...is anyone here?

Hey there Courtney! Nice to meet you. :)

I'm Duchess, also known as Kristina. I'm a 20 year old college student and this is my second year doing NaNo. So far, I have no idea what my novel will be about but I can't wait to find out. *grin*

Hullo both of you!
I'm Giz, or just Maddie. I'm actually a little ways from Santa Cruz, and I'm in high school...
This is my second year attempting NaNoWriMo, but I didn't really sign up last year :P
Nice to meet you!

Green grass shoots up tall,
While dry ones fall down,
Which has more beauty,
From the view of the ground?

Hellos all. This is the ticking head, also known as Mary, saying hi from out in the middle of the woods!

This'll be my third year doing NaNo, and I'm really hoping to drop by some write-ins for the first time EVER. (the first year I didn't have a car, the second time I was lazy.)

Anyway, NaNo should prove to be interesting this year....I'm taking a creative writing class over at Cabrillo (shout out to anyone else from class who swings by!) and Marcy (the teacher) is awesome enough that as long as we turn in something fictional and original every week, we can write about anything! Which means I can get my homework done /and/ up my word count at the same time. :D How awesome is that!

Anyway, I hope some more people show up in here soon! It would be a shame if I went to a write-in and no one was there :\

NaNo 08: (title pending)
MCs intro'd: 0 (not allowed to start yet!)
Stress: 10% (Non-NaNo related)
Sanity: Planning, planning, planning...
------------
The NaNo blog: http://mystikmadness.blogspot.com/

Hi. I'm Katie, UCSC third-year and NaNo fourth-year. I've won twice.

Last year I was the ML, and I probably will be again. I've applied again, anyway.

Don't worry about people showing up. Last year there were maybe 20 people who actively went to at least one event (I may be over-estimating) and more on the forums. This place will still be pretty dead for a couple of weeks, most likely, but after that it'll pick up. I never went to an event and was the only one there, and I went to most of the events.

If anyone knows great locations to write or gather, you can suggest them to me. However, bus access is an issue as there are always a number of students who do not have other transit (myself included).

BFS 2008 Participant.
Learning Japanese, writing more, submitting work, editing a novel, writing a script, practicing French, getting a summer job, getting more sleep and exercise, applying for JET.

Hello...I'm Phil, aka elakazal. I've made at least a half-hearted attempt at Nano every year since 2003 (when I wrote 40,000+ words and a masters thesis), and have actually won once, in 2005. For the first time since I started, I'll be free of the distractions of graduate school, and I'm hoping to crank out a whole lot of writing in November.

I'm recently arrived in the area, and have yet to really meet much of any one outside of work. The last two years, in Gainesville, FL, I've been lucky enough to have a fairly active group of fellow Nanoers, which led to a fiction writing group for the "off season". Unfortunately, I've never had less time in my life for writing, but I even if I didn't get much useful writing done myself, I got to read a lot of great writing, and hang out with some fun people.

Anyway, I've got no idea what I'm going to write about, but I'm looking forward to meeting people and discovering some good places to write.

Bubble: These are probably a bit out of the way for everyone since it's over by me in Felton, but the Coffee Roasting Company in the Felton Fair has always been a good place to meet with people....and there's a bus stop right by it. If you want to go a little further there's also the White Raven on Highway 9, which has the best Italian sodas I've ever had :D Really great atmosphere in there too, if a bit cramped.

From what i gathered from the previous NaNos, the Ugly Mug and 99 bottles are usually good places to meet, too. Never been to 99 bottles myself, but the Ugly Mug is pretty nice, and it's close to Cabrillo.

If we can, though, can we keep it off the UCSC campus? Not everyone in Santa Cruz goes there every day, you know :P I get lost there, I don't find my way out for a week.

NaNo 08: (title pending)
MCs intro'd: 0 (not allowed to start yet!)
Stress: 10% (Non-NaNo related)
Sanity: Planning, planning, planning...
------------
The NaNo blog: http://mystikmadness.blogspot.com/

There may be a write-in on campus, but if so, it definitely won't be the only place we meet. I promise.

The Ugly Mug is lots of fun; 99 Bottles has good burgers (and alcohol, or so I hear) but is very very noisy. Thus it's a good party/gathering place, if the group doesn't have too many vegetarians in it (I don't eat meat anymore myself) but a bad write-in place.

The Saturn is likewise fun to celebrate at, but not so good for writing.

Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company is great but for the sad lack of bathroom.

