch their asses and say "can we really let him go at it" --and then they send out the troops to interrupt my imagination......sigh! That's the way it is. There are no explanations, no clues. You write non-stop for 30 days; and you can always revise later, or take into stock the fact that you didn't do shitsquiddly. And then joyous can say, What the Fock!... But it's ok; all the platitudes, all the expectations of anyone other than you; are negligible at best, and harmful, and petty at least. After all, whatever standard someone else is holding up as the peach in your life; if they haven't created themselves; most likely they don't know squat. (Even if they are otherwise important). (Know some of those. ) Peace and Love, SP

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

JackFrost2112 — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:19:28 -0500

Howdy! My name's Pat. I live on the south side (Oak Lawn) and work in the city. This is my first year doing NaNo and if today was any indication I'd say I got this in the bag :) I'm going to make an honest attempt to attend a write-in or two just to see how everyone else operates. Best of luck to you all!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

brodieaustin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:22:40 -0500

Hi, I'm Brodie. This is my first NaNoWriMo. I've drafted a novel before a few years ago but it has sat untouched since then. I like the idea of overcoming excuses and just writing. i work at the Des Plaines Public Library and live in Evanston. And I like pie--all of the layers.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

benedictify — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:26:55 -0500

Yay for Dr. Horrible references!!!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

bryemye — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:13:26 -0500

I'm Brian. I have thought about doing this in the past but considered it responsible not to do so since I was supposed to be working on graduate school applications. Now I'm in graduate school for poetry at CCC and decided when am I going to have a better time to try and get a draft of that novel I've been meaning to do. I live in Bucktown just north of the Wicker Park border. I will be at the Wicker Park write-ins on Tuesday mornings and probably at the Wormhole (best coffee shop in Wicker Park in this guy's opinion) on Milwaukee many of the other days. I'm 24 and my story is sci-fi/alternate universe-ish.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

suzuki650biker — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:25:53 -0500

Hello all, Sharon here. Downtown dweller. Wishing a swift, easy pen (or keyboard) to everyone to get your draft done by November's end. This is, I think, my fifth nano and I hope to keep the winning streak going. Have fun everyone!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

suzuki650biker — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:33:09 -0500

Sharon here again! About pie: I could not live without homemade sweet potato pie the way my late, paternal grandmother used to make it. I once consumed a slice of pumpkin pie thinking it was sweet potato and I almost died--or so it felt like it! A nice slice of lemon cream pie will do in a pinch.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ezreader — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:49:31 -0500

Hey Everyone! I go by Alivaster or jut plain Ali. I reside in the Northwestern side of Chicago though this year I'm in college in Iowa will I'll in Chicago quite a bit anyway! This will be my 6th NaNo and I'm really aiming a lot lower and all rather than higher due to carpal tunnel issues. (If anyone's doing a Summer wrimo, lemme know! I'm doing a 70k in June or July. Haven't decided. ^^ ) I'm an insane reader - is reading too much bad for your health? - and also love to sketch. Anything in the 'arts' - theatre, art, writing, etc - is something I really enjoy. I blog quite a bit and am a college student majoring in Pharmacy with a creative writing minor. Fun stuff, no? My novel is really a fantasy/romance with a /bit/ of a twist. It should prove highly amusing to my friends who want to read it. Though, since I don't have a fuly outlined plot and my characters have been going insane and have fickle minds, it's very likely I'll default in the next week to another idea which a teacher has been pushing me to try to plan out. I might do that instead and see where that craziness leads. The problem? The villian is still to be found. I gotta say I love many types of pie, but I especially enjoy pumpkin pie. ^^ Don't know why.. I just love it! *craving* Good luck to everyone this November! You guys can do it! After all, we're all awesome. ;) ~Ali

