Welcome back, returning NaNo-ers and Hello! to the newbies. Welcome to the fabulous Iowa: Elsewhere forum! :D :D :D
Are we ready and rarin' to go on another exciting NaNo season?
My name is Cat but you can call me curiosity and this will be my seventh NaNo. This year I plan on writing two novels, one entirely on Nov 1st, and twenty-five thousand words of poetry.
Now if I had something to write -about- I would be set. :P
Who has plans and who wants to take advantage of Barnes & Noble's free wi-fi this year?
56,692 / 50,000
Oct 1, 2009 - 23 22
Hi!
I'm in Lamoni, Iowa. I'm usually all alone here. Anyone close by or in the area, let me know.
More information about me on my My NaNoWriMo page.
Welcome back, everybody!
----------2006 (Won): I Can't See Myself!--SciFi/Fan--Invisibility
2007 (Won): The Amber Pendant--SciFi/Fan--Time Travel Murder Mystery
2008 (Won): The Conspiracy Class--Mainstream/Thriller--Conspiracy
2009 (Pending):Gap Year (Working Title) Suspense-Thriller
10,636 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 19 52
Hello, I'm Courtney.
I'm in Muscatine, and as far as I know, there are only a couple of us actively participating in NanNo, though if there are others, I would LOVE to know. :)
This is my second year participating and I'm already looking forward to it.
I don't plan to use Barnes and Noble's internet, though I do plan to utilitize my college's internet as much as possible. (This is just happens to be my first semester of college as well, so things are going to be a little crazy for me.)
44,000 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 22 36
Wow. Good luck juggling college and NaNo. :D I am not sure how many people are in Muscatine but there are at least er . . . five here in the QC and you aren't -that- far away. :D
----------http://www.goodchatting.com/rooms/nanowrimo.php
29,466 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2009 - 08 22
Hi, I'm Julia!
I'm from Osceola, Iowa and I am so excited for this year's NaNo!
This year I plan on winning this years challenge by writing every minute I can; even at school! Gotta love study halls.
Good luck everybody!
----------NaNoWriMo 2008: Beyond Our Deaths- Ultra fail
NaNoWriMo 2009: Battle for El- Maybe a win? Maybe a fail?
JulNo 2009: Fail
AugNo 2009: WIN! Short Story Published!
8,056 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2009 - 10 26
Hi, I'm Dylan and I'm in Clarinda, IA....I'm thinking of joining Nebraska and Missouri regions too because Omaha and St. Jo are closer than Desmoines or Davenport or other Iowa cities but if there is anyone else on here in SW Iowa that wants to try to meet up, let me know.
97,727 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 15 51
Okay, hanging out in Audubon, probably won't get to Barnes and Noble, but I have done some writing in the Atlantic Library... I never seem to find area writers doing Nano to hang out with, but this year I'll have a LOT more time to write. If you're out in southwestern Iowa, hello! Good luck! I'm addicted, I've been doing this every year since 2003 and have won every year - from just over 50k words to over 100k - while working a full time job. Since I'm now an unemployed journalist, I can't imagine how many words I can get written. Yay, I think.
----------44,000 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 04 47
Yeah, it's harder than heck to scare up a group of WriMos in Iowa. There are about ten in the Quad Cities, total. And yes, that is counting all four cities and the outlying area. I hope you guys find a good bunch of people to write with, if that's your thing.
----------http://www.goodchatting.com/rooms/nanowrimo.php
37,050 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 05 08
If anyone is around Orange City/Sioux Center, there are two of us in OC . . . I think we generally lurk on the Sioux City region forum, but if we can get more than two people in a group I'd be happy to host something at my place . . . cookies and tea and lots of typing away. So I'd love someone to drop me a message if they're around. :)
0 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 10 11
Hello, what have I done? I am glad I have a month to gear up for this! I am very intimidated by the idea of writing a novel in a month, but my previous attempts to write have been too sporadic; maybe this is just what I need. I guess we'll find out!
41,173 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 11 23
Hello! This is my first attempt and I'm excited and freaking out at the same time. I live in Bettendorf, but am more of a Border's gal :-) I've got a full-time job and a 14-month old son. Shouldn't be too hard, right???
What have I gotten myself into?
