Welcome, Edmowrimos!

w00t! First post!

My name is Jayson, also known as Wolfe_boy (pronounced Wolfie-boy, gotta remember the I sound). You'll see me around occasionally, at events, in the chat room, and mostly here in the forums. There's a good chance I'll be wearing spandex occasionally.

This is my fourth year doing NaNoWriMo, and hopefully my third successful attempt. I write all sorts of stuff (when I actually sit to write) but I tend towards science fiction generally speaking - Phillip K. Dick being one of my biggest influences. Also Guy Gavriel Kay, but less in content and more in style and inspiration. I'm also an amateur photographer, speed skater, and an accountant to pay the bills.

Wow, this is the driest introduction I've ever come up with.

Well, scrap that. I look forward to seeing a pile of familiar faces, and a metric bootload of new ones too. If you've got any questions (or need a lift to an event) feel free to ask!

I'm SarahJanet, aka Sarah, aka SJ. I'm one of the three Municipal Liaisons here in Edmonton, which means I herd people around during NaNo and plan all the awesome events we have here in Edmonton, along with Karen and Patrick, our two other MLs. This is my seventh year doing NaNo and my sixth year as an ML. (Crazy.) I write romantic comedies, pretty much. Verging on chick lit, mostly just regular fiction, but I think romantic comedies are the best description. One of these years I will do something with them.

In my non-NaNo life I work at Edmonton Public Library, which works out well for us as we partner with them for most of our events. I'm married to a non-writer named Jamie who is very tolerant of this madness, like to knit, sing, and read, and just had my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday so might be a little foggy for the next few days.

Welcome!

Hi! I'm Chloe!

This is either my fifth or sixth year doing NaNoWriMo but I don't actually remember. It will be my third year winning! Although last year should count for two because I did 100,000 words and nearly lost my mind in the process. I mostly write fantasy, actually, everything I write turns into fantasy at some point. Thankfully, this novel did it during the outlining process.

I mean, I was going to write a nice normal novel for my mother, and suddenly there are demons and things eldritch. What?

I am also a chatroom op and a cheerleader for those in distress. Watch out for the high kicks, though, they are powerful and deadly.

And that's all!

Hi! I'm Learan, aka Nikki.

This is my second year doing NaNo, and I am still so pleased with myself for (just barely!) finishing! My biggest mistake last year was picking a novel idea that I liked too much - I wanted it to be good and it held me back a bit. This year I hope to attend more events and finish a little sooner than an hour before cut-off. ;) The idea was sci-fi'ish and I might revisit it someday.

Non-NaNo-ly speaking, I am a happily married gal living with my wife, our Roomie, and 4 cats (we just got 2 kittens!) in downtown Edmonton. I'm pretty sure I've talked our Roomie into participating this year, too! Exciting! I like to sing, loaf around on the computer, and go out to dinner with my wife whenever we can. :)

Looking forward to this year!

HEY MARY!

I'm Benjamin. You can find me in the chat room by looking for @KibBen. The chatroom is kind of my brain child... so I'll be there a lot.

I moved to Vancouver this summer, but you'll still find me poking around. These people are family to me, and I could never abandon them for the world.

Also, I'm kind gay. Scratch that, I'm a few steps away from being a screaming, hysterical queen.

http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/na/archive/00193/drag_queen_kaka_p___193326...

Just be forewarned. (That's not me by the way. I'm WAY skinny and could never, ever gain that weight. My body just doesn't work that way.)

Really though, I'm harmless. I'm more of a geek then anything else... but I *will* make gay joke ruthlessly and will occasionally call people Mary when I'm joking around. I love people, and I love YOU people more then anything else. If you see me online... chat with me! My hours are weird, and I'm ever so isolated from Normal People.

I’m Karen. This is my 6th year of NaNo-induced insanity, 3rd year as ML leader-type, and will be my 4th year winning NaNo. It’s also my first year as a chatroom op (so please be nice to me because I really don’t know what I’m doing in there – but don’t tell anyone, okay?)