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

00Marx — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:25:19 -0500

Hi All, I'm Mark and live in Wicker Park. Looking forward to this. I have wanted to participate in the past, I have several friends from my online writing group that are past NaNos and I've heard a lot of good things about it, but didn't have things lined up at the right time - you know how it goes. Anyway I'm on board this year and ready to go. I'm just jumping in and seeing where the characters wanna go. If anyone wants to do a write in in Wicker Park drop me a line.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Marmabean — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:32:50 -0500

Hi everyone! I'm Chelsea. I live in Logan Square. This is my third Nanowrimo, and hopefully will be my second win! I skipped last year, but am happy to be back.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Marmabean — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:37:04 -0500

Oh, and I almost forgot about the pie! Yes! And I pretty much love all kinds, but key lime is probably my favorite.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Amluv — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:32:41 -0500

Hey everyone, this is my second year participating and I'm looking forward to being more successful this year. I live in the south suburbs of Chicago and work in the south loop. This means I have lots of travel time on the train to write from my phone... or at least that's my plan. I tend to read a lot of trashy romance novels and its always been in my mind to create one of my own. I hope a actually manage to do that this year.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Surreal531 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:44:28 -0500

Hi everyone! I'm Michelle and I live in the Rogers Park area. I just graduated from DePaul this past summer so I've got plenty of time after work for writing. I signed up for a nanowrimo account a couple years ago during non-november and then completely forgot about it until some random week in October. So this is my first attempt. I might try some of the north side write-ins this month if I can. I like most pies, especially French silk and then pecan. Never tried rhubarb though. But I'm not a fan of sour things so not key lime.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

sweetmilktea — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:41:05 -0500

Hello~! I'm Alice, from Lakeview. My husband and I are participating this year, and I'm very excited! I half-heartedly tried participating several years back, but I didn't stick with it for more than a few days. I'm so glad that we're talking about pie. I love chess pie, but I'll eat any type--I'm not that picky.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Zinnia Zedd — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:10:45 -0500

Zinnia Zedd here (and don't anyone ask me if that's my real name, okay?). I moved to Chicago from Boulder, Colorado in summer 2010, and to Wicker Park this past March. I'm settling in now, and looking forward to meeting more writers. I plan to take advantage of Livia's Write-Ins at Just Indulge at the corner of North and Wood, as well as the ones down at Cosi near the main Library downtown (an easy Blue Line ride!). I don't just like pie, I bake pie. I'm the 1998 National Pie Champion in the Nut Category for my pecan pie. Cooking is one of my favorite ways to meditate. I'm originally from Kentucky. See some of you all around the hood, I hope. xoxo ZZ

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Slow the Second — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:45:05 -0500

Jerry here. Young-ish writer in Arlington Heights. Just a brief note-- this is my 1st official Nano, and 2nd unofficially. I had a science fiction novel-in-progress to which I added about 20000 words last November, without realizing there was an official wordcount and community attached to Nano'ing. (Canoeing?) I merely thought the goal was to write a novel of any length. This year, I'll be attempting to add 50000+ to the work I augmented when I went all solo about it. Hopefully with the support of this web of local writers and write-ins, having attended my first today, I'll get myself a win. Or at least finish this crazy story. Next November I'll try for a brand new work, from word count zero. As for PIE, well. I'll stick to the two P's, pumpkin and pecan. Thanksgiving is coming!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

strgzr917 — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:50:39 -0500

Hi, I'm Meg. This is my first NaNoWriMo, though I've wanted to do it for years. I just decided to jump in yesterday, so I'm a bit behind in word count, though I'm hoping to catch up this weekend. I attempted Script Frenzy this year, but soon discovered that my angsty, troubled characters would be more at home young adult novel. As a kid I always requested lemon meringue pie for my birthday. I haven't had a slice in years, but I do love a simple apple pie with an all-butter crust.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Baby Shoes — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:49:47 -0500