I'll consider the Coffee Roasting Company in Felton.

Up on the peninsula, we had success with reserving a room in a large library for an hour or two. It was quiet, had power outlets, bathrooms nearby, and wireless, and in meeting rooms usually they let you talk and eat as long as you clean up after yourself. I'll investigate the public library in downtown Santa Cruz for that purpose. Or maybe one of you can tell me whether any of the local public libraries are good from that perspective.

EDIT: I somehow forgot, but these days I live off campus, and with permission from the landlord and my housemate, I could have write-ins and maybe even the kick-off party here. The power outlet situation isn't overly good, and you wouldn't be able to access the internet, but there are comfy couches and chairs, and I could serve you hot tea. The kick-off is the big maybe though, because that's usually the biggest event. I live on the Westside near several busstops.

EDIT2: a downside to the house is that one must climb several stairs to get inside, so it isn't wheelchair accessible. I know that was a concern for one of the participants last year.

BFS 2008 Participant.
Learning Japanese, writing more, submitting work, editing a novel, writing a script, practicing French, getting a summer job, getting more sleep and exercise, applying for JET.

I have no idea what the library situation is here, but that's how we did many of our Write-Ins when I was in Florida. We basically rotated between a couple branches of the local library and a used bookstore/cafe (which was a nice idea but a little tough space-wise and outlet-wise).

HI
First time here. Tried to do it last year but was side lined by illness. Even more motivated this year. Still have no idea of what I am going to write, but I am sure I will be surprised by the ending :).

I love to go to LULU carpenters on Pacific, good chaii good vibes and best yet a restroom and outlets, I do have an odd request I live in Felton and cannot drive at night so if we can have a daytime write in sometime I would be delighted to come.

Bonnie aka Silly Bird

Bonnie aka Silly Bird

Hey, I'm a first year UCSC student. This is my second Nano, but I failed so miserably last year that it shouldn't really count.

A little bit about me: I'm an art major. I'm 21 (if you're wondering about the math, I took three years off after high school) and I live on campus... Um... Haha! I don't know what else to say! I'm really looking forward to meeting all of you. :)

Hi,

I'm down in Aptos. This is Nano three for me and hopefully it will be win three as well. Last year it was by a hair's breadth that I made it. Didn't manage to get to any write-ins last year, but I'm going to try much harder this year.

Deborah

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.
--Oscar Wilde--

The downtown library does not have a suitable meeting room. Also, it turns out you guys have a new, shiny ML. However, I will still be coordinating UCSC events as a co-ML. As of last year, it is possible for a region to officially have two MLs.

BFS 2008 Participant.
Learning Japanese, writing more, submitting work, editing a novel, writing a script, practicing French, getting a summer job, getting more sleep and exercise, applying for JET.

miles here ... this is my second year. Last year I finished the 50,000 words, and finished the novel a month or so later. You can read it here

Mostly I hung out with the SoBaNanos last year, but if there was a weekend meeting I would make it to S.C. - I think LuLu's is the best, and especially the new one, which has a plug for every table. But gets rapidly tied up with students, I think.

I live in Boulder Creek, in that mysterious region between the holy cross and silicon...

Anyhow, it would be nice to meet you all this year.

-= miles =-

Hello!
I am so new to this I'm still in my wrapper.
I'm a teacher of middle and high school and live near capitola beach. I'm very excited to try this, especially because I'm doing it with my mom who is in southern california.
Good luck to everyone!
Heather

Name's Charlie - I was here last year as well, though didn't make any of the events. It was a shame. I'll try harder this year, although success will be limited by my Tae Kwon Do schedule. Damn martial arts getting in the way of my novel.

But.

As for meeting places, the Attic downtown is a great place to write - nice atmosphere, good food, and space. A fellow NaNoer and I met at the central library for a write-in, which was nice because there are public computers there for those of us who lack laptops. I saw at least one other writer from Aptos, and so if it's a small gathering, perhaps the coffee shop over by Safeways? Or the public library, either near there or in La Selva, although the computer situation in La Selva was not hopeful last time I was there.

I'd prefer meeting places that are on or near a main bus route, as I don't want to spend too much time walking or switching buses and unfortunately cannot drive. Yet.

--
Denial - not just a river in Egypt.

I'm Ann, and I live in Soquel now. I did NaNo last year and won, and I hope to be as successful this year. Last year's novel was cathartic for me. I've got a Neo, so I don't need an outlet. I highly recommend them for anyone who doesn't want to be chained to her desktop (no matter how great that iMac looks on your desk).