My plan for this year is to not get possession of a new house on November 1 and to not contract a deathly illness (bear in mind I still finished both of those years; it was just a lot harder than it needed to be). I also plan to have some semblance of an outline before midnight on Nov 1, which I haven’t bothered to do in the past three years. I’m the underachiever ML: Sarah and Patrick speed out of the gate while I plod along in fits and starts and eventually turtle my way across the finish line on the last day.

In my spare time (ha!) I would like to think I dance (Irish & salsa), play hockey (defence!), swim (damply), dabble in photography (with enthusiasm) and scrapbook (rarely). These days I actually spend my spare time planning stuff for NaNo with my co-MLs, frantically trying to store up sleep in the hopes of being more coherent this year, and dreading the consequences of my annually escalating challenge against Jayson (Canoegirl vs. wolfe_boy: Battle of the Hudson’s Bay Superheroes).

Actually Karen lies. Really she's the ML that makes excellent and thoughtful comments when necessary, and the rest of the time is excellent to look at.

Really. First event you're at with her, just watch her. She loves it.

Wow, look at all the stuff I miss when I get my sister a moose hat made out of tin foil :)

Hey everyone, I'm Crystal. This is my seventh year of nano, hopefully my fifth win. I spend lots of time glued to my computer, sewing costumes, poking my cat and calling her fat, and watching far too much reality TV (TAR starts on Sunday! YAY!) than is healthy for anyone. By day, I'm a retail slave at "THE MALL", by night I'm the nerdiest nerd who ever nerded, I make a mean fettucini alfredo and I never do the dishes :)

You might find me at events wearing a low-key costume (Ravenclaw sweater and tie, whut?) and possibly a wig because I'm weird like that. Maybe.

I also like to write hilariously bad romance novels, with a bit of fantasy thrown in. Woot woot.

Greetings all! I'm Patrick, third and y-chromosome-bearing leg of the ML Triumvirate. This will be my 5th year doing NaNo, and my second as an ML. While I spend the other 11 months of the year manically working on poetry, November is my one month pound out frivolous fiction---I love writing whimsical science fiction and fantasy novels.

As Karen mentioned, Sarah and I usually come racing out of the gates on November 1st (usually in competition with each other.) This year, I'm trying something different. While I do still plan to attack the 50k mark with the gusto of a rapid wolverine on amphetamines in a city park full of honeyed ham, this will be the year of lowered expectations. I will be the blazing champion of our school motto: Novelis Qanititus Maximus, Qualitus Minima . (And in my case: Finitae Extremae Rapidus.)

No more finely crafted plot outlines. No more intricately woven story arcs. Heck, no plot planning at all for me this year. In a mad gambit to actually get work done on my Ph.D. thesis during November---and thus graduate at some point before the heat death of the universe---I am challenging myself to shoot from the hip and crank out whatever it takes to just crack 50k. (I'm currently thinking a loosely woven and gloriously purple work of literary fiction that strings together a series of poorly crafted vignettes into the tale of a small socially awkward pomegranate growing up in rural Nova Scotia during the 1920's.) Those of you who remember last year's clean underwear challenge will notice this as a huge policy shift. We'll see how it goes...

I'm looking forward to seeing some new faces (and of course our jaded veterans) out at the events! Best of luck to everyone, and please give me (or Karen or Sarah) a shout if you have any questions! I am waiting with mounting excitement to witness this year's Battle of the Hudson’s Bay Superheroes.

Hello, my name is Laina. I am girl; don't let the username fool you.

This will be my third year doing Nano. Last year I nearly went insane for two reasons. One was choosing to do Nano during my student teaching practicum and the other was trying to write literary fiction. I have learned something important and that is this: Nano is only worth doing if I can write fantasy so that when I have writer's block, I can insert pirates or harpies or something else that will move the plot along in a big way.