Hello, I'm Dirk. Met Livia a few days before the month began and who doesn't get swept up by her enthusiasm? Off to a late start - took awhile to get my login settled. I'm writing a novel way over 50,000 words (95k - 100k) and though I've only listed 1550 (which I wrote Nov. 1st), the novel actually is at about 10,000. That would make my goal to get to 60,000 total by month's end. Sorry if this warps the intentions of nanowrimo, but I'm hoping it works for me. I do mean to get to FADE TO BLACK before year's end (I am a screenwriter by trade). Looking forward to some Write-In's and getting to make a bunch of new author friends.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Bloddyrose13 — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:29:37 -0500

Hi I'm Sara, I'll be seventeen by the end of the month and hopefully the end of my novel! It is my second year participating and I'm sure I'll be dead by the end of it! You're all welcome to attend my funeral to make sure my headstone reads "died in front of the keyboard: word count 50,001"

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Temporal — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:46:47 -0500

Hello! Nice to meet people in Illinois who write! I'm Anthony, and this is my first NaNoWriMo. I've written a few short stories with about 20,000 words each, and I wanted to see if I could hit 50,000. I really hope I do. I'm a sophomore in high school, and hopefully will live to see Junior year. (By the looks of things, I won't.) I guess a lot of people would call me "odd" or a "geek" of sorts, and for the most part, I'd agree. I plan to hit 50,000, but I won't stop there. I plan on having 150,000 words by the end of January. Kinda easy to do with a satire novel made to poke fun at, well, something I like myself. I like anime a lot, so I decided to make fun of mainstream anime.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:52:51 -0500

Yay!!! So glad you found your way to us, Dirk :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:54:22 -0500

my headstone reads "died in front of the keyboard: word count 50,001" If you gotta go, that's the way to do it :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Gina DiPonio — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:54:50 -0500

Hi, Everyone! I am a first time nanowrimoer. Now, I don't have a plot yet. I don't know where exactly this thing is going, but I keep writing and discovering. That's my entire plan. I may use the word "novel" very loosely by the end, but I am going for it, and it feels damn good. In fact, it feels better than a piece of pie. Yes, I would toss a piece of pie out the window if it tried to keep me from the nano. Thankfully, pie tends to be friendly and nano-encouraging, in which case it's very, very welcome at my desk. Apple especially. :) --Gina

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

ArikSavage — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:42:38 -0600

Hello everyone! I'm Arik (or "Eric", or "Erik" or any combination of letters you prefer, even "Jeff"), this is technically my second NaNoWriMo, but the first time I've actually had the wherewithall to participate in November when all the other wrimos are out and about. I bought 'No Plot, No Problem' on a whim and a coupon, and did my first Nanowrimo this past september (and succeeded). Haven't given it a second look since then, but now I'm hoping to get to have an officially validated win under my belt, and to find not only the time to write my 50k, but to meet and hang out with you other lovely Wrimos! I was forever plagued by the scourge of the inner editor until i discovered Chris Baty's magic button. Now I'm free to write with abandon about ships and pirates and strange cockney/scottish steampunk dwarves! So hello everyone! Send me a message! I'm always glad to make new friends (or as I like to lovingly call them: distractions) -Arik

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

00Marx — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:14:53 -0600

But you get points for the STNG reference.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Johnny12358 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:14:39 -0600

I'm John, I guess I got here late.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:50:33 -0600

No such thing as late, John! Just "time differentialed" :) Glad to see you and hope you can make it out to some write ins!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Pephredo — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:55:55 -0600

Hello! I've been kind of poking at some threads here and in the reference forum, so I thought I'd stop in this one to introduce myself. You can call me Pephredo or Steve--I'm likely to answer equally to both. This is my second time doing NaNo, the first being a half-hearted attempt. This year I plan to finish, and I'm making some good headway. And, I'm having a blast with this novel too. Makes the writing part easier. Anyway, looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Sam111111 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:28:29 -0600

Pie is delicious. I'm Sam, this is my second time doing Nano. I won the first year [back in 2008!] but have been doing things in November usually, nowadays. I wrote a novel for October and have been editing that instead of writing my novel, and have had ... editing problems, but we'll see what happens. Currently I'm around 2000 words in [I waited until the ninth: this is the year of the Alphasmart nanowrimo] but I've started to work at a job as well as all of the general school working stuff, and I feel a lot more motivated to just finish the October thing and keep editing it [it's at 40k-odd words, and it's one of those types of books that should be fairly easy to sell, maybe]. So we'll see. I like my nano so far, though. It's crazy.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

