Roll call!

I've already introduced myself to you, but here we go, for anyone else who's interested!

I'm Meika, 26, originally from Flint, but I made my way to Lansing a couple years ago. I've got a couple years of college under my belt, but no degree thus far. I do have every intention of going back to school, though. I love music, writing, reading, my amazing fiancee and family, my dog (most of the time...he did just eat 3 candy bars while we were gone) and 2 out of our 4 cats haha. This is my first NaNo. I've had a humongous case of writer's block for the last year or so and writing kind of lost its sparkle. I'm hoping NaNo will put the fun back into writing for me, because God knows I miss it! I don't really have a totem of any kind, unless you count the giant banana nut bread scented candle I light when I write because I read somewhere that yellow promotes creativity (am I crazy? Who knows?). I wish I knew someone around here that was as interested in writing as I am, so that I could strong-arm them into doing NaNo with me, but there is no one. So I'm gonna tough it out on my own :) Let's see...snacks of choice are Twizzlers and plain M&Ms. My story is a wacky, hopefully funny romance about a woman on the verge of 30 who can't wait to start a family, so she does it on her own...then freaks out.

That's me in a nutshell! Can't wait to get started!

Meika

I'm Maureen, 62, and not much of a writer, though I did manage to knock out 50,012 words last November when I was staying with my daughter, her husband, and 3 little grandsons under 5 in Mobile, Alabama. It was wonderful not having to shovel snow and deal with how the cold makes my bones ache, but my daughter and I started getting on each other's nerves after 5 months. So here I am back in Lansing and not looking forward to the Michigan winter! I haven't done anything with last year's "novel", yet. Other things have gotten in the way - work, life, procrastination. . . Y'all know how that goes.
I am an artist and potter, but I haven't done much of that either because I had to get a "real job" as my daughter puts it. In this depressed economy, art isn't selling very well. I haven't done much writing either lately, an occasional poem and thoughts to myself, and the thought of 50,000 words to me right now is a bit daunting to say the least. I would like to try again, however, though I'm terrified I won't make it. (I hate to start anything and not finish.) I've been studying the "craft" feverishly since my so-called novel last year showed what a lousy storyteller I am, so maybe I will do a little better this year. I never thought to use a specific "writing snack," and I'm going to try the candle thing. (Thanks, Meika) Maybe it will jump start my muse.
My story will be about a woman who has floated on the currents of chance, afraid to make decisions because every one she made seemed to turn out a disaster, and her search for love. I hope she and I will make it through November - I'm starting to tremble at the thought already.

Good day to you all. I'm Paul, 26 years old, and this will be my 6th year, if I count correctly. I finally won last year, due in no small part due to a word war with my friend yakineko-oni, who passed the finish line right with me. Many of you returning who were part of the write-ins last year may remember me -- I was one of the very few who wrote-in long-hand, due to having no laptop. As I will be doing once again this year. Fear my mighty pen, and my sore writing fingers!

I'm a video gamer, avid reader, and once every few months I actually sit down and watch...er...TV is the word for that box where you sit and do nothing while stuff happens, right? Yeah, that.

I have no particular totems, snacks, or other various miscellany that I feel aids me overmuch. I believe far too much in the chaos of things to believe in such orderly things. *chuckles*

I'm CJ. This is my sixth nano. I won in 2004 and then in 2007 and 2008. I'm still somewhat torn on what to write. I could write something in the same setting I used for all three times I've won. But I want to try something different. Something with a Steampunk angle. But that will take more planning and prep. And the one time I tried to do organized planning and prep beforehand, I wound up hating the characters, losing touch with the story and crashing and burning. Bleh.

I'm a grad student in Linguistics. I love science fiction, fantasy and bits and pieces of just about anything else. I frequently "suffer" from a serious case of catinthelap, though I can usually negotiate enough to type. I don't have any specific foods or totems or rituals for writing. I'm a chocoholic, but I wouldn't count that as a writing food because I go for the chocolate any time!

