kaliawai512

Author bio:

Hi! My name is Lauren, I am a college graduate self-studying French and Japanese (hoping to soon perfect my Spanish, brush up my ASL, and jump into Arabic and Mandarin) and trying to get published, and I'm eagerly anticipating this year's NaNoWriMo!

A bit more about me? Okay. I'm a native Texan (though people tend to think I'm from the Midwest), I have a sweet 15-year-old brother and two wonderful loving parents and two cats and a gecko, and my top three interests are writing fiction (dabbling in creative nonfiction and fairly experienced in fanfiction), doing pencil portraits, and learning whatever foreign languages I can get my hands on. Most of my writing is done either in my room on my desktop computer or at write-ins on my netbook. I prefer my desktop. I also finally graduated with my BA in Creative Writing last December, so now I'm an OFFICIAL writer. HA! (Kidding. Writing hardly requires a degree ;) ). I plan on pursuing writing as a career (as well as commission portraits and translating), but that doesn't mean I don't find it disgustingly fun.

2009 was my first official NaNo, though I joined the site in 2007. I had no idea what I was going into at first, but it turned out better than I had ever imagined, and I managed to put out three new stories during the month (250k total). I wasn't quite so ambitious/crazy in 2010, but still got one and a half books out (approx. 220k). 2011, I tested my limits and wrote one novel (plus a couple of super-short stories to top off my work count) totaling 500k words. NaNo is a TON of fun for me the more I write (and go insane). Am I an overachiever? Somewhat, but mostly I just enjoy this way too much.

This year (my fourth), I have no set word count goal (am I trying to beat last year's? AM I?), four full novel ideas as well as some extra short stories (I very well may not finish all four novels, but if I do, I don't want to run out of material!), and I am eagerly racing through my new stories! Happy November, all! :)

DISCLAIMER: I mean no offense to anyone with my wordcount. After having a few comments of others being discouraged due to my wordcount over the past years, I feel I should say that these are MY personal goals and wordcounts, which are due to a combination of my particular past experience, schedule, and other life factors. I commend those who try hard for their goals, whether those goals are 1k or a million, and I have the greatest respect for those who are writing with difficult jobs, children, stressful life circumstances, etc. Please do not feel bad because of me, because it's certainly not my intention, and because you shouldn't. Your goals and circumstances are yours and yours alone - be proud of what you do!