Introductions?

Hi, all.

Leah, here. I'm in Holyoke, work in Greenfield. This is my ninth Nano, and I'm planning on my ninth win. I'm a teacher and usually do Nano each year as part of a class, but this year is the first year in a while that I'm not teaching it. (Usually I don't teach it in November, anyway.)

Good to see some familiar names in this dusty corner of the forums, and some exciting new ones as well.

Greetings. I'm in Chicopee and I work in Northampton. This is my fifth nano and I plan on a fifth win.

No idea what I'm writing yet though.

Hi, all.

I'm Jeremy, AKA neksinnad. I'm from Erving, but currently live in Shrewsbury. However, since I spend my weekends in Erving, will be dogsitting for a week and helping to make at least one and possibly two Thanksgiving dinners (my mom works on Thanksgiving, so my father and I will be visiting his family on the day itself), I'm signed on with both the Western and Central Massachusetts regional groups.

I won NaNoWriMo 2006, participated in '05 but didn't finish. In 07 and 08 I was just too busy with life to do NaNo, but I'm hoping for another win this year.

I tend to write thrillers and horror stories, and my novel this year revolves around the unsolved murder of a young woman, and the return of the suspected killer to the town where she was killed five years later.

Weird writing quirks... I can't write in my personal space. I write fine at my desk at work, or the local Panera, but when I sit down at home and try to write, nothing comes out.

I find it easiest to set a daily writing goal and force yourself to fill it, even if it's an entire day of pages and pages of 'No I'm not! 'Yes you are!' between a couple of arguing characters. My goal is to hit 75000 words this year, though hopefully without resorting to that particular trick.

Good luck, everybody!

Hello all, I'm Caitlin.
I'm currently at Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, and this is my third NaNo. It's also going to be strange because this year I have a very clear idea of what is going to be happening plot-wise. Last year I had a few characters and some vague idea of a plot, and the year before, I ended up changing my plot as I was writing.
I can't say as I really have a favorite genre to write in, although I guess I tend to stray towards fantasy or supernatural/horror.

"We must be swift as a coursing river,
with all the force of a great typhoon,
with all the strength of a raging fire,
mysterious as the dark side of
THE MOOOOOOOON."

Hi,
Jeanne Marie here. Love living in Brattleboro though think of the Valley as part of my stomping grounds. Doctoral student and probably crazy to do this (though my term ends middle of November).

I don't consider myself a writer of fiction. This is sort of an experiment since I've been working on a non-fiction book for more than 10 years and recently when I decided to use fiction to breath life into my "book" I got re-energized. I absolutely have no idea how to write fiction and so, oh well, I've got nothing to lose. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to that.

JM;-)

Hi!

I'm Emily, aka Poohbah. This is my fourth Nano. My first and second Nano were in the wonderful Western Mass region, and I haven't been able to bring myself to stop haunting the forums. I owe my first two wins to the wonderful orange starfish write-ins because I would spend the whole afternoon at Panera waiting for other Nanos to arrive. Loved the word wars, and the comraderie! I spent my third Nano in MD and this, my fourth, will be in PA. Hope to move back to the area someday, but with the job market where it is... Anyway, I'll be in the Western MA region in spirit, and thinking of you all as I write in the somewhat-less-frozen south.

Writing quirks: I drum my fingernails against my keyboard when I'm thinking; perhaps my fingers just don't want to stop typing. Also, if things get especially tricky, I usually have a slinky in my computer bag to help dislodge the good writing ideas.

Nifty announcement: I've actually just been published in a Christmas anthology as of Sept. 30 this year! I'm going to have to go to book signings with some of the other authors during hours when I would otherwise be Nanoing, so I'll have to be extra disciplined during the time I have to write. Oh how I wish I lived close enough to the orange starfish!

Hi. I'm Lauren, in Turners Falls. I'm about the same distance between Shelburne Falls and Amherst. I work in Amherst at least 4 days a week (I get called in a lot...must put the "no" in November....). I may end up traveling to SF for the kick-off, then to Amherst/Hadley for write-ins, depending on my work schedule.

I have an idea for this years NaNo! And I have been developing my protagonist. She's got a job and a name! I just don't have a plot, but I'm hoping the plot will just sort of fall from the sky at some point. Maybe I could make it a "literary" novel and not need a plot. (My emergency backup plan is to incorporate every urban legend I can find into my story. But I shouldn't have to resort to that. This year.)

Weird writing quirks? Other than procrastination? I dunno....I tend to kill keyboards and mice (the mice I drop onto the floor too many times).

Hi -- I'm Joe from Amherst. This will be my 4th NaNo year, although I didn't finish in 2008. I feel strong this year, so hope and enthusiasm are both way up there.