I show up to the write-ins at Gone Wired fairly regularly. It's such a long hike from my house. (About a block and a half!)

Hi! I'm Juliana (or Kin, if you want). Whatever works. I'm a student at MSU. I'm feeling too lazy right now to think about exactly how many years I've done NaNo, but this would probably my third or fourth year -- except that I am not, in fact, doing NaNo this year. However, I will still be showing up to the write-ins at Gone Wired.

Also, I like coffee.

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
--Anton Chekhov

Hi! I'm Heather, and I attend LCC full time. This is my third year participating in NaNo, and hopefully I'll actually FINISH the novel this year! Someone suggested an Outline. . . but I tend to get side-tracked so often! And so easily... Maybe that's why I've yet to finish a novel.

Any ideas on meet-ups yet? I know it's really early to start thinking about such things, but I'm excited! And I need social interaction!

"Also, I have just remembered that I must see to my knitting. If it escapes, I'll have a devil of a time finding it again." -Some random un-named character in the Girl Genius webcomic

Shadowfirekitty- we're currently meeting on Thursdays at Gone Wired on Michigan Ave, and will likely continue this through November. :)

-Anne

Hello, I'm Anne one of your friendly neighborhood co-MLs. :) (okay, mostly friendly. ;) )

I'm 34, and this is my sixth NaNo (3rd as ML), and hopefully fourth win. My writing tends to be fantasy based, urban or otherwordly. I live in Haslett with my husband, our two cats and their dog. As you may have guess from my user name, I'm quite fond of cats. *grins*

I find that having a specific spot, or food, or whatever, for writing to be rather limiting. For me, if I determine that I need things to be just so, than it really only gives me an excuse not to get any writing done. The thought I try the hardest to keep in mind is "Get it down, just get the words out, it can always be edited later." It helps to keep me from agonizing over getting the wording perfect. :)

I'm hoping to see many of you during our write ins- as I posted we're currently meeting at Gone Wired on Michigan Ave, at 7pm, and we should be in the backroom there. Of course, I say that but I won't actually be there next week. There should be others from the group there though. We will be having some sort of kick off event, though details for that aren't finalized yet. As soon as they are- we'll let you know.

-Anne
co-ML

I'm Sarah and I'm a Freshman and MSU and I'm a Computer Science Major. I like reading, writing, piano, computers, and movies. This will be my 4th Nano, and hopefully my second win. I normally write "Fantasy" just without the magic and elves and what not. Basically it has almost no right to call itself fantasy. This year I'm just going to write fiction and I'm going to completely drop my fantasy element, what ever it was.

I"m going to try to make it to some meet ups but I'm unsure of how that will go. I hate riding the bus and I do have a lot of school work (which will come first since I"m paying a pretty penny for it).

Hello All! My name is Mitch and I'm from Lansing. Earlier this year I decided to kick myself in the pants with some writing motivation and that's when I discovered the Office of Letters and Light family of writing challenges (or whatever NaNo is). So far I've had an utterly unsuccessful NaNoEdMo and a completely successful Script Frenzy, so now I want to try a WriMo and see if I can add another success to my year.

I'm pretty good at writing short form pieces but I have only ever finished one novel length project, and it's a complete mess. I have some ideas for what I'm going to write for WriMo but right now I'm having trouble getting excited about any of them.

I don't have any writing snacks because I can't concentrate on writing when there are snacks nearby. What I usually do is put on my headphones with a good hard rock or heavy metal album and just completely tune out the world so I can concentrate on writing.

Hey all,

I'm Steevie and I'm a 2nd year grad assistant athletic trainer @ MSU. My life is consumed by sports, which makes writing fiction (as I intend to do) an interesting contrast for me in a world of objective scores and in a profession where science, logic, and evidence are paramount.

