[STICKY] The Lantern Battery -Mass ML Emails, Write In Info and all that other Official Crap-

ML Mass Email #0 - September 21st, 2009

***Points covered: Rules, MLs, and Social Networking***

Titled: We're Back in Business! A Short Primer to NaNo 2009

Good Evening to you, my awesome Wrimos!

I'm sure you all weren't expecting to see me again so soon, eh? We've arrived at that awesome time of year again, NaNo Planning Season! If any of you receiving this are new Wrimos to the Springfield area, don't worry! I'll cover a LOT more information in my next email. This email is just here to remind you all that NaNo is coming within the next month, and that we have a lot planned for this year!

And yes, I just said "we". That's actually the first part of my email:

You're all going to be getting a double dose of Kick-In-The-Pants MLing! And who better to help out as my *OFFICIAL* Co-ML than our own fabulous original ML? That's right: Gayle will be returning this year!! (*Cheers and applause*) It recently came to my attention that--with work and school going full time this year--I'd need a co-ML to help share the responsibilities with. Gayle was more than happy to oblige! We're both going to try to be around as much as possible at events this year; if something happens to come up though, this will be an easy system to fall back on. Basically, there should be an ML at every event scheduled for November, so if you have questions - one of us will be there to answer!

Secondly: Rules!

Due to a very minor issue Robert had last year, we both sat down and drew up a small list of rules for this year's NaNo. Nothing major, just some things to remember. Robert's additional comments are in parentheses.

1. For yours and everyone's sake, please be civil to one another.
(I cannot stress this enough. A happy writers group is a productive one!)

2. If you have an issue, please go to the MLs immediately.
(Have a problem? A concern you need to talk about? People making you feel uncomfortable? PLEASE come talk to us. We can't do anything unless you guys tell us. We won't name names or create tension, but we have to know about problems in order to be able to handle the situation in an appropriate manner.)

3. This ain't your momma's house: clean up after yourselves.
("Bless This Mess" doesn't apply with this group. We are going to be meeting at a lot of places, it is kind and courteous to pick up your trash. Please do so!)

4. Wear your grown-up pants.
(Basically, if something happens that bothers you, please be an adult about it and bring it to the appropriate person's attention. There is a small chain of command here. First, talk to the person who said or did whatever bothered you. Misunderstandings happen and these things are easily remedied. If the person refuses to acknowledge the issue or takes no steps to resolve it, then come to one or both of the MLs and we will talk to said person. If nothing changes after that, come back to the MLs and we will take care of the situation via HQ/the OLL.)

5. Privacy, Privacy, Privacy.
(To modify the Vegas cliche: What is said at Write Ins stays at Write Ins. Wrimos tend to feel very comfortable and open in the atmosphere of NaNo and will tend to share things that might be sensitive or private information about themselves, their life, their novel, etc. Please respect that privacy and don't share any potentially sensitive information outside of those meetings. We thank you for it.)

Third thing to cover:

The NaNoWriMo forums will be locking down sometime before the beginning of October for a mass relaunch of the site. It will probably go down sometime this next week and be back up on October 1st (if we're really lucky and the server doesn't crash.) All the old posts in the forums will be deleted, so archive anything you want now! Once the board's been wiped, that's it!

Our regional lounge is located here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/228

*No new threads for 09 have been posted yet. we'll get around to making all of those when the site relaunches.

Final thing to cover:

Social networking! With the age of Twitter and all those other sites out and about, your two MLs decided to hit the ground running this year and get a couple of things started in these areas, in case you're an information junkie (like us) and check your social sites every five minutes (like Robert.)

So outside of the actual NaNo forums and our usual mass emails (like this one), we've got a couple other ways to keep track of any pertinent information.

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/wrisynsgfmo

OFFICIAL BLOG: http://wrisynsgfmo.wordpress.com/

The blog is currently updated with Write In and Meet Up information (there are quite a few TBAs floating around there, but they'll be worked out soon!) The Twitter has yet to be updated because none of you are following it yet!