My other hobbies include cursing in Spanish, playing touch football and working for the City of Edmonton. This year I'll be working on something fantasy related, but my ultimate goal is to one Nano season write my entire novel in Spanish. Everyone will have at least three names like Juan Luis de Gargoza and boost my wordcount significantly.

I'm excited to meet the all the newcomers this year and to see some familiar faces! This event makes November the best season of the year. Seriously, I like this more than Christmas.

A hearty welcome to everyone new to NaNoWriMo! My name's Denton, a.k.a. Aquadeo. Much like KibBen said above, moving to a new city is a poor reason to give the wonderful company you'll be sharing this month. That's why, even though I currently live in Medicine Hat, I'm delighted to stay close to all my Edmonton friends, and serve as Guest House Head this year.

I look forward to meeting all of you, either online or at the meetings!

By the way... all this talk about the Curse of the Guest House Head? Don't worry. There are ways to lift the curse... even if they haven't been tested. Once we sort the houses out, though, I'm sure my team will be able to help me through this. And if not? Well, at least you guys will get some story ideas out of it!

Good afternoon. As a general rule, most of you know me as Tiana, though I'm actually really just Tiffany. No matter.

I have won Nanowrimo three times, ScriptFrenzy twice, and perhaps this year will be the exception--my arms hurt and I haven't even started writing, and I'll be working and and and and augh. You know.

I'm the one who did 100k for the last two years. Also, cookies.

It's not even afternoon. That's probably half my problem.

Anyway, I am POTENTIALLY writing a fantasy novel by the tenative title of Revenant Lights this year, symphosis in profile. Which is the anomoly. I know what I'm going to write already. I'm sure somehow it'll go out the window. If all goes as planned, this will be a prequel to On the Edge, Between Places (formerly Dreshae), and Definitions. Which means that, as a prequel of several stories, I'm suppose to know what happens and fit it in. Welllll, we'll see how THAT one goes.

Edmonton is an awesome region, by the way!

Formerly known as PrayerReverie, currently known as ShirtNinja, alternatively known by Kiyoshi ...
Don't let the name fool you, I only wear a shirt when legally obliged to, and even then, I look for any and every excuse to discard said garment. Shirts are useful for two things: being turned into a Ninja Mask and something else that I fail to remember.

This is my fourth year participating in NaNo WriMo and hopefully it will be my fourth year hitting the 50,000 mark. My main challenger last year was EgoAnt, but due to technical difficulties, I find myself without a rival. Auditions will be held on or around November, so please, don't shy away from the Shirtless one at the events.

I have countless useless information in my head, mainly pertaining to nerdy things, geeky things and things related to choreographing. I enjoy cars, driving, precision driving, impromptu challenges of all sorts and grappling.
WARNING/DISCLAIMER: ShirtNinja obeys the rules of the road, and so should you.

So come see me if you need a physical challenge, advice on cars, or if you simply want me to put my shirt back on. Or if it's Mecha related.

EDIT: Haha, lookit that, losing my mind already. Forgot to mention: I write Sci-Fi pretty much 24/7, with large epic battles, and if people die, they do NOT come back (*coughSEEDDestinycough*), and somehow there will be swords or other archaic bladed weapons involved.

Hey all,

I'm Melinda, aka Kalesta. This year will be my second NaNo, and hopefully my second win. Last year's was fantasy; this year it'll be sci-fi. Unless I come up with something I like better at the last minute. I'm hoping to make it to some/most of the events this year, depending on how many Mom or Dad will agree to drive me to/let me take the bus to.

I love writing, but except for notes for NaNo, I haven't done any in way too long. >.> Most of what I read and write is sci-fi or fantasy, but I enjoy (some) other genres too.

Hey guys! I'm hoping to actually make some friends through NaNo this year as I've never really bothered to post much previously, so if anyone's up for being writing buddies let me know. I'm dansleforet on AIM otherwise.

I make myself sound like a dork right out the gate. Oh well, what can you do.