JayVaro — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:41:56 -0600

Hi all. I suppose I'm a little late to this whole forum game. My name is Jay and this is my first NaNoWriMo! :) I'm working on a performance right now and NaNo-ing during my spare time. So I'm pretty far behind on my word count. But I'm having fun. :) wish me luck and good luck to all of you.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:41:39 -0600

Good luck! I hope you get a chance to come out to the write ins! Don't worry about being behind - as long as you're enjoying yourself and writing, it's all good :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

MikeyWrites — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:08:48 -0600

Hello Out There! I'm Mikey. This is my first time, and I'm very excited! I was not able to start until three days in, but so far it's been pretty effortless. The words seem to be writing themselves. I have for years been working on two manuscripts, and maybe this competition will be just what I have needed in order to complete one or both. I am not working on either for Nano, but instead I have started a new story. Hope to meet some of ya'll along the way! Nameste!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

kandicenatecole — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:24:02 -0600

Hey Everybody! I am Kandice and this is my first NaNoWriMo. I live in the Hyde Park area and can't wait to attend a write in! I have been in the 2nd week slump but this weekend I will catch myself up because I got some ideas brewing inmy head!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

echobase77 — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:53:24 -0600

Most important information first: pie: Apple! The way my mom has always made it, with the apples grated rather than chopped. It's amazing this way. Maybe because the cinnamon and sugar gets all over the apple? Or because then you never end up with that crunchy-apple bite unexpectedly? Anyway, try it, highly recommended. I'm Anna, and this is my 4th year attempting NaNo (will be my 3rd win) and my first year living in Chicago (Roscoe Village). Can you believe I was worried that the NaNo group here wouldn't be as awesome as my old home region? You guys have proven my fears wrong, so thanks for that. Add me as a writing buddy if you like. I work at Northwestern (downtown, not Evanston). What else...I like to read any/every book by Brandon Sanderson. Everyone should check out Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians--kids books, but so much hilarious stuff in there, I'm sure kids can't fully appreciate all the references. I'm sure I didn't even catch all of them! I used to be a podcast junkie. Did a podcast on LOST for the last two years it ran, which was an incredible experience and introduced me to most of my internet friends. Now I'm burnt out on listening to podcasts, but I still do a book podcast from time to time. Actually we did one about NaNoWriMo just before November started in case anyone wanted to learn what it was all about.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

A.Catherine.Noon — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:24:55 -0600

Greetings! I'm A. Catherine Noon and this is my third NaNo. I am co-founder of the Evanston Writers Workshop and love to write. My first book came out in September with Samhain Publishing and I'm hard at work on a couple more; my NaNo project is the foundation book of a new series. I'm excited to be part of NaNo again and can't wait to meet some new folks and greet old friends. Write On!

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:41:14 -0600

Oooh, Catherine, how exciting! Be sure to post a link about it here, in our self-promotion post - I'd love to read it! My novella with Samhain just came out in early October as part of their Silk, Steel and Steam print anthology - I wonder if we have the same editor there?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Necrotic.Blue — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:43:46 -0600

Can you believe I was worried that the NaNo group here wouldn't be as awesome as my old home region? You guys have proven my fears wrong, so thanks for that. Oh yay!!!! We definitely strive to be as awesome as anyone else ;) And having met you at some write-ins now, I can definitely say that you are full of awesome as well! In fact, have you considered that it may not be the region, it may be you?