We also have a Flickr account set up for this year. HQ has asked for pictures of Wrimos at events, write ins, and other fun gatherings. So you'll probably see one of the MLs around with a camera this year. If you don't want photos of you to be taken or published, just let us know and we'll remember to keep you out of any we do happen to get.

Oh, also, there is a THEME to our NaNo this year. But it's currently a secret! We'll unveil it as we get closer to November, but both of us are sure you'll all enjoy the idea!

That's all we have for right now, we'll be back with another (more official and informative) email once the site relaunches! Until then, take care and remember that we're almost at the starting line again! Get those plots (and non-plots) ready for a wild ride!

Your Two Caffeine Riddled Municipal Liaisons,

Robert & Gayle

2005 Novel: The Mists of Centarium
2006 Winning Novel: Dancing Into The Night
2007 Winning Novel: PARALLAX
2008 Winning Novel: Keys in the Lock
NaNo 2009 Project: FUSiONFaLL

Mass ML Email #1 - October 7th, 2009

***Points covered - Site Relaunch, Donations, Regional Lounge, Informational Meet Up***

Titled: Welcome to NaNoWriMo 2009 - Springfield Edition

Hello out there to all you awesome Wrimos of the WriSynSGFMo (Writers Syndicate of Springfield, Missouri).

My name is Robert and I am one of your two Municipal Liaisons for NaNoWriMo '09. I have a couple things to go over in this email with you, so I'll get them over with quickly (especially since, at the time of writing this, I'm due to be at work in 45 minutes!)

First, the NaNoWriMo Official Site (http://www.nanowrimo.org) is back online! The relaunch went completely successfuly, but the email function was broken for a couple of days, so I had to wait to send this out. Come back to the site, sign in and get all your information set up for the '09 season of novelling.

Be sure to stop by our regional lounge (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/228) and introduce yourself in our Introductions Thread. It's a great way to get to know your fellow Wrimos from in and around the Queen City metro. We love to see new and old faces alike. Swing by and say hey, we promise we don't bite!

Second, as many of you know, NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization. That means they make no money off NaNo whatsoever. You won't see ads or anything of the sort around the NaNo page. Because of this, they rely soly on the generous donations from the Wrimos themselves. All the neat little halos you see floating around on the boards are given to people who donate at least $10 to NaNo, and you get other awesome goodies if you're able to donate more.

Their donation station is located here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/

There are even ways to donate if you're broke, and they're listed on the Donation Station page as well. Please, contribute whatever you can to NaNoWriMo if possible. Without them, we wouldn't be here! You're certainly not required to donate, NaNo is and will always be 100% free. If you're able to though, it's incredibly appreciated by all of the hardworking staff at the Office of Letters and Light (aka HQ).

Third, we have our first WriSynSGFMo 2009 get together planned and coming up soon! It will be an informational meeting to give everyone a quick overview of NaNoWriMo, and what your two MLs have been planning for this season. Here's all the information you need for it, we'd love to see as many of you there as possible:

What: WriSynSGFMo Informational Meet Up and Brouhaha
Where: Panera Bread Co. on National and Elm (Address for you Google Mappers: 500 S. National Ave. Springfield, MO 65802)
Time: 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM
What to Bring: A notebook, a pencil or pen, and your creativity.
Parking: There is a parking lot located behind the Panera building. You can get to it from either Elm St. or from National Ave.

We'll be in the meeting room at this particular Panera location, which will be located on the far north side of the building. There should be a sign up that says "WriSynSGFMo Meeting Here!" or something to that effect. Drop by, have a drink or two and chat it up with your fellow Wrimos. It's always good to meet new people and have a good time. It'll be tons of fun, and there will be lots of laughing and silliness.

So that's the first meeting of the year. It's two and a half weeks out from today, which should give any of you plenty of time to ask for time off from work, if you want to. Our first official Write In will take place on October 31st, right as the clock turns over to Nov 1st at midnight. All the information for meet ups will be located in our snazzy looking header at the Regional Lounge or on the official WriSynSGFMo blog: http://wrisynsgfmo.wordpress.com/

That's all I have for now. Have a great couple weeks and Gayle and I will see you all (hopefully) on Oct. 24th!