-Tracy
41,683 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 14 16
hey all,
back for another year of nano-wackiness. wait - this is mega-wackiness, but nano'd ...weird.
in the quad cities, specifically moline. see a friendly name (hi curiosity!) wondering where the other QC nano's out there are? yes Chris this is me "bellowing". :D
looking into places to hold the kick off and TGIO (Thank God It's Over, for those who are new (hi!)) parties. i've narrowed it down to pizza or mexican. what's your vote, __pizza or __mexican? respond soon. will most likely be on the 31st. probably doing an early afternoon get-together again. hopefully we can get some our second shifters to the parties and write-ins this time around. we'll get better at this each year that passes, right teresa? right!???
also looking into various locales for write-in (specifically on the illinois side of the qc. got a few good ideas. looking for some really unconventional types of spaces, not your "typical" coffee-shop noveling around here!
what's everyone writing this year... would love to hear all your great ideas. i love zombies, and am increasingly aware of malfeasances that take place in the pharmacuetical world, so i will be marrying them this year into a horror/suspense/action/allegory - set in a futuristic setting. we'll see, seems kind of like i may run into some kinks! lol
have a great day!
----------JK
2007* - "Thailand Shuffle"
2008 - "The Greatest Gifts"
0 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 15 18
Hi,
----------I've done Nano for several years - or tried anyway. November has always been an incredibly busy month for me I never seem to get to the end of the novel. This year, however, I am determined to make it. I will turn 49 during Nano and I am not going to head toward 50 without finishing.
This will be the first time I join the group for the writing sessions so I am certain that will help.
When I'm not trying to come up with the Great American Novel, I am a ghost writer by trade and have published three books under someone else's name. I guess if I pretend I'm writing the book for a client...
"I write, not because I can, but because I must" Somerset Maughm
97,727 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 19 10
@tmoore2406, terri
You know, in 2003, when I first heard about Nanowrimo, I was excited about the chance to participate in something that would help me write a novel, something I'd always wanted to do, but never had time.
But I remember thinking, there is NO way you can write 50k words in 30 days. And then I remembered that I worked for a newspaper and had to turn in at least two stories a day, meaning I'd be writing something like 3000+ words a day, altogether. And that actually made me feel better. After all, MOST of my time was spent making phone calls, doing interviews, getting photos taken, and the writing part usually only added up to 30-45 minutes. So I found if I had about 2 hours a day to work on Nano, viola! I had enough time to get my daily word quota done.
I just had to sit down, not allow myself to be distracted. It's very do-able. I've done it 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 and 08. All while working full time (45+ hrs a week) One year, I had over 100k words when I submitted my work at the end of the month. This year, I'm an unemployed journalist. That just means I will have that much MORE time! You can do it.
(Just in case you think it's not enough time, ask author Don Harstad, who wrote "Eleven Days." Harstad was a sheriff's deputy who had to take some vacation days, and didn't know what to do, so he wrote a book. In 11 days. It was his first book. You can do it...
@ inspiredcontent
----------And inspired: you have the advantage of seeing your work published. I don't know if you should pretend you're writing it for someone else, this one should definitely be for you. But maybe you can convince yourself you're under deadline... (happy birthday - my 48th falls in the first week of Nano - but then my friends say I'm 3, my inner child needs a time-out...
44,000 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 06 26
Hey crazy! :) How's ya? Dude, my vote is pizza. PIZZA! All Barnes & Nobles have free wifi now, that's something to consider, for write-ins. Ooooooh. I wonder how many locals we have this year.
----------http://www.goodchatting.com/rooms/nanowrimo.php
50,478 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 14 09
I'm back for another go, also a loner, and from a middle of nowhere place in Iowa---Centerville although it's in the very south central part of the state. In the years I've done this, no one else from Centerville or even the county has shown up in the forums. Either shy or not here.
Not sure what genre I'll write in this year but one of my surprise 2008 characters gave me a good idea and I hope to make it work.
----------Oral tradition is like Chinese whispers, so what you end up with probably bears little resemblence to the original tale.
56,692 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 14 26
HI, RutaBaker!
It's me again, from Lamoni.
Nice to hear from you again.
----------2006 (Won): I Can't See Myself!--SciFi/Fan--Invisibility
2007 (Won): The Amber Pendant--SciFi/Fan--Time Travel Murder Mystery
2008 (Won): The Conspiracy Class--Mainstream/Thriller--Conspiracy
2009 (Pending):Gap Year (Working Title) Suspense-Thriller
48,545 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 18 26
I've been... bouncing around the other forums.
I might actually have a title to go with my plot (and that reminds me, I have a plot to drop off in the Adopt A Plot, but later), so woo-hoo.