Guess I've signed up for NaNoWriMo for a few reasons. First, I have a fortune from a fortune cookie I got when I was like 7 that says "someday, you will write a book." Who knows why I kept it, but the idea facinates me. Second, I have an idea for a novel about an athletic training student who works with a soccer team and gets involved with one of her athletes, which is pretty much totally forbidden in my profession, so there's much inner guilt and conflict mixed through her desire to exhibit competancy in sports medicine. All the while, she's in the middle of the team's challenges and successes. So there's like 3 different plots all woven into one. Stupidly ambitious for a first time writer, I think, though with all that to discuss I doubt I'll have a problem filling 50,000 words. We'll see.

Lastly, with my life being so busy, I fear I'll never write this novel, so I figured some sort of accountability (joining NaNoWriMo) combined with my fear/hatred of failure might just make this thing happen. I am still afraid, through the ongoing volleyball and cross country seasons and with basketball starting, AND through my work on my master's thesis, that I still won't have time to hit the 50,000 word mark. And I have no concept of just how much 50,000 words are.... though I just looked at the 82 double spaced pages of my 1/2 completed thesis and saw 17,000 words so I'm beginning to grasp the idea... daunting! Guess we'll see how it goes.

Since I've never really written this before, can't say I have many preferences like snacks and such. I do find that late night is when I function the best, both creatively and analytically, which means come November I will probably be very sleep deprived if I'm gonna make this thing happen. Most importantly though, this is something outside of athletic training and school that I feel like I will enjoy doing, which will help to combat and relieve any usual stress or boredom that comes along with everday life.

Hope to have some great discussions with you all in the future!

*Some people run marathons, and I am no different, except that the mental challenge of pushing myself to the limit is heard through the clicking of fingers on a keyboard instead of the patter of shoes on pavement.*

Random things we have in common:
Krjstin: I too love all things MSU. Go State!
Cyanosissaur: I was an athletic trainer in high school.
CelticxConnections: I also write fantasy but without the magic and elves and whatnot.
TheJadeCat: I also have two cats.
shadowfirekitty: I attended LCC full time for 2 (many) years.
Kin: I do not like coffee, but I do know the owners of Gone Wired Cafe!
cjtremlett: I also "suffer" from catinthelap. How do they know when it's time to write?
reynai: I too am a gamer. Currently playing HALO 3:ODST.
morpots: Shoveling snow makes my bones ache too and I try not to do it but the city always sends me little notes...
just-m: I never got a degree either. Don't worry, it's not so bad.

Hello all! This A_Rachelle your other friendly ML reporting ; ) Sorry I haven't been on before now, guys. I'm afraid I'm having a bit of computing trouble. I am SO excited that November is less than a month away!

A little info on me - this is my 4th year of Nanoing and 3rd as an ML (crazy, isn't it?). In my 'real' life I am a professional Boy Scout and attempt to make it to as many write-ins as possible in spite of my job's many night meetings. You'll see me a lot more online. I may start up a write-in in Owosso as well this year if there are any other Owossonians who would be interested.

As to my story this year I'm thinking maybe I'll go back and write the one that I meant to last year ( since it got hijacked) which would fall into the fantasy realm in terms of it's own world and type of magic. I'm a night writer (when my laptop is working) and don't think I really have a snack of choice. I don't do outlines because they never survive the first week but I do do inspiration boards and an iTunes playlist for writing to.

Well, I'm going to go start a thread about our kick-off, then drool over the new merch (which is really cool if you haven't checked it out yet). May the plot fairies bless you all abundantly!

Hi everybody,

My name is Jon and this will be my second NaNo. Last year I wound up doing a YA fantasy; I have no idea yet what this year's novel will be.

Greets!

I'm Jaym (rhymes with "Jane"), and I have one NaNoWriMo effort- and win- under my belt from last year, which is sitting torn up in half on my laptop until I can fix the moronic errors I made writing it! That was a trilogy idea, combo no-magic, no-elves fantasy/real world. I will be finishing that trilogy, it's got a great concept.