I'm Caitlin, I'm sixteen, and this is my third year doing NaNo, hopefully my second time winning. (I also attempted script frenzy last year, but gave up shortly after realizing that adapting a previous novel attempt was a bad idea).

Outside of november I spend a lot of time making collages in my basement, occasionally playing guitar, and teaching myself random languages - currently Swedish. Also I don't usually capitalize at the beginning of my sentences when I type, but I do it here on the forums so as to appear more literate and all. There, now you know something about me.

I'm trying to actually outline this year, so we'll see what happens with that. Talk to me, I love everyone.

Hello everyone, my name is Arnold and yes, that's my real name as well. I'm also known as Dobbin477 in Livejournal land and AIM. I don't really know what to say which is kind of funny seeing as everyone here knows I could tell you about my last year's word count, but I won't because I don't want to scare any of the new wrimos. This will be my fourth year doing Nano and I've won everytime :). On the forums you'll probably see a lot of me, mostly what I'm eating, speaking of which I'm hoping to go for a carrot stick this year instead of a chocolate bar. In the events, you may see me. I'll be that guy over there. No, not there, way over there against the wall. I'm shy in person, so if you see me, talk to me. I love meeting new wrimos.

In Non-Nano periods I still write lol. I also write poetry and will be attending the Raving Poets series which starts in the middle of October and ends in the beginning of December, so another thing I'll be doing along with Nano.

Oh yes, I'm also in an online writing group called NanoLJers, so if anyone is from there, hello! I also work in a mall, but in fast food.

That's all about me, I guess, look forward to seeing the new people and the friendly faces as well :).

Hi Everyone!

(My previous post seems to have disappeared in the crash).

I'm Charlie - the guy who dressed up as a Big Ol' Can of Edmowrimo Whoopas a few years back. This will be my seventh year doing NaNo.

I write in the off season too, although not nearly as much as I would like to. I write in all sorts of genres, but mainly speculative fiction: fantasy, science fiction, horror, but I've also done westerns, action-adventure stories, thrillers, and even something that vaguely qualified as a historical romance. Oh - and academic stuff if you want to count that.

I'm subtly trying to convince my wife to try NaNo this year, but I don't have my hopes up. She's quite happy in her role of encourager and editor.

Other somewhat interesting stuff about me:
- I play on the offensive and defensive lines for the Feynmen Football Team (the defending champions of the U of A intramural flag football league DIV 1)
- This summer I ran and finished a leg of the Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache (which is no small feat when you consider I'm the heaviest guy on the Feynmen's offensive line)
- My wife and I have a dog named Togo who we're teaching to skijor. (Skijor is a scandanavian word meaning 'the idiotic replacement of an entire dog sled with a single cross-country skier' - or - 'you're strapping me to what?')
- I've been doing judo since I was 10 years old, which is kind of like mixed martial arts, except there's only one martial art.
- Oh, also this summer I went on a pilgrimage to the Yukon Territory where I camped and canoed for 8 days up the Pelly and Yukon rivers to Dawson City where I visited the cabins of Robert Service (the guy who wrote the Cremation of Sam McGee) and Jack London (the guy who wrote White Fang).

Well, I'm back again for my eighth (sort of) year. One of those didn't really count, either the one where I didn't officially sign up, or the one where I wasn't really trying to write 50,000 words, just finish the novella I'd started earlier in the year. Take your pick.

This year looks like it may be made more interesting by job-hunting/starting a new job. My current job may go until November 14th, though I'm free to quit early and take another job if I have one. Since I've got ten years more experience than I did last time I was job-hunting, I'm mostly pretty relaxed about it, except when it comes to writing cover letters. Which is what I should be doing write now, but I'm procrastinating. I'm a computer programmer/software developer/whatever during the day, a novelist in November, a copious reader of books and collector of music all the time, and often a slacker spending all his spare time playing computer games. Right now I'm heavily into Spore...