We do actually get better at this every year. If everything goes according to plan, we might actually have a region for the QC this year. It'll be listed as Davenport, probably. Which is part of the reason I hadn't really popped over here just yet. Chris will be over here after she's recovered from her business trip, I'm sure.
I do need to go over to the library and check on the meeting room idea.
I'm leaning more toward pizza myself. What kind of pizza places do you have in mind?
Anyway, as for what I'm writing this year - I have a science fiction story set in a near-future Earth that loses all its technology. I have two main characters, both male, and a trip through the midwest made out like a wasteland. And that's only the beginning of the story...
(I've had this universe milling about in my head since teh Mina suggested that fairytale challenge, and I needed a place to start with it. This wasn't the start I was planning on, but since I have a museboy that's actually willing to talk to me, I'm equally willing to go with it.)
----------Twitter * Livejournal * Dreamwidth
Exit Dusk
NanoWriMo 2009 (48,545/50,000)
48,545 / 50,000
Oct 7, 2009 - 18 28
Free wi-fi is good. Always good.
The only problem I see is the problem we ran into last year when trying to write there (I think it was last year anyway). What's the outlet situation at B&N these days?
----------Twitter * Livejournal * Dreamwidth
Exit Dusk
NanoWriMo 2009 (48,545/50,000)
1,901 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 11 03
I'm CLOSE, but no cigar... Just over the line into Wayne County, 50 mile round trip to Centerville, 20 miles off the Missouri boarder as a crow flies. Unfortunately, I'm not a crow, so must use roads.
I'm doing a sequel to last year's, which got 80.000 words long, and is still barely the tip of the iceberg.
Last year, I did write a few days in the Centerville library, picking up a local (chatty) man who kept touching the screen of my laptop with his finger. UGH! NOT part of my game plan. The library staff apologized.
----------Blondbomb ~ Participles dangled while you wait.
2002 Mountain Lover
2003 In the Desert
2004 Mountain Fastness
2005 Leanna's Story
2006
2007
2008 Whine, Whinny, and Song
1,901 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 04 36
Adopt a Plot? Guess I need to check out things at the site instead of reading email comments...
On year, someone got stuck on "what surprising thing the grandparents did in the back yard". Fellow NANOers to the rescue -- reading that thread was a real creative hoot! All genres gave tidbits.
Romance: boy meets girl
----------Biblical: boy meets girl in the belly of a large fish (Complication: can't get mouth open when desire to exit)
SF: while there, they do a stomach bypass surgery to remove a tumor (Complication: they're trapped in the removed part and losing their air supply)
Fantasy: they raise their children there
Pirate: It's their hidden camp/where they bury all the treasure (Complication: fish gets sick and vomits out the irritants -- they can't find the hoard)
Wizard/witch: they can make the fish fly in a water bubble (Complication: they lose power over the Sahara or Kalahari)
Mystery: all the wedding guests are waiting, but the bride and groom disappear before the vows are said
Medical: one of them is infected with the latest deadly flu, HAHA, which causes its victims to laugh uproariously without ceasing. Several deaths have been reported as the story starts. (puts a whole new twist on "thought I'd die laughing)
Blondbomb ~ Participles dangled while you wait.
2002 Mountain Lover
2003 In the Desert
2004 Mountain Fastness
2005 Leanna's Story
2006
2007
2008 Whine, Whinny, and Song
41,270 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 06 10
Hey all!
I'm Elle, and I'm from Leon - which is this teensy town way down near the southern border of Iowa. I moved back here from Chicago in January for tl;dr reasons and it's kinda isolated, which is going to make NaNo a lot harder for me than it was last year. So I'd love to have some moral support and even people close by who might want to get together on weekends and blow off steam (via coffee, movies, whatever) after we've met our word counts. I'm also constantly on AIM, so if you'd like to add me on there, PM me and I'll give you my SN.
This year's novel is a steampunk romance called Gentleman Anatomy about a man brought back from the dead, trying to piece together the bits of his life before he died - as the reanimation of his body wiped those memories. It's also Queer Lit, which is almost exclusively what I write.
I'm also going to use this space to pimp out The Outer Alliance - who advocate for queer speculative fiction and those who create, publish and support it, whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity. We're a great group, imo.
So yep, that's it! Feel free to friend me anywhere you'd like. I don't bite... much.
----------50,478 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 14 44
Hey Blondie, good to hear from you again!
----------Oral tradition is like Chinese whispers, so what you end up with probably bears little resemblence to the original tale.
50,478 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 14 52
Gap Year is a British term (OK at least for me), will your story take place or start across the Pond?
