USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

survey

ClarissaS — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Hi.
I am in a journalism class, and am working on a feature story about NaNo. If anyone could respond to a few survey questions, I would greatly appreciate it.

What is your novel about?

How many times have you participated in NaNo?

Has the word count driven you insane?

Has your novel gone in a different directon than you first though it was going to go?

ClarissaS
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Write-ins

zomby13 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:53:15 +0000

I would like to explain what write-ins are for the newer members to NaNo and give some gentle reminders to those who are veterans.

Write-ins are an opportunity to write with others in a public setting. They are a great place to get encouragement, brainstorm, and blow off steam. I want to strongly encourage everyone to come to write-ins as there is a great correlation to those who make it to the 50k line and those who attend these events.

In addition to the posted events on the calendar if you are planning your own write-ins or are stopping to write for an hour sometime and you would like to have company, please post it in this forum for others to see. If it is more than a day in advance and you give me enough details like time and address I will add it to the google calendar.
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

[gauntlet smack to the face] I challenge you to a 30K weekend!

zomby13 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:24:21 +0000

Thanksgiving weekend is almost upon us and it seems like the perfect time to achieve an amazing feat of literary abandon. I challenge you Fort Collins wrimo's, yes every one of you out there to write 30k over the holiday weekend.

The challenge will start at the end of work on Wed the 25th at 5pm and continue through to the beginning of the next work week on Mon the 30th at 8am.

Who will pick up the gauntlet?
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

To Win Perchance to Validate

zomby13 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:34:31 +0000

So the time is upon us You will be able to validate your win with NaNo.

Step 1 Check you time zone

-While logged in, select "Edit User Settings" from the menu to the left of your profile page.
-Scroll down to Locale settings: Time zone (above the Terms and Conditions).
-From the drop down menu, select the correct day, date, and time for where you are. (Please note that the time format is military time!) Once you have selected your correct time settings, be sure to hit 'Submit' at the bottom of the page.

Step 2 Submit your manuscript for counting

How do you win NaNoWriMo and what are the prizes?
The way to win NaNoWriMo is by writing 50,000 words by midnight on November 30. Every year, there are many, many winners. There are no "Best Novel" or "Quickest-Written Novel" awards given out. All winners will get an official "Winner" web badge and a PDF Winner's Certificate.

The real prize in NaNoWriMo is the manuscript itself, and the exhilarating feeling of setting an ambitious creative goal and nailing it. And the $1,000,000.

Just kidding about the $1,000,000!

The actual winning process works like this: From 12:00:01 AM, local time, November 25 until 11:59:59 PM, local time, on November 30, all participants who have written more than 50,000 words can have their winning word counts verified by our site. Uploading your novel to the Word Count Validator makes your NaNoWriMo victory official, gets you listed on our Winners Page, and routes you to the secret spot where you can collect this year's winner's certificate. It will also turn your word count bar purple.

To become a winner, first make sure that you have written a manuscript that is 50,000 words or longer. Then sign in to the site, click on Edit Profile, then scroll down to the area labeled Word Count Validator. Copy and paste your entire novel into this box. Then hit the "Submit" button, and prepare for your accolades.

We understand that you may be reluctant to upload your novel to a random website, even to one as winsome as ours. If you are using Microsoft Word it is very easy to completely scramble your novel before uploading it in a way that will not affect its word count.

1. Open the file and make a new copy of your novel using 'Save As...'
2. Open the Find and Replace dialog box (Edit -> Replace).
3. Click the "More" button to expand the box.
4. Check the "Use Wildcards" checkbox.
5. In the "Find What" field, put this: [a-zA-Z0-9] (include the square brackets, no spaces before or after)
6. In the "Replace With" field, put this: a
7. Click "Replace All"
8. Select All (Ctrl+A) and Copy & Paste into the validator!

The procedure for Open Office is essentially the same, except that Open Office refers to 'Regular Expressions' instead of 'Wildcards'. (Thanks to Peter Dudley for this advice!)

You can get the same effect in a more cumbersome way by just doing a find-and-replace on every letter in the alphabet, one letter at a time. Open the find-and-replace interface on your word processing program and tell it to replace every "b" in your story with an "a," and every "c" with an "a," then every "d" with an "a." And so on.

We realize that people can cheat and upload something that's not a novel and still "win." But since the only real prize of NaNoWriMo is the self-satisfaction that comes with pulling off such a great, creative feat, we don't really worry too much about people cheating. Those who upload 50,000 words they copied from Wikipedia.org just to see their name on the Winner's page are pitiful indeed, and likely need more help than a downloadable winner's certificate can provide them.