I wrote at the Ugly Mug and the Peet's on Bay Ave. in Capitola. I hope to get to Mr. Toot's this year, although I'm recovering from a torn calf muscle and don't know about all of those stairs.

I look forward to meeting everyone!

Hey everyone,

I'm Kadeybugh (Katie) and I'm new to town.
I just transferred as a junior to UCSC (Anthropology).
This is my third Nano (I won in '05, but last year it tanked).

I'm coming from Sacramento where we had a really strong support group (small, but strong).
We met at a local coffee shop every Sunday night around 6 or 7 and it seemed that it was a good time to avoid too many crowds and people's weekend plans. It was just nice to have that weekly fix of people who understood and supported your crazy Nano Dreams. :)

I hope that we can find somewhere downtown (or in and abouts) where we can make a nice space for something like that.

I look forward to meeting you guys and starting this year's NaNo in a brand new city.
Katie*

Hi!
My name is Megan. I'm 20, a third year at UCSC and an Art Major as well!
That's really exciting that someone else in my major is doing this! :D

Hi I'm Jenn and I'm a 28 soon to be 29 year old. lol I'm in Aptos. I generally write in my room at night because that is about the only time I have.

This is my frist time for NANO but I've been writing for years. Never finished anything longer than a short story but hopefully this will be different.

~*~Jenn~*~

Hi Jenn. It's nice to meet you.
I hope you really enjoy NaNo... it's been a pretty remarkable experience for me.
It took me a bit to really let go and just write, but the crazy commitment to 50K in a month kinda leaves you no other choice but to keep going (and not look back on what you wrote yesterday). It has been a wonderful exercise to really help me learn to quiet the internal critic and just get my characters and plot down on paper.

Good luck with your novel. I am sure you will do wonderfully. :)

Katie*

Thanks Katie!

I'm usually the kind of person who writes everything out longhand and then types, it editing as I type.

I'm hoping to decide what I'm writing about in the next week or so. But how do you fit in writing a novel in a month when you work 13 hours a day sometimes. LOL I guess I'll figure it out. I think November might just be a month of little sleep...Haha and with a holiday so maybe the days off take the place of the days you can't write.

Sorry I'm tired and I get stupid when i'm tired. Have a great day all!

Jenn

~*~Jenn~*~

Hi, I'm Mike; this'll be my third nanowrimo and fourth 30-day novel. I deliberated quite a bit about whether I was going to participate this year, but eventually realized I wouldn't be able to stay away. I hope to make it to some write-ins this year, since I've flown solo every year so far. I'll be writing a lot at Coffee Cat (Scotts Valley) and Lulu's at the Octagon (Cooper st., downtown Santa Cruz), and I hope to meet some of you there!

Mike

'Allo to all my fellow crazies!

I'm Kris, I was going to go to the UC but that fell through (don't ask). I most unfortunately a retail zombie, and I mostly only write from about midnight on. I'm new to the Santa Cruz area, and as such have never been to a write in or anything like that. Thank god for a good map to find all of these cool social events. This'll be my third nano, and hopefully my third win. I have a moderately reliable car, and as such can help give people lifts if they need it and can give me directions. I have the sense of direction of a stunned herring. Yes, it makes life interesting.

Looking forward to the fun!

(oh, and if anyone speaks enough French to hold a conversation of any level, please tell me and utterly make my night. :) )

"May the fleas of 1000 camels infest the crotch of the person that screws up your day and may their arms be too short to scratch (Amen)"

Well, I have known a few NaNo winners that wrote their novels longhand in notebooks - so that might totally work for you. If you just think that you can do the typing/editing AFTER November and just focus on filling the notebook for the crazy 30 days - you can keep yourself from wasting your valuable time editing. That really is the key to winning (and the amazing gift that NaNo gives you). Learning how to shut off your internal critic long enough to get the writing out is a tool that no successful and serious writer can live without. I am so thankful to Chris Baty and the rest of the gang for helping me to learn how to that. It has already improved my academic writing a ton.

The hardest thing is figuring out how many words you actually have. Going through and counting them is a real pain. My good friend who did it all long hand counted the words on like 10 pages of her writing. Instead of averaging them, she rounded down a bit so she was sure she had actually hit 50,000 and then she just counted pages. That might work for you as well. :)

GOOD LUCK!!
It's coming... I can feel that calender begin to turn already!!!