----------Oral tradition is like Chinese whispers, so what you end up with probably bears little resemblence to the original tale.
56,692 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 15 16
Takes place in the states.
Basic plot"
FMC has a hit man kill her husband while he's on a weekend fishing trip.
Husband disappears.
One year later: Husband walks in the door, home from the fishing trip as if nothing ever happened out of the ordinary. As far as he knows, he's back from THAT fishing trip on time.
What happened to that missing year, the Gap Year?
Will be posting more about it on my synopsis on my Author Page soon.
----------2006 (Won): I Can't See Myself!--SciFi/Fan--Invisibility
2007 (Won): The Amber Pendant--SciFi/Fan--Time Travel Murder Mystery
2008 (Won): The Conspiracy Class--Mainstream/Thriller--Conspiracy
2009 (Pending):Gap Year (Working Title) Suspense-Thriller
56,692 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 15 22
I'm Elle, and I'm from Leon - which is this teensy town way down near the southern border of Iowa..
I'm from Lamoni. Even smaller town a few miles down I-35, right on the border. (Graceland University town)
You're the closest Nanoer I've found yet.
I have the used bookstore in Lamoni, The Bookworm.
We're practically neighbors.
If you're ever in Lamoni, stop in at my store and say "HI".
----------2006 (Won): I Can't See Myself!--SciFi/Fan--Invisibility
2007 (Won): The Amber Pendant--SciFi/Fan--Time Travel Murder Mystery
2008 (Won): The Conspiracy Class--Mainstream/Thriller--Conspiracy
2009 (Pending):Gap Year (Working Title) Suspense-Thriller
41,270 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 16 50
I'm from Lamoni. Even smaller town a few miles down I-35, right on the border. (Graceland University town)
You're the closest Nanoer I've found yet.
I have the used bookstore in Lamoni, The Bookworm.
We're practically neighbors.
If you're ever in Lamoni, stop in at my store and say "HI".
Oh, I've spent a lot of time in Lamoni and it's definitely not smaller than Leon.
But I'm pretty sure I know where your bookstore is and even if I didn't, I can ask my stepdad who went to college at Graceland and knows where everything in that town is still. I'll see if I have some time to get over there before the start of November.
----------56,692 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 18 40
But I'm pretty sure I know where your bookstore is and even if I didn't, I can ask my stepdad who went to college at Graceland and knows where everything in that town is still. I'll see if I have some time to get over there before the start of November.
I've lived here for several years, since 2001, and Leon is definitely larger than Lamoni. Downtown Lamoni is 1 block long. The official Lamoni border is a 2 mile wide square. One grocery store, one pharmacy, one clinic, no hospital, no courthouse. population about 1500 not counting Graceland students. My daughter's HS graduating class last year was about 25 students. I can walk across Lamoni in about 20 minutes. Lamoni is way smaller.
I've been to Leon a lot of times. Served jury duty there last August.
My bookstore is right across the street from the Coliseum movie theater. The theater faces the east wall of my store.
Hope to see you soon.
----------2006 (Won): I Can't See Myself!--SciFi/Fan--Invisibility
2007 (Won): The Amber Pendant--SciFi/Fan--Time Travel Murder Mystery
2008 (Won): The Conspiracy Class--Mainstream/Thriller--Conspiracy
2009 (Pending):Gap Year (Working Title) Suspense-Thriller
50,478 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 08 02
Oh, a new meaning for 'gap year' for me.
----------In Great Britain, and other parts of Europe, a gap year refers to the year a student takes off usually to travel, or sometimes to work, between finishing secondary school and going on to university.
Oral tradition is like Chinese whispers, so what you end up with probably bears little resemblence to the original tale.
85,101 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 22 47
Hey everyone! I'm from the Ottumwa area, so those of you in Centerville, I know just where you are. Home of the Big Reds, eh? I'm looking forward to NANO. This will be my second year. Last year I hit 80k by the15th and got bored and stopped. So this year I've set a goal for myself to do 150K. We'll see if I can do it or if I'm completely and totally nuts.
----------~Melcia~
Aiming for 150,000 in '09
50,478 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 08 01
Hey Melcia, glad to see you're back again. I am "those of you in Centerville." This will be my fifth go-round and I don't know that anyone from here will be joining me. I usually do a write up on the event in the Iowegian, but so far, it hasn't inspired anyone to participate in NaNo.
----------Wow! Big goals. Hope you do make it.
Oral tradition is like Chinese whispers, so what you end up with probably bears little resemblence to the original tale.