My wife and I now have three kids, since little Jinian was born in February. My wife, Nicole, is an accomplished writer outside of NaNoWriMo, with her eighth novel coming out next year (title still under negotiation). Since she has Real Writing to do, and doesn't really have a first draft she needs to knock off quick, she probably will be skipping NaNoWriMo this year. Though there's still an outside chance. (Our other two kids are both boys, Simon and Luke. Simon keeps saying he wants to be a writer when he grows up. One day he should sign up for one of the NaNoKid things.)

I already talked about my plans for this year in another thread, so go look there if you're curious.

--
--Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Song--Chris Rea:90's Blues
Current Book--Lois McMaster Bujold:The Sharing Knife: Beguilement
You will cease issuing ultimatums, or else.

Howdy! This is my second year!.
I won last year and I am ready to do it again.
So let's see. Last year I passed the 50,000 mark one the 22nd. This year I'll try for the 20th.
Nothing too ambitious, because this year I'm doing sci-fi... it'll be a first.
I'm getting excited!

Hi There!

I'm Auntie, aka Wendy, aka Auntie Wendy. This is my second year in NaNoWriMo, and hopefully, my second win. I'm looking forward to actually finishing my novel next year. ( Last year's novel is definitely worthy of completion, and probably even trilogy worthy. I am planning to attempt that outside of November, though.) I am choosing to do something entirely different this year - but I have no clue what that will be.

My first novel writing experience took me totally by surprise - how it wrote itself and took me to corners of the world I had not expected - nor ever travelled to. So, this year, I plan on being a bit more focused, and would like to remain within the realms of personal knowledge!! Either that, or it will be a complete fantasy, and it won't matter that I know nothing of the lands I end up in.

Some trivia about me:

1. I am married, and am very fortunate that my husband is a great supporter of my novel writing.
2. I haven't been in the work force for 13 years because of a medical condition called Fibromyalgia
3. Because of point 2, I will sometimes find myself unable to do what I want - and sometimes that is writing.
4. I have incredible bouts of insomnia, and often wish there were places a person could go in the middle of the night to write.
5. I don't do well when I attempt to write at home - there are too many distractions. Tim Horton's, Second Cup, Starbucks, and even McDonald's are favorite writing venues. I love it when people come up to me and ask me what I am doing!
6. Because of points #2 and 4, I am not always able to attend the Edmowrimo events.

Hello I am Kerry!

Hmmmm...I think this is my 5th attempt at writing the dreaded novel. I believe you may know me as the person who was always late for events, hence never attended them as I would be outside in the cold and no one knew I was banging on the door of the library (yes I am a sad little person).

Anyways, I think this will be the year....I have extended my pocket book to buy yet another laptop which I KNOW will write my infamous novel for me (as the other Laptop did not) and I am so ready to write, not be sick, not be distracted and have told everyone in my extended family that I cannot be bothered the whole month of November (hahahhaha....yeah...I know its funny isn't it...).

Okay enough of the drama....My name is Kerry and I am a NaNoWriMoHolic.....cheers to 2008! Hope to actually meet some of you and to actually write 50k!

~Kerry aka BuffyTheSlayr

Hi. I'm Lara. Named for a character in Dr. Zhivago who was an adulterer - what was my mother thinking? Okay, I know what she was thinking - she liked the theme song from the movie. But it doomed me to a life of people miss-spelling and miss-pronouncing my name until Tomb Raider came along to save me...

I first did Nano in 2001 and have signed up every year since other than 2003, though I don't know that I should count a couple of those years due to extremely poor performance. 2004 is still the only year I've won, and will be for a while yet as November is a huge month for me and there is just no way - my usually supportive but currently somewhat annoyed husband thinks I am insane just for signing up again. My goal this year is 20,000 words. You don't want me on your house team.

By the way, some of you might remember me as Pers as that was my username most of the time I've been in Edmonton, though I don't get out to a lot of events. I was Larisa before that (account now sadly deleted and opened by someone else). And is there a way to change your username without opening up a new account? I just want the underscore gone this time...