Your Caffiene Riddled Municipal Liaisons,

Robert & Gayle

P.S. - Follow us on Twitter! twitter.com/wrisynsgfmo

2005 Novel: The Mists of Centarium
2006 Winning Novel: Dancing Into The Night
2007 Winning Novel: PARALLAX
2008 Winning Novel: Keys in the Lock
NaNo 2009 Project: FUSiONFaLL

Mass ML Email #2 - October 29th, 2009

Points covered: Reminder about donations, novels without plots, First Minute Write-In

Fellow Wrimos and caffeine addicts,

We're closing in on the starting line for NaNoWriMo 2009. We can't believe how quickly it seemed to sneak up on us this year! If any of you are freaking out over not having a plot, characters, or any sort of idea what novel to write: don't worry about it! That's half of NaNo-season; you'll waffle between different plotlines, or you might just not come up with one at all until partway through the month. That doesn't mean you can't sit down and start writing!

NaNo-novels without a plot are almost like a rite of passage amongst the Wrimo Syndicate. It happens to everyone at least once.

Note from Robert: I went into this last year with no possible idea what I was going to write until the day BEFORE NaNo started. And guess what, I still crossed the finish line by the end of the month, and probably wrote one of my best novels that year. So don't freak out if your mind is still blank on what you're going to write. It'll come to you eventually!

As always, there's still tons of information and possible idea dredging in the Regional Lounge (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/228), come by and visit us. Also, the entire events calendar is set up in the header of Regional Lounge, so if you need any information on when the upcoming write-ins are going to be: you'll find it all there.

Speaking of Write-Ins! We have our first official write-in coming up this Saturday night! Information for you all:

Event: WriSynSGFMo Halloween Party & First Minute KickOff
Time: 9:00 PM - ???? (We'll go until everyone decides to leave)
Place: The Down Under (Located in the Findlay Student Center on Drury Campus)
Address: Drury Ln, Springfield, Missouri 65802 (It doesn't have an actually street address. But the FSC is at the end of Drury Ln, on the right side of the cul-de-sac/turn around. The Down Under is located under the FSC, take the stairs down below the main entrance)
What to Bring: Your novelling stuff! Be that pen-and-paper, a laptop or whatever! Also, if you can, please bring some form of snack food (chips, cookies, etc) or cold beverage (such as soda). This isn't required, but it'd be fun for the party aspect
RSVP: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3287349

You're not REQUIRED to RSVP to the write-ins, we should have more than enough room, but RSVPing with what snack/drink items you'll be bringing (if any) will keep us from doubling up on stuff. Also, feel free to come in costume! It is a Halloween party, so that'll add to the fun.

*NaNo member and Drury student Jayke also said he'll be bringing pre-NaNo entertainment in the form of Rock Band and Robert says he will be bringing a copy of DJ Hero.

As always, NaNoWriMo runs solely on donations and we'd love if you could spare some extra $ and help them out! They'd have a really hard time running things without all the generous support they get from you Wrimos! There are multiple options to help out. First, you can always make a direct donation to the Office of Letters & Light (https://store.lettersandlight.org/) A $10 donation gets you a nifty little halo over your username, so that you can proudly display "Hey, I helped out!". You can also buy official NaNoWriMo merchandise from the NaNoWriMo store! (https://store.lettersandlight.org/merchandise) Sure, you don't get the nifty halo, but you can get other cool things, like shirts or even hoodies (yes, the store has hoodies in stock this year!)

And if you'd love to be able to donate but worry that you just can't afford to do it, then there's a solution for that too (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/donatingwhenbroke). Whatever you can help with, the OLL and the rest of the NaNoWriMo crew will really appreciate it! We've already had $75.00 donated to NaNo from our region (Thank you guys so much!) but let's see if we can't really impress them and get some more!

That's really all we have for you all today, we hope you're all ready for a wild ride this November!

Your Caffeine Riddled MLs,

Robert & Gayle

2005 Novel: The Mists of Centarium
2006 Winning Novel: Dancing Into The Night
2007 Winning Novel: PARALLAX
2008 Winning Novel: Keys in the Lock
NaNo 2009 Project: FUSiONFaLL

Mass E-mail for November 5

***Points covered: Word counts, weekend write-ins, and virtual write-ins***

Good afternoon, Poozers!