Can I keep writing and adding to my word count even after I've had the novel validated and collected my winner goodies?
Absolutely. Validation simply confirms that you have crossed the 50,000-word mark. You can continue to add to your word count in the usual fashion until 11:59:59 PM, local time, on November 30th.

If you have any questions send me a nanomail. I can't wait to see all those word count bars turn purple.
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

And we have a WINNER

zomby13 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:50:01 +0000

Congratulations to Kittygomeowr for being the first in our region to pass the 50k mark. you are awesome. You have keep me on my toes as well. I thought last night i might make it before you, you really made me work for it this year.

You are also an inspiration to everyone in our region because if you can do it in 8 days then everyone should take note that if they are behind they can still finish by putting in some awesome days of work like you have. Congratulations again.
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Fort Collins Vs. Greeley Word War

zomby13 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:26:21 +0000

For four years the war has been going on and LocoFoCo has come out triumphantly for three of the battles. Now we head into the 2009 battle of WWN (World War NaNo). As the history of all wars go there will be escalation. Let's get down to the nitty gritty.

The battle will be judged under two categories: 1) average number of winners per region and 2) average word count. Yes LocoFoCo, we will even out the battlefield by competing through averages. We wouldn't want anyone to say that life isn't fair.

To be an official participate you must reply to this thread in the affirmative by Friday, November 13th. Your response can be as simple as "I'm in."

Now for the gentle reminder (although I know that no one in our region needs this stated) this may be WWN but keep trash talk friendly, as we don't know who might be reading the forums, and we don't want to offend anyone.

After some discussion between our regions we are going to try something new. Everyone as always is welcome to participate in this battle, but if you are willing and able to make a small donation to the cause it will be collected and counted. I will take contributions as small as $.01. It all adds up. Then once a winner is determined in December the collection of donations will be sent to NaNo in the winning regions name. It does not matter if one region donates more than another as the money is going to a good cause,

Oh and one last item for LocoFoCo participants, in addition to finishing your 50k and having the higher avg word count you must include in your novel somewhere the phrase "Greeley Stinks" or something like it. Be creative on this one.

I look for ward to the competition this year as last year it spurred me on to greater and greater heights, since the race was as close as it has ever been. So here I am putting in my bid for the war.

LocoFoCo let's gear up and get this done.

Just so you can easily see where the rotten smelling enemy is at:

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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Celebrations Big and Small

zomby13 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:58:23 +0000

Use this thread to celebrate things large and small. It can be something you did or something that someone else has done. Let's use this to encourage everyone on to greater novelling heights.
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Fishing for Compliments

thesquarerootof — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:10:41 +0000

So though I was at 23K at the beginning of the weekend, it looks like I'm about to hit 30K by the end of today, if not more. I think I deserve tons of compliments, because they just might convince me to get back on pace in the next day or two.
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"Without freedom, no art; art lives only on the restraints it imposes on itself, and dies of all others."
— Albert Camus

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

LocoFoCo Night of Writing Dangerously Write-a-thon

zomby13 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:31:59 +0000

I am excited to announce the first annual LocoFoCo Night of Writing Dangerously Write-a-thon. Although all people in the surrounding areas which includes Greeley are welcome to join us. College America has graciously donated their space to us for free which means that all the money we raise will go to the Office of Letters and Light (OLL) in the name of the Fort Collins region. I am hoping we will raise $1000. I know ambitious but I believe we can do it.

The Fundraiser will be Saturday, November 14th from 8pm to 2am, at College America 4601 S Mason St, Fort Collins, CO 80525. There will be 6 hours of crazy writing. I have created a Fundraiser letter for you and as soon as I can I will link a copy to this forum posting. The letter explains the purpose of our fundraiser and how a sponsor can donate. They can either make a flat donation or a donation that will be multiplied by the hours you write that night. We cannot give receipts for this for tax purposes.

Download the fundraiser letter/form at SendSpace.com.

I would ask that if they give a flat donation and can give the donation up front that would be great, bring it to the fundraiser and we will all be able to see the Fundraiser Thermometer fill up on the night of the write-a-thon. For those that are donating by time the money will be collected after the fundraiser night when you have logged your writing hours, rounded off to the closest quarter hour.

I would like to give prizes away to those who are at the fundraiser, so if you have leads for gift certificates or other ideas please give me a heads up. Prizes will be raffled off.