I once read an article where this writer guy wrote of a notebook full of notes and ideas and short stories and articles. He was pretty upset as the best writing he'd ever done all existed inside that notebook, and there was no way he could ever imagine re-creating it. The longer the notebook was missing, the better the writing in it became! Until one day he found the notebook again and was horribly disappointed to find it didn't contain the brilliance he'd remembered writing after all. I re-tell this tale as a lead-in to mentioning that I am currently mourning some of the best writing I've ever done as a result of a rather catastrophic laptop failure earlier this year. I mean, I had some absolutely fantastic ideas and starts on that thing. And the best part of it all is that since it involved a melted hard drive, I will never again be able to find them and realize how bad they really were!

And now we get to the moral of the story: failing to back up your writing is a fantastic way to build up your confidence as a writer!

No way, the real moral of the story is to back up frequently somewhere other than your hard drive. I want my ideas back! Learn from my mistakes as I have not - this is the second time being lax about my backups has cost me more writing than I care to lose.

On the other hand, I am thrilled to have a shiny new computer to write on this year :) It even has a working battery, so I'm not tied to a power cord all the time! Joy!

ETA: One final thing about me: As you may or may not have observed, I am prone to rambling terribly. Working on it. Really.

Hello, I'm James (a.k.a: That name over there <----).

This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo. I'd wanted to do it ever since I first heard of the idea but never got around to it till last year. My wife and I both won last year but I don't think she's going to do it this year as she's got a lot of school work to do with year as well as looking after 2 kids.

By day I'm a mild mannered computer programmer, by night I'm 'Dad'. Hobbies include playing video games, stealing satellite TV, watching movies, cooking, taking my kid to hockey practice, skating (lol), and new this year learning how to play the guitar!

Last year I wrote a mainstream fiction novel, sort of in the vain of Dean Koontz. It turned out pretty well but I would have liked it to be longer (I eeked out something over 51,000 words..). This year I'm not 100% sure what I'm gonna do. It's either going to be post-apocalyptic (nukes or zombies), or a kinda-sorta fantasy (I'm loath to describe it as that however as I really dislike fantasy but there's gonna be elves in it).

Last year I only managed to attend the TGIO party but this year I'm gonna try and make the kick off party and maybe the first write-in. It's hard to get to the events as I live way out past Fort. Sask. (Lamont...woo). I'll be in the chat room off and on however :)

Ahola :-)

My name's Karen aka .d.o.t.s. - and if you ask, yes .d.o.t.s. does stand for something but heck if I know what it is.. it changes on a daily.. sometimes hourly basis. Today it might be Dancing On The Sun... tomorrow it might be Devil's Original Terror Spreader (a personal favorite of my friends for some reason).

This is my first/second/third attempt at NaNo. Really my first two attempts were poorly orchestrated... the first was when I first heard of NaNo on November 15th of that year and tried to play catchup... didn't go so well... the second was last year when I had a fantastic head start... and then life hit me over the head with a baseball bat and knocked any thought of NaNo out.

This year however I'm hell bent to get my 50,000 done... if I get half of that done I'll be happy but I'm pretty sure I can (and will) get the full 50,000. Joining me along the way will hopefully be my husband who isn't nearly as enthusiastic as I am but does have a few novel ideas brewing in his head that with the proper shove could get them out.

Anyways I'm excited to be here and looking forward to NaNoWriMo! This is my first year being in the city where I can actually attend some events so hopefully I'll see some of you around!

Hi To All!

My name is Ali, I'm 27 and this will be my second non-consecutive year of Nano. I first participated in 2006, made it to barely the 20K mark and practically died of exhaustion.....it was the best November ever!

Last year I did not participate but felt the niggling to do so around the end of October so I have been eagerly awaiting this year since last. I can't really spell that well, my grammar and scentance structure is questionable and I express myself so much better verbally than in writing....perhaps speak recognition programs are in order for me?