My name is Samantha. I'm finally 18 (as of Oct. 3) which I'm very happy about... not that it means much for me. I'm a student at Cabrillo. I live in Boulder Creek, which is different. I actually moved up to my dad's vacation home to go to school here. I lived in the Bay Area for about seven years and then Arroyo Grande for ten years. Arroyo Grande is an uber small, bible belt town down south. WAY different from Santa Cruz.

This is my first year doing Nano. I wrote fifty pages of a story in Junior High... it was tragically terrible. I read through it recently and found that it was just a combination of some of my favorite books.

The hardest part about doing Nano is definitely going to be finding the time. I'm a big fanfiction writer and I'll probably have to take a break with that. I'm also the only writer in my family. My dad doesn't understand the importance of writing to me. He actually told me stop writing so I would get more sleep... I told him to stop breathing. It didn't go over to well. But, I've been writing since I was five or six and I don't think I'll ever stop.

Not to sure if I'll make it to any of the events, taking the bus from the country club is a little time consuming. c:

"I walk. I talk. I shop. I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out, and I don't sleep on a bed of bones." Restless, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. S4E21

Hi, I'm the other Heather, I've already written 2 1/2 novels the hard way and am stuck in the horrible editing phase on two of them. I learned so much just by writing them! Thought I'd do this as a..what? A sort of wild experience with writing, a way of using what I've learned with the others to really have a go?

I have a blog which is kind of popular and am hoping to keep it up (am I insane?) while I do this (I am insane!), as well as working part-time.

I live out by Davenport and have two kids and a husband who is working too much this month, but I'd really like to come to a write-in, esp. if it's closer to downtown or the West side. I am excited to meet other writers around here. I've met a few and lost touch - maybe this will be another way to get in touch!

What kind of stuff do you-all write?

She said, "there's a whole in my pocket. I peel it like a tangerine, standing tough in my backyard, naming the clouds."

Welcome! Have fun drop kicking your inner-editor out the door with the rest of us. Editing's what December exists for. :) I actually don't know what I'm writing this year. That's what Halloween day at work's for. *laughs* Or I'll just make it up as I go along and wind up with something as inane as zombie pigeons again.

"May the fleas of 1000 camels infest the crotch of the person that screws up your day and may their arms be too short to scratch (Amen)"

I've done NaNoWriMo and won for the last 2 years. I definitely did not plan to do it this year. I'm currently in the edit-polish stage of a novel I blasted out last summer--adding depth, emotions, characterizations, working out dialogue kinks. It's 90% finished, and my critique group came close to threatening bodily harm if I did NaNo.

Then, somehow, I got signed up. All I did was check my last year's author profile, I swear! And then I start getting e-mails. And the e-mails got me excited... And I do want one of the cute red mugs.

So I've decided to compromise. I'll do NaNo--on my WIP. I KNOW I won't win this year. My word counts will be in the low 100s. But I can order one of the cute mugs and maybe go to a write-in or two?

For those I met before: I'm the old broad in an electric cart.

Camarec - Fantasy is the only truth.

Hello all!

Yarry here, Santa Cruz native and avid (rabid?) fantasy and sci-fi fan. I have been writing for years, but have never made the leap to actually finishing anything as large as a book (I have a few half finished ones kicking around on my hard drive, but hey - who doesn't, right? *grin*)

This is my first NaNo, and Im really excited/terrified! I finished chapter one last night, and am looking forward to the next! I live on Poplar ave, down behind Staff of Life. I work full time and have two kids and an awesome partner, so Im not sure how much time Ill have to get out and meet with you all, but please know I will try. I do most of my writing late at night with some wine and good tunes as company, as thats the time I have free.

Look forward to writing with you all!

~~yarry

Great to hear a little bit about all of you. My husband and I are doing this together, first Nano, enjoying typing in deck chairs in this great weather up here past the Mystery Spot. We make our way into town occasionally so may hit a write-in. I haven't written fiction since I was 11 (a long time ago!) but this novel has been in uteru for about 8 years (or 13,000 to be more exact, since it is a bit of pre-history) so it is time this happened and I am really excited to be actually cranking it out. It is going suprising well for the first two days here, with the emphasis on the surprising rather than the well. Thinking about write-ins, but aren't they distracting? Can't hurt to try it, though, I think.

~Prolithia

~ Prolithia
Santa Cruz, CA