My only quirk during NaNo month is to fill every spare minute with writing. I have yellow pads everywhere, my dictation device is always in my pocket, and I have a pad to carry for when I'm standing in line at the store. At work, I take 2 15-minute coffee/writing breaks and one lunch/writing hour. With one hour in the morning and one more in the evening, that gives me 3-1/2 hours each day. With the spare moments it's more like 4-1/2 hours. At an average 700 words per hour, that gives me 3 hours to write and 90 minutes to think, which may be overkill.

I'm not obsessive about this, am I?

I think "Everyone's a Little Bit OCD in November" would be a great title for a book. Maybe a NaNovel, even.
________________________
April-Lyn
NaNo '09 - ???
NaNo '08 - Reverie
NaNo '07 - The Cry of Cicadas
NaNo '06 - One Million Marshmallows

This is a fun idea...

Name: Josh
Location: Belchertown and Northampton, MA
NaNo History: Participated every year since 2002, won for the first time in 2008. I'm not a slacker, honest.
Favored genre to write in: Sci-fi, horror and fantasy. This year I'm trying alternate history fiction.
Weird writing quirks: I have a tendency to talk to myself when I'm writing. I don't mean just muttering about something, I can hold entire conversations with myself. It's a little creepy.

Hello there! My name is Mary, writing out of Westfield State College. Last year was my first experience with NaNo, and I was surprised to find that I was able to reach my goal. I'm really looking forward to writing this November, although with school work and other obligations I'm not as optimistic that I'll be able to finish this year. But we'll see!

Anyone else from the college out there?

Hi Mary! I went to Westfield State, non-traditional student, graduated in 1999. Seems like forever ago. Nice to meet you!

Lauren

Hi! I'm Rachel, first year participant. I'm a sophomore at Bay Path College in Longmeadow, and I haven't decided yet - but I think I'm going to be writing some type of memoir, mostly dealing with my history of eating disorders and other psych. problems.

Hi there! Let's see.. I'll just fill this out first and get the basics out of the way lol

Name: Haley (but a ton of people just call me Hales)
Location: Holyoke, MA though I spend 99% of my time in Westfield for classes (Westfield State College too Mary!)
NaNo History: First timer! haha. I'm wicked excited for it.
Favoured genre to write in: fantasy/young adult.
Writing Quirks: When I write I tend to put myself into the story and become the characters... like, when they're having conversations, I'll literally say the whole conversation out loud so that it makes sense... which makes me look really crazy sometimes.

Anyway, I'm 20 years old, and have no idea how I'm going to find the time to write a novel around my work and class schedule. My only relief is the fact that the show I'm working on (the musical Chicago) will be over on November 1, so I won't have to worry about any rehearsals or anything like that. But yeah, nice to meet everyone!

Howdy
I'm John, recently moved up from Maryland... Love this area!
I'm 28, live and work in greenfield.
This is my first NaNoWriMo, and I'm hoping that this type of challenge will actually allow me to finish the novel I have planned out, something that hasn't before. Usually I get frustrated and just find a new project to distract me, letting the old one go... Inasmuch, I have four or five writing projects all rolled into one for my attempt this year.
I'd love to meet up for write-ins or the like!
Hope to keep in touch.

Chicago? Where? When? I love Chicago! I saw it a few years ago when a local community theater group did it.

Westfield State College's Musical Theater Guild is performing it next weekend in Dever Auditorium on campus. It's looking really great so far! If anyone is in the area, doors open at 7:30 Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with two 2:00 matinees Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students.

Hey, all,

I'm Jeff, from Shelburne Falls, and in my real life I'm the editor of The Commons, a monthly nonprofit newspaper in Brattleboro and a freelance editor/graphic designer/Web applications developer.

I'm looking to do something different. My wife Susi and I have fantasized about doing NaNoWriMo for years. I don't know if we'll be able to pull it off, but I'm sure going to try!

I'd love to meet and work with other writers in the Greenfield/Brattleboro corridor.

I'll probably try to write some sort of potboiler because it's fun.

J

Hi Jeff,
There is a "kick-off" meeting in Shelburne, Moca Maya's on Sunday, November 1, starting at 1pm. Even if you can't get there that early, there will probably still be people there until early evening.

Jeanne Marie

matthew
Northampton
6th NaNo shooting for 5th win

Thanks so much. I'm on deadline that weekend so I doubt I will be social. But I can't wait to try this.

(Jeanne Marie -- did you used to work at Wings of Light?)

Hey,

I'm Emma- though at this point I will turn around if someone mentions progressive talk radio so I would probably answer to valleyradionerd, too. It's only my second year doing nano mostly because it's only the second year I haven't either been writing too many papers for school and or filling out school applications and I am a *bad* multi-tasker. (does that take away my 'female' status? I worry about that.)