This year I'm doing Sci-Fi with some unique touches that buck established character stereotypes, combined with heavy religious and political conflict.

I have 3 cats, love everything creative, particularly writing. I'm a former virtual reality developer, currently (eternally?) unemployed. My totem is Starbucks- I can't write where I'm living, it's just not my "space" and I can't focus, so during November I live at Starbucks all day long. Well... I live (not work) at Starbucks for hours right now each day, so it's not much of a change. =P

I'm 37, single, never married (to my dismay!), and no kids (again, not happy about!) other than my 3 cats, Pandemonium, Hysteria and Bowyn. I'm an MSU grad of '94. I've been dating Kaley Cuoco from "The Big Bang Theory". Oh... shoot, I forgot, that was just a dream. /sigh Stupid reality. =P

I have anxiety disorder that makes it hard to guarantee I can socialize, but so long as it cooperates I should be at as many write-ins as possibile- it was fun last year!

Happy outlining or anticipating November 1st!

The Druids enforce galactic peace. But can they save the galaxy from oblivion when someone destroys another dimension: the Afterlife?

And chickens. How could you forget chickens?

I'm a 2008 MSU grad, now going to school at CMU, but somehow missed that whole "get a graduate degree after getting an undergraduate degree" thing and am doing a second undergrad in a completely unrelated field.

This will be my third NaNo, I won last year, but intend to win this year with less "suddenly, porn" and more "Suddenly, plot!"

Much of my writing time is spent over with the FMWriters.com folks now that it is more difficult to make it over to Gone Wired for writing. However, I'll be making it down for some of the write-ins.

I tend to write fantasy, and have been dabbling with a darker tone to the writing. Currently I'm fascinated by how words go from looking like words, to seemingly being misspelled to all of a sudden appearing to be gibberish because you've thought about the word too much.

I'm looking at you, "sudden."

Hi everyone, my name is Sarah and this is my third year Nanoing (and hopefully my third win!).

I'm a freshly married, 30 year old Lansing resident who spends her days working with animals and daydreaming. I love going to write-ins though I always need to remember my good headphones since I have difficulties focusing when (potentially) interesting things are going on around me. I am capable of talking your ear off too, so headphones remind me to let other people focus as well.

This year I'm working the fantasy/romance set in a dystopia steampunk future. We'll see how it rolls along. I'm also trying the snowflake method of outlining this time around - even though I "won" the last 2 years, I find flying by the seat of my pants doesn't lend itself to my actually finishing my "novel". I also intend to write a chapter each day, with day 30 being the last chapter of the novel so that, even if I have a ton to fill in in the middle, at least I know where I ended up!

More than anything else, I need a good iTunes playlist to write. I prefer to listen to depressing/slow/mournful stuff when I write - too much excitement and I can't concentrate. I also love having a big cup of tea or bottle of Diet Dr Pepper by my side. I write well in 20 minute bursts or so and I really, really love word wars :D

I'm looking forward to meeting/writing with everyone!

You're right. The chickens are very important. Almost as much so as seeing you at least a couple of times this November even if you have changed schools or taken a short term vow of NaNo abstinence (though you know that you're putting yourself in the path of temptation visiting us, Juliana - No, no forget I mentioned that). I just thought it fair to warn you that if you somehow don't manage to make those appearances I may have to conspire with the others to call a hunt and track you down in our free ti... what is that? No mocking laughter now. I mean it.

Really, I can't express how excited I am seeing everyone starting to pop-up, both new and familiar faces. Hmmm, that doesn't bode well for my adjective use this November.

PS Sarah, I can't decide if in the happenstance that you forgot your headphones it would be better to give in and sit near you or attempt to spend more time writing by sitting at the opposite end of the table and end up discussing across the length of it the daft behavior of heroines in romance novels (or some such thing) as that is what would most likely happen ; )

Well, if there are meetings Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays those are the days I have blocks of free time ranging into half days.