I never attended any events in '06 due to living in the boonies of the dreaded WEST END. But this year I am right downtown and a stones throw from the library, so I hope to be meeting a lot of you in person! I am trying to get my boyfriend to participate this year and I think I will be successful, either that or he will have to be ok with being alone/ignored for a month.
He fancies himself a writer and tells great , hilarious stories, so I am excited to see what he might bring our in me this year!!

In non-Nano time I manage a tea shop in City Center...please stop by for a tea and do a little writing maybe?
I spend most of my time playing about on the computer, reading and laughing to the brink of urination at all the wonderful, hilarious people I have in my life.

Well, I suppose I should introduce myself for those of you who don't know me. This is my 4th year attempting NaNo, hopefully actually succeeding this year. We'll see, what with schoolwork, homework, job work, and distractions (OMG Mines of Moria expansion and Gundam 00).

As you can see, I'm a raging geek. If you're attending Pure Speculation this year (You should! It's ridiculously awesome and I'm GM'ing an Alternity game!) you'll see me, likely dressed as a Black Mage, although possibly not. Depends on whether I decide I want to hand-sew my costume or not.

Oh, I guess I should throw my name in here at some point, eh?

I'm Chris, mostly known as Aubin, 24, famous for my delicious cookies and oddball sense of humour (although what's oddball to the normal world may not be oddball here...) and possibly somewhat annoying with my ALL. CAPS. IN. CHAT. Just for Sarah. Hehe. Just kidding.

In my OTHER life outside of this crazy endeavor we call NaNo, I'm a Bachelor of Education student at Grant MacEwan, taking some crazy high level English courses and Philosphy and Anthropology for fun. I'm also a pizza delivery driver for Panago and feel like throttling my idiot zombie brother. That is all.

Edit: Also, in my drama class I apparently subscribe to the William. Shatner. School. Of. Over. Acting. Or, at least, I put emphasis on words with pregnant pauses and boisterous delivery.

Hi I'm SK and I've been participating since 2002. And I've never finished, despite my best intentions. I have, however, increased my word count every year so go me!

Okay, looks like it's my turn.

I'm Ambyr. Or Yowie. Or "The Raccoon." I have the belief and conviction that I am a therianthrope in the form of nature's cutest little bandits. :D

Anyway, I'm 26, and this is my second year doing NaNo. I won last year, finishing on the 26th of the month... after abandoning my first novel idea on day three, and starting an entirely new one full of fantasy, romance and adventure. Some even told me that one of my sex scenes was the best they'd ever read... and they were avid Harlequin addicts.

Anyway, I have a three year old boy, and "my" girls, aged four and nine. You'll see Kriggi (one of my two "other half" people... that's right, we're poly) around here possibly when he isn't working at his 8-4.30 job.

I only made it to two events last year, but this year I hope to see you all at more of them, and possibly a few write-ins, depending on the shifts at my job. I work for the Goodwill Industries, the non-profit organization... sorting and shelving books for in-store sales. When I'm not shelving books, chasing after pre-schoolers and making sure my house doesn't fall COMPLETELY apart, you can find me on facebook, nex and chatrooms. I enjoy reading (I've been a book addict since i was three), writing, and hanging around. I love meeting new people, and if I'm at events, I'll be the loud, open, crazy one that seems to not-quite-get it sometimes... I mingle, and I can get confused quite easily at times. Occasionally, I do need to be reminded "INSIDE VOICE!"

I'm also a musician, having played the accordion for as long as I've been reading. I have a tattoo dedicated to my instrument on my right forearm. If I'm wearing long sleeves, ask to see it. ;-)

Oh, you are SO going on the Nag List this year. (SK, that is. Repeat non-winners are my favourite target!)

See, it's a good thing that you tacked on the parentheses... I would have wondered why on EARTH I would be on your Nag List. *heh*

My fingers are itching.... October 31st can't get here fast enough!!!