Your co-ML Gayle here! I've distracted Robert with shiny things, and I've taken over the mass e-mail for the day. [insert evil laugh]

Before we get to the plans for this weekend's write-ins, I have to say something very, very important. Pay attention:

You lot are freakin' AWESOME.

AWESOME.

Do you know what you've done this week? Do you? You've written over half a million words. Let me say that again:

You've written over HALF A MILLION words.

And it's not even the end of week one. We're averaging over 5,000 words a WriMo, and we're in the top 150 regions in the world (#143). If you need a good example of awesome, look in the mirror. It's you.

At the informational meetings, Robert and I talked about making this whole year Green Lantern themed [hence calling you 'Poozers'--it's a term of endearment from the GL Drill Sargent]. We told you week one was all about will power. You've got to dig in your heels and refuse to move an inch when your novel fights back, and everyone's been pushing their willpower to the test (and doing great!). To give your willpower one last work out for the week, we've got write-ins set up all weekend!

Please pay special attention to the Friday night write-in. It's going to be a little different:

Friday night (November 6):
Where: Borders on South Glenstone, table in the back
When: 6:00 PM-10:30 PM

Special Notes: We aren't sure about the outlet situation at Borders and certainly don't want to cause a hazard to other people at the store. Tripping over our own tangle of cords is a NaNo past time, but letting other people trip over them is a lawsuit. To that end, we're asking anyone with an iffy laptop battery (who does not like to write by hand) to stay home and join the write-in virtually. We're going to set up a thread in the forums (and I'll be on twitter @francis_grey) so that people who stay home can still write right along with us.

Saturday (November 7):

This is a two-part Marathon Write-In. We're running from 12:00 PM-8:30 PM over two locations.

First location (November 7):
Where: Missouri State University; Plaster Student Union, first floor
When: 12:00 PM-4:00 PM
Parking: All metered parking at MSU campus is free on the weekends. Parking map for campus is here: http://search.missouristate.edu/map/?layer=parking Brown lots are visitor/metered lots, and you can click on the buildings to find Plaster Student Union (It's in the same quadrant as the stadium).

Special Notes: The downstairs of the PSU is a pretty quiet on the weekends, but the upstairs as a convenience store and a couple of places to eat. There are outlets scattered all over the first floor, so no matter how iffy your laptop battery is, we'll find a place to plug it in.

Second location (November 7):
Where: Panera on the corner of National and Elm, meeting room
When: 4:30 PM-8:30 PM

Special Notes: None, really. This particular Panera has hosted more write-ins than probably any place in town. We're old hat at setting up and plugging in here.

And now, about Sunday: We're going to meet at Rendezvous, but the time on that is still in the air. We'll have the start time for you by sometime tomorrow and send out an e-mail with the information. We try not to yank you around like this, but occasionally schedules for your Co-MLs get a bit squiffy.

All that being said (and, wow, I got a touch long-winded), I want to take a moment to say thanks to all of you WriMos. To those who showed up last Sunday (and gave us our biggest write-in ever), and to those who've showed up on the boards (and been super encouraging and awesome), to those who have written anything at all (we've got some 10k people right now), and to those who are still preparing to write (you can do it!); you're awesome and amazing and the coolest, nicest, most fun people to write with in the whole world. NaNo would be no fun without you.

I leave you with the immortal words of Hal Jordan:

Baddie: "Give up, damn you."
Hal: "I don't know how."

You've got three weeks and two days, Wrimos. Be like Hal.

Your always in awe MLs,

Gayle & Robert

Co-ML, Springfield, MO
7th year NaNoer
Previous NaNos: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Wins: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Mass ML Email #4 - November 7th, 2009

***Points Covered: You Lot Being Awesome/Word Counts, Week Two Freakouts, Sunday's Write In, Donations, Virtual Write Ins***

Good evening, you incredible Wrimos out in NaNo-Land!