'ello, all!

I'm Rain and this is my first year of doing NaNo. I watched a group of friends do it last year, however, so I'm rather acquainted with the mood swings, hyper-activity and angst associated with churning out a 50K word novel in one month.

Hm...I'm terrible at describing myself, but, here's a brief summary: I grew up with artistic parents, so I've been drawing since I could maneuver a pencil; they were also very literary, so I never lacked reading material. I began writing when I was about 8, I think. And I haven't stopped since then. I'm homeschooled and planning on graduating in less than two years. 'Sides that, I'm pretty much your average writing, overly-emotional, procrastinating teenager. =D

I hope to attend at least one write-in at Gone Wired. =)

Hi, everyone!

I'm Monica, I'm 23 and this will be my "first" Nano. Last year I started, and was on track for two days before ending up in the hospital for a week. (Yes, your calculations are correct. I was unconscious in a hospital bed on Election Day! Luckily, I had already voted absentee.) When I finally got back home I was more than 11,000 words behind and ended up giving up on the project. This year I plan to stick with it!

I work as an assistant to a YA author. I have my BA in Theatrical Design & Production. I've done some coursework at Brandeis University for my MFA, but I've decided not to continue my education there. I'm looking at grad programs at MSU, thinking about starting next fall. For now, though, I have a lot of free time on my hands. And THAT is why I'm attempting Nanowrimo!

I'm excited to start writing and meeting all of you at the write-ins!
-Monica

Hello all,

My name is Marcus and I have no idea why I am going to try to do this again. lol. I Attempted last year and fell harmlessly short of the mark, just enough to work my ass off (so I thought) and wonder why I would put myself through such things again. Oh well. I loved the write ins that I was able to make. There was something magnetic about the radiating creative energy that was pulsating on keyboards and pencil scratches. My favorite was the writing contests in 15 mins. There were some people that were flat out amazing, writing more than 750-900 words in 15 mins!

Anyway, I am a bit scared to do it this year because I work in downtown development during the day, have a 5 year old, a 4 month old, coach a middle school speech & debate team and am committed to working out 5 days a week. I also have absolutely no idea what I am going to write about either. But I am a creative soul and have been neglecting my creativity and this is the perfect task to push me through it. I cant wait to make the write ins and wish everyone good luck!

Hey Marcus,

You didn't do or plan on doing NaNo back in 2007, too, did you? I think I remember a Marcus who showed up at a coffee shop NaNo meeting (not Biggby's, not Starbucks, definitely not Gone Wired) back either at the end of October or the beginning of November.

(Or maybe it was last year and I remember you from last year...)

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
--Anton Chekhov

Hi. I'm Malea. This is my first NaNo.

Um, I have four cats, a big old drafty house in Mason, and I work at MSU.

I'll probably to drop in to some of the Thursdays @ GW and share the lunacy of trying to do this much writing in such a short space of time!

Malea

M. PearlDawn

Howdy there! My name is Elizabeth, but pretty much everyone calls me Eliza or Liz (note, it is E-liza, not Liza! Very crucial.) This is my second "official" year doing NaNo, and still probably won't be my first win in the traditional sense. I'm a full-time graduate student at MSU and I also work 35 hours a week, so free time is pretty much a myth to me - like unicorns and attractive mullets. So instead of the 50k goal, mine is 30k. Last year I reached that fairly easily, mayhaps I'll up the ante to 40k this time?

I did a lot of stalking around here last year, but was too much of a chicken to join you guys. I had just moved to the Lansing area a couple months prior from NY and was still trying to get to know the area. Now that I've lived here for a year, I feel more courageous and hope to join you guys a at the cafe for the write-ins!