I live in Northampton and I write feminist sci-fi/fantasy/action (I can't decided if that means I'm cliched or if I'm just in very good company) for the most part, though last years nano was a political thriller pulled from one Rachel Maddow show interview. This year I have a list of possible stories and still haven't decided, which is what I'm going to do this weekend, I swear.
I also didn't really participate in any of the stuff that was going on around the Valley, but I swear that this year I will leave my room for something other than work, occasionally.

Name: Glenn, but online it's mrglenn2u

Location: Greenfield

NaNo History: Chris Baty is a friend of a friend and so I've known about Nano for years and have always thought it was cool. I tried it in 2007 but found out it just wasn't my cup of tea. But I still think it's cool and so I'm here to eavesdrop a little and cheer you all on.

Favoured genre to write in: romantic fiction, memoir, thinly veiled memoir, or thinly veiled romantic memoir/fiction.

Weird writing quirks: Writing induced narcilepsy. I'm serious, I can't sit down to write without getting instantly catatonic!

Name: Anna

Location: Lee, MA - I work at Edith Wharton's estate in Lenox. I guess I'm pretty far out (that's pretty far out, man).

NaNo History: I've participated a lot, but I've never won. Hoping to do it this time, because I have a really solid idea and plot for once.

Genre: Young adult fantasy

Weird writing quirks: I talk dialogue out loud, to myself, in the car. I also cannot wear shoes when I'm writing.

HI there,

My name is Allyn (screen name here: Ivyreb)

This is my second year participating in NaNoWriMo and I'm hoping to win again. I have some ideas brewing, but nothing set in stone. Last year I focused on young adult lit, this year it's between that, historical fiction or chick lit. Or a mix of all three!!

I'm a teacher and recently moved here from NYC, but did NaNo last year from Prague, where I was for 8 months. And I have no weird writing quirks. That I know of.

Nice to meet you all!

Hey, nice to see all the activity! I'm from western PA, but moved up to Massachusetts last year. I participated on 2007, didn't come close to finishing, and was too busy last year to do anything. Also, this will be the first year I'll be involved in write-ins (hopefully!). This year, I have a solid but flexible plot synopsis down, characters developed, and I'm hoping the planning will help me reach the great 50,000 mark. I guess the story I'm working on this year fits best in Fantasy, as it is a mythological tale. I can't write without music, and tend to write three different sections of the story or so in different documents, piecing it together later. Probably a bad idea, but I just can't stay focused otherwise.

It is entirely possible that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

Hey Everyone, Birdee here. This is my first Nano. I tend to write poetry, but have always wanted to try my hand at a novel.

I have no idea what I'm writing on. Is that bad? I'm working on it though. I still want to do it. I'm a little panic stricken because all of a sudden I have all of these committments in the beginning of November that I really cannot say 'no' to. And I'm thinking that I hate to start of the first few days of Nano, trying to cram in some writing time. I was hoping to waltz into it, rather than gritting my teeth and tapping frantically at midnight on the 2nd day of November. We'll see what happens.

Weird writing habits, hmmm... I laugh out loud at my own stuff. Really loud. sometimes I cry, I laugh so loud. Then I get stomach cramps. Other than that, can't think of anything.

Looking forward to staying in touch and maybe meeting up with some of you next month.

Birdee, that is the best writing quirk I've ever heard.

Hi,

My name is Gina and I live in Springfield and this is my first time doing anything like this. I have no real plot just a fuzzy idea i am trying to stretch into something useable. I am a night person so i am sure that most of my writing will be done after midnight, which should make getting up early for work interesting. I am fantastic at procrastinating and am easily distractable, so this should be alot of fun.
My writing quirks are pretty tame. I must have music and i usually sing along as I type. Sometimes Ieven bust a move between paragraphs.

I am really excited about this and can't wait to get started!

Name: April-Lyn
Location: Northampton
Writing quirks: None in particular that I can think of, unless you count the animal sacrifices
NaNo History: Participated four years, won twice.
Favorite writing genres: urban fantasy, horror, magical realism, surrealism

Will be hosting the Monday Panera Bread write-ins (as much as anyone "hosts" our public write-ins). Which reminds me I need to find a totem since the purple monkey is MIA. I'll find something perfect before then.

I'm not *completely* unprepared this year, but I'm pretty unprepared.This year I'm trying something new: I'm starting entirely without an outline, character sketches, or any written brainstorming whatsoever. I have a stick figure of a main character, and a vague notion of plot, setting, etc. Basically I will be writing something surreal and fantastic, drawing heavily on all the bizzare experiences and colorful characters in my life over the last 28 years. Unlike, you know, all other novels ever written. I have something like a first line that's spinning about in my brain. The only word that will certainly be there is "running" (now that I've written it, does that mean I can't use it? Am I cheating? Oh noes!)

It will be an adventure. I look forward to sharing the journey with you all!