This is one of your MLs reporting in! Apologies for this very late email, but I've been so incredibly busy with both NaNo and work that I'm surprised I've been able to even get time in to write as much as I have. You guys are doing absolutely awesome though! The site hasn't rolled over to reflect it yet, but as of today, we've officially written 1 million words as a region! That's absolutely amazing guys, you have no idea! We're only seven days into the month and already you guys have contributed nearly 1/8th of the word count that the largest region in the world (Seattle) has!

Let me make it abundantly clear how amazing you guys are:

*Seattle is #1 in the world for word count. They have 8 million words. They also have 1,500 active Wrimos.

*We're sitting at #127 right now (out of over 400, that's amazing) with a little over 1 million words. We have 144 active Wrimos. That is mind-blowing guys.

If you want stats a little closer to home: KC has 333 active Wrimos and they're at 1.7 million words. We have less than half the amount of Wrimos they do and we've cleared a million.

Now comes the tougher part: keeping this energy going. We've passed through Week One and are moving into Week Two. This is where hitting your word counts becomes a little bit more difficult. Week Two is generally problematic for most Wrimos. Usually because the "honeymoon period" of NaNo has worn off and you finally see the somewhat long road ahead of it. But we'll all get to where we going because we've all got awesome sporty novelling cars that will take us there.

If you get stuck this week, don't sweat it. This is the time where that little blinking cursor on your word processor will mock you endlessly. Just take a deep breath and trudge through. If you feel like you can't, then do something unexpected in your novel to shake your muse up or use dares to keep things going.

That being said, there is a Write In on Sunday (Nov 8th). I'm sorry about the short notice on it, but I didn't find out my work schedule until yesterday. Gayle is going to be at a wedding, so I'll be the only ML there. If I end up cutting out early, I'm sorry, I've actually got work at 3:45.

Here are the details:

Event: The Rendezvous @ Rendezvous
Time: 10 AM - 3 PM
Date: Sunday November 8th
Location: Rendezvous Coffee Lounge (We'll be located through the archway and up on the balcony)
Address: 320 Park Central West Springfield, MO 65806 (Just west of the Square)
As always, bring your novelling items and possibly a power strip if you can. Rendezvous serves very delicious drinks, so you might want to have some money on hand to try one. I suggest the Van Gogh, it's like a dessert in a glass.

Again, I'm really sorry about the INSANELY short notice on this. I forgot to send the email out yesterday because I spent nearly all day working.

Last, as I always request: If you have the ability to, please please PLEASE donate to NaNoWriMo! I know we seem to beat you over the head with it, but that's because we really like NaNo! And we appreciate donations because they help keep everything running smoothly every year, and I'm sure the OLL appreciates it because it helps them not freak out about their costs. As always, you can donate here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/
OR purchase official NaNoWriMo swag here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/merchandise

Thanks!

That's all I have for you guys tonight. Again, sorry for the very last minute email, hope to see you at the Write In tomorrow. If you can't make it, you can always join us virtually via our Write In Chatroom (it will go live at 10 AM): http://www.slashnet.org/webclient/sgfmo

Your incredibly tired MLs,

Robert & Gayle

P.S. - Swing by the Regional Lounge and chat it up with your fellow Wrimos! http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/228

2005 Novel: The Mists of Centarium
2006 Winning Novel: Dancing Into The Night
2007 Winning Novel: PARALLAX
2008 Winning Novel: Keys in the Lock
NaNo 2009 Project: FUSiONFaLL

Mass ML Email #5 - November 12th, 2009

***Points Covered: Rage Week, Week Two Write Ins, and Donations***

Welcome to Week Two, Wrimos!

We here at the WriSynSGFMo would like to extend a hearty congratulations to all of you that have made it this far into Week Two. Complimentary cake and grief counselling will be offered at the end of the Week Two test phase. Because trust me, you all are going to need it.