Let's see... is there anything else... hmm... Well, I'm left-handed, I'm a NaNo birthday (I'll be 23 this year!), I usually write shorter stories that verge on the ridiculous, my favorite writing snack is gummi worms, coffee and beer, and I always must, must, must, must be listening to music when I write. I'm not sure what I'm going to write this November, I've been toying with two different stories/outline and I'm not sure which to go with. One is more of my typical, somewhat-comedic-yet-thoroughly-lame-story, and another is a darker-almost-morbid-fantasy. Two days ago I had the brilliant idea of combining the two into one story, but that may be a tough stretch and mess with my (little, remaining) sanity. As for previous years, last year it was a fantasy/adventure story (that I've pretty much preformed plastic surgery on multiple times throughout the year, so now it is to the point that it does not resemble anything close to what it started out as) and before that, general cheesy fantasy stuff.

I guess that's fairly long introduction! Hopefully I'll get to know you guys better as November rolls on through!

Juliana- maybe you're thinking of the Chap Book Cafe?

I really look forward to meeting many of you during write-ins come November! Where else can you find so many who understand the trials and troubles of a NaNoWriMoer? And you can spoil yourself with a yummy treat (mmm, cheesecake!) when celebrating or drowning your word count sorrows?

-Anne

Hello, NaNoWriMo friends! I'm very excited to be writing for my first official NaNoWriMo. A friend told me about this network several months ago, and we did a successful practice run in March. Yay, we won! Now I'm fired up to go again, in fellowship with a TON of other writers. I feel like I'm joining a huge, quirky secret society or something. Can't wait to meet some of you!

My favorite writing snacks are the classic stand-bys, chocolate and coffee. And my favorite place to write is Gone Wired--how fortuitous! I used to live practically next door, but I still live close enough to hang out there sometimes.

What else about me? I'm a 26-year-old graduate school dropout working as a Unitarian Universalist church secretary and social justice community organizer. My life plan was to become a school psychologist, but I became so frustrated with the field of education that I quit the program and opted to be poor -ish and work for two nonprofits that I can believe in. (You know, just until I publish a novel that gets made into a movie and I become a billionaire, of course.) In college, I also broke up with my PhD ivy leage boyfriend of three years and hooked up with the "bad boy" I had been secretly in love with for the past eight years... (make that eleven now...) and we got married in an absurd UU/Buddhist/Pablo Neruda ceremony and are in the process of living happily ever after. We bought a house on sale in Lansing's recession and began fulfilling our rural fantasies by vegetable gardening and installing an old farmers' woodstove to heat our entire house and cook tandoori Indian food. I have a unique view on the concept of "success" and a fascination with risk taking and chaos, which influences my writing. For more of my random thoughts, I keep a blog at www.magicnutshell.blogspot.com.

Next month I plan to write a fantasy romance based on Grimm's fairy tales. This is not a new concept, but it's new for me. I usually write creative nonfiction or realistic fiction.

I can't wait to get started! :)

www.magicnutshell.blogspot.com

Hey all, I'm Kathryn. 3rd year doing NaNo, but I normally drop out by the end of the first week. >.< Third time's the charm, though, right? I'm 20 years old, attending LCC and I like fantasy and sci fi. And since I have difficulty world-building, I generally write fanfiction rather than original. Everyone's got to start somewhere, right?

I saw someone say that Wrimos were meeting at Gone Wired on Thursdays? What time? It'd be cool to actually MEET fellow Wrimos for once. :D

There's definitely a trend of 'fantasy/sci fi' writers around here. ;)

I have found that attending write-ins really does help to keep me going long enough to cross the finish line. So yes, please do attend them! (oh, and for the record- third time WAS the charm for me.)

For those who want an early 'get to know you' start, we are meeting at Gone Wired on Thursdays at 7pm, and will be there tonight as a matter of fact. Right now we're more 'pretend to write and end up gabbing' club, but only because November is so close... really. ;) Look for us to be in the back room near the kitchen area.

-Anne

I'm done with midterms so I will mosey my way on down. Probably do some writing, might do some mailling.