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

erikadprice — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:52:27 -0600

I'm Erika. This is my first Nano, and I started a week late, but I'm on track so far and I'm totally overflowing with that first-week, first-time Nano word-slinging euphoria. I've been going to some of the Lakeview, Lincoln Square, and Northwestern write-ins; I live in Roger's Park. In addition to writing, I'm a graduate student at Loyola Chicago working on a Phd in Applied Social Psychology. My novel is about the psychology of a variety of social settings and organizations I've observed as a researcher, with a little bit of imaginative flourish and fictionalized elements and characters. I'm really interested in the tension between producing entertainment and being an audience or reader of entertainment, and the symbiotic relationship between active producers and passive consumers of books and performances. Ummm let's see what else. Oh, I write on my phone. That's probably what makes me stick out the most at Nano events; I think people often fail to realize I'm there for Nano since I don't have a laptop. It prevent me from participating in word sprints, since I can't get a word count on the fly, which is the only downside I see. As long as it keeps working for me, I'm sticking to my weird writing habit and developing wicked strong thumbs in the process. It's easy to write on the fly when your phone is always handy! There's never an excuse to not bang out some words. And I love Pecan Pie! Sometimes I sometimes make little pecan pie tartlets, since when I bake a whole pie I just inhale it whole and feel ill for two days. Happy but ill.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

BeanQueen — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:47:12 -0600

Hi hi! I'm Sarah. I did NaNo before as a rebel (I didn't know memoirs didn't count until I was 100 pages in-- oops!). I'm trying for full-on fiction this year! Oh yeah! I'm totally not a writer but I'm doing it anyway and so far I like my book. I'd read it. It has robots and space travel in it. I like all pie!! Even the mathematical kind. Is that the kind of pie a robot eats? hmmm.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

A.Catherine.Noon — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:59:28 -0600

[quote=Necrotic.Blue] Oooh, Catherine, how exciting! Be sure to post a link about it here, in our self-promotion post - I'd love to read it! My novella with Samhain just came out in early October as part of their Silk, Steel and Steam print anthology - I wonder if we have the same editor there? [/quote] Hi there! What do you write under? Are you on the Samhain author loop? I'll go post on the self-promo link... how fun! My editor is Tera Kleinfelter. She's awesome. She's presented at both our conferences so far and we hope to bring her back next year as well. We shall see. ~plots~ ("We" being Evanston Writers Workshop")

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

LeSarge — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:39:50 -0600

I'm Matthew, and this is my third time participating in NaNoWriMo... and I suddenly feel like this is a writer's anonymous meeting. Anyway, I almost won in 2009, and totally won in 2010. I also plan on winning this year. Outside of writing a lot once a year, I a freelance illustrator based in Albany Park. I've been known to draw everything from storyboards for student films to spot illustrations for Sunday school materials to comic strips. You can see some of my stuff at www.skippinginfinity.com, and you can see the webcomic I write and draw at www.bagdropcomic.com. And yes, I like pie. I have not yet met a pie I didn't like.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Thedreamwriter99 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:07:52 -0600

Hi! I'm Casandra, and this is my first time at NaNoWriMo. I started a week late, but made up for it with lots of lost sleep and people yelling at me to get out of the library after closing because of writing. I'm younger then most, 13, and am addicted to writing. To finish my novel, I stayed up until 3 am with lots of caffeinated drinks, and a full on inspiration. I really want to come back in the years to come, I just wish NaNoWriMo was here more often! I want to become a author/veterinarian when I grow up, and I am obsessed with pie. Mostly pumpkin pie, but I have yet to make my match when it comes to pie. Oh, and I am going to do some write ins! :)

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

MelloMuse — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:33:44 -0600

Hi I am Mello. Almost 27. I live in NW Indiana and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Re: Welcome! Introduce Yourself!

Ailelie — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:02:25 -0600

You are planning to embark on a crazy, wonderful, frenetic adventure in which every day a new aspect of your story reveals itself. You are choosing to join a community of likewise off kilter people who will also plunge deep into their personal wells of ideas and frustrations to produce a final 50k word that still needs the mud washed off, still needs to be polished up, still needs the right setting to make it all just-so. But none of that matters, because at least there is something to clean, polish, and set. Have fun and happy planning.