In following with our theme of the emotional spectrum, Week Two is Rage Week here at the WriSynSGFMo. This is the dredge through your novel that takes what seems like forever. This is where NaNoWriMo tries to pull you off the tracks, and usually it succeeds. Plots fall apart, characters become boring, and your story just seems to stall out. That's not going to happen here! You've got two (admittedly) awesome MLs, an AMAZING support group on the forums and in your fellow Wrimos, and tons of caffeine in case you need it. Together, we're going to break Week Two in half. We've got *THREE* kick butt Write Ins scheduled this weekend, just to help pull anyone out of the Week Two rage.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 13th
Event: Friday Nights at Borders
Time: 6pm - 11pm
Location: Borders Bookstore
Address: 3300 S. Glenstone Ave. Springfield, MO 65804 (In the Primrose Shopping Center, next to Bed, Bath & Beyond)
As usual, bring your typical NaNo novelling items. We were allowed to be in the cafe last time, so we might be able to pull some strings and do that again, but it might not happen. As with last time, if you'd like, we'll have a virtual Write In set up for Wrimos who aren't able to attend. More details will be on the Regional Lounge in the forums.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14th
Event: Write Here, Write Now!
Time: Noon (12pm) - 4pm
Location: Midtown (Carnegie Branch) Library
Address: 397 E Central St. Springfield, MO 65802
We'll be in one of the meeting rooms. Not exactly sure which one, but we'll let you know. If nothing else, you can always ask the information desk where the NaNoWriMo group is meeting at. They should know.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th
Event: The Rendezvous @ Rendezvous
Time: 10am - 3pm
Location: Rendezvous Coffee Lounge
Address: 320 Park Central West Springfield, MO 65806
We'll be up on the Mezzanine during the Write In, most likely. We'll try to tell the staff we're meeting, so that way the can direct people to us. Parking is pretty odd downtown. There are three parking lots within a block of Rendezvous: College Station Car Park, Heer's Car Park, and the Bus Terminal Parking Lot (behind Rendezvous). All of them are free, so just pick one. The Bus Terminal Parking Lot is usually kinda full on Sunday morning, just as a heads up.

Last, as I always request: If you have the ability to, please please PLEASE donate to NaNoWriMo! I know we seem to beat you over the head with it, but that's because we really like NaNo! And we appreciate donations because they help keep everything running smoothly every year, and I'm sure the OLL appreciates it because it helps them not freak out about their costs. As always, you can donate here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/
OR purchase official NaNoWriMo swag here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/merchandise

Thanks!

Good luck with Week Two, and hopefully you all can beat back that annoying Writers Block with the rage that fuels you!

Your Fellow Rage Kitty MLs,

Robert & Gayle

P.S. - Swing by the Regional Lounge and chat it up with your fellow Wrimos! http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/228

2005 Novel: The Mists of Centarium
2006 Winning Novel: Dancing Into The Night
2007 Winning Novel: PARALLAX
2008 Winning Novel: Keys in the Lock
NaNo 2009 Project: FUSiONFaLL

Mass ML Email #6 - November 20th, 2009

***Points Covered: Week Three + Week Four Pep Talk, Write Ins, and Donations***

Wrimos,

Welcome to the end of Week Three. It's been a while since my last email to you all, and I hope you were all able to get through Rage Week fairly easily.

Week Three is Fear Week here at the WriSynSGFMo. This is the final obstacle to overcome before clearing into that final mad sprint towards 50k. This is the week of dread, where that lingering doubt that's been in your mind the whole time comes roaring into life and trying to pull you away from getting to the finish. That voice is going to tell you that you're wasting your time, that your word count is so abysmally behind it doesn't even matter trying to catch up, and other horridly unpleasant things.

Let me be the first to tell you that the voice of doubt you hear is very much there. It's actually your Inner Editor. S/he has been biding their time since you locked them away on November 1st, and now they're out for revenge. Don't let them have it, my faithful Wrimos! Your Inner Editor is also secretly the antagonist of your novel (shh, don't let them know I gave away their secret identity!), so get revenge on them first! Push them into traffic, knock them out a high rise window, do something to show them who's boss! This the end of the difficult time, push past this and there's nothing but sun and clear road ahead of you, which brings me to Week Four.

Week Four is Hope Week. Blue skies all around you, and nothing but the sun shining and that final, awesome marathon into 50k territory. It's a complicated week this year, especially considering that Thanksgiving happens to fall right before the final weekend of the month. But you all can easily accomplish anything. You have survived two long weeks of hell, and this final push to the Finish Line is almost a cakewalk compared to everything else that's happened thus far. You all have ten more glorious days of NaNo left to make it, and I know you all can do it. We were 4th Place in the world at one point, this will be easy! Let that blue light of hope you've been saving all month shine as bright as you can make it, push away the dark clouds of Week Three this weekend and let your novel explode into vivid life. It'll happen Wrimos, I promise.

There are still SIX more official Write Ins left this month. The three for the weekend after Thanksgiving I'll get to in my email next week, or you can always check the Google Calendar in our Regional Lounge (http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/228)

Here are the three for this weekend, and the end of Fear Week:

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20th (TONIGHT)
Event: Friday Nights at Borders
Time: 6pm - 11pm
Location: Borders Bookstore
Address: 3300 S. Glenstone Ave. Springfield, MO 65804 (in the Primrose Shopping Center, next to Bed, Bath & Beyond)
Notes: We'll likely be back in the back at our table this time, and we have power outlets to accommodate at least one power strip, possibly two, so you guys are more than welcome to come since we now KNOW we have access to power. The table will be set up on the far left side of the store, about 3/4ths of the way to the back. Look for the group of people on their laptops. We'll also probably hit up TGI Fridays for some tasty appetizers and drinks afterwards (they're literally next door), so bring a little extra food money if you want to tag along.
* Borders now has Free WiFi at their locations, so we'll definitely be doing a virtual Write In!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21st
Event: The Write Tour of the Queen City Part One (MARATHON)
Time: 12pm - 4pm
Location: San Francisco Oven @ Green Circle
Address: 1110 E. Republic Road Springfield, MO 65807 (Green Circle Shopping Center, next to Mama Jean's)
Notes: This is part one of our marathon Write In for the month. San Francisco Oven has always been incredibly awesome to us when we've used their space. Plus, the building itself is really neat architecturally. They have a very small parking lot, but there is overflow parking at the church next door.
* SFO also offers Free WiFi, so we'll be having a Virtual Write In during this time.

**There will be a 30 minute break period between parts one and two so people can move to the second write in location and get settled**

Event: The Write Tour of the Queen City Part Two (MARATHON)
Time: 4:30pm - 9pm
Location: Plaster Student Union @ Missouri State University
Address: 901 S National, Springfield, MO 65897 (You'll have to Google Map this, as I can't give exact directions to the Plaster Student Union)
Notes: We'll be located on the First Floor of the Union, near the Khaldi's. There's plenty of seating and power outlets, so don't worry about that.
* As far as I'm aware, Missouri State does NOT offer Free Guest WiFi, so if we do have a Virtual Write In, Gayle will be in charge.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22nd
Event: The Rendezvous @ Rendezvous
Time: 2pm - 7pm
Location: Rendezvous Coffee Lounge
Address: 320 Park Central West Springfield, MO 65806
We'll be up on the Mezzanine during the Write In, most likely. We'll try to tell the staff we're meeting, so that way the can direct people to us. Parking is pretty odd downtown. There are three parking lots within a block of Rendezvous: College Station Car Park, Heer's Car Park, and the Bus Terminal Parking Lot (behind Rendezvous). All of them are free, so just pick one.

Last, as I always request: If you have the ability to, please please PLEASE donate to NaNoWriMo! I know we seem to beat you over the head with it, but that's because we really like NaNo! And we appreciate donations because they help keep everything running smoothly every year, and I'm sure the OLL appreciates it because it helps them not freak out about their costs. As always, you can donate here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/
OR purchase official NaNoWriMo swag here: https://store.lettersandlight.org/merchandise

Thanks!

Good Luck this weekend, my intrepid Wrimos! Hope to see you all on the other side of the Finish Line!

Your Lantern Bicycle MLs,

Robert & Gayle

2005 Novel: The Mists of Centarium
2006 Winning Novel: Dancing Into The Night
2007 Winning Novel: PARALLAX
2008 Winning Novel: Keys in the Lock
NaNo 2009 Project: FUSiONFaLL