For food and drinks to keep us going it will be a potluck. If we don't cater it means more money for the OLL.

This is an event to RSVP to. Just post to this forum when you have raised your first $5 in sponsorships. Also let us know what dish you are going to bring to the potluck so that we don't have 30 versions of the same dish.

If you are unable to attend but want to help out consider sponsoring someone else that is attending.

Since the National version of this fundraiser is as a costume party I would like to follow in their footsteps, I was going to decide on the theme myself but decided I would rather let you vote as a region the option with the most votes by the 7th of November will win. Option A) Come as a character from your novel, Option B) come as your favorite character from a book, or Option C) which is follow the national theme and come as a noir character. Let the voting begin. Even after a choice is made costumes will be optional.

And for the last item, as we get closer to the time of the Fundraiser I will be looking for volunteers to help set-up and clean-up.

I hope this turns out to be a fun tradition for all involved.

If people want to write a check have it made out to the OLL (office of letters and light.)
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Some Fun Stats for Colorado!

narniaprincess — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:11:11 +0000

I got a little bored tonight, so I did some math (and for those of you who know me, you know what that means...)

(these are as of 11 PM Nov 14)

Denver has 588 writers, 8,304,158 words with an average of 14,122 per writer.
Boulder has 220 writers, 3,051,949 words with an average of 13,872 per writer,
COS has 216 writers, 3,031,460 words with an average of 14,034 per writer,
Ft. Co has 179 writers, 2,791375 words with an average of 15,594 per writer,
CO Else has 108 writers, 1,414,377 words with an average of 13,096 per writer,
Durango has 49 writers, 757,151 words with an average of 15,329 per writer,
Grand J has 42 writers, 663,444 words with an average of 15,796 per writer,
Greeley has 37 writers, 515,121 words with an average of 13,922 per writer.

This give Colorado a total of 1,439 writers. Our total state word count is 20,523,035 with an average 14,262 words per writer!

THAT'S OVER 410 NOVELS ALREADY!

Just thought you might like to know...

(writers are counted by home region, not by affiliated regions, so only writers homed are counted for each region--)
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Sara, Princess of Narnia and ML for Colorado Springs
~~~~~
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. ~ CS Lewis

USA :: Colorado :: Greeley

TGIO Party

zomby13 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:08:14 +0000

We have a location. College America is again donating their space to us.

Just to clear up in case of confusion the library is having its own TGIO (Thank Goodness It's Over) party. There will be a published author giving out certificates of completion, to those that hit the winner's circle and there will be some prizes raffled off as well. This is a short gathering on Sat Dec. 5th from 3-5 p.m.. This is an all ages event to cover those that participated in NaNo as well as the YWP.

Later that day from 7 p.m. to midnight at College America (4601 S Mason St, Fort Collins, CO 80525) we will have a usual Thank God It's Over party. It will be potluck, so start planning and posting so we have a variety of foods. This is the event where we will gloat our win over Greeley. There will be movies, games, and dancing (or at least listening to music while chatting). There will also be some prizes raffled off here, and certificates will also be given out. For a bit of fun create a soundtrack to your movie and bring it on a c.d. (labeled with your title). The soundtracks will be played throughout the night, and then when everyone leaves you take home someone else's soundtrack.
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Welcome or Welcome back/ Introduce Yourself

zomby13 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:05:13 +0000

Hello 2009 LocoFoCo WriMos! November is fast approaching, and I am very excited about it starting. Let me introduce myself. I'm Jewels, one of your local MLs, that means I'm here to help you get through November without going too crazy. This will be my second year as an official participant and first year as a ML.

I have to say that participating in NaNo last year was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. A lot of that had to do with the excellent guidance of last years MLs: Traevoli and Shmoo. I hope that all of you will have an amazing time participating this year.

As one of your MLs I will be organizing events for you to come to, sending out pep talks, keeping you motivated, and answering your questions throughout the next couple of months. I'm open to all your comments and suggestions. In fact if there is something you would like to do to help out our region let me know. Help will always be appreciated.

I can't wait to meet everyone. Happy Noveling!
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Loveland Write-in

lematthews — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:27:08 +0000

We are writing at The Coffee Tree in Loveland today from 3-6 p.m. 422 E. 4th St. in the same building as Anthology Book Store. Bring your power strip! the squarerootof are you still planning to get there early?
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

My Dog Ate My Ninja

jmecalahan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:17:44 +0000

I hope this is not a sign of what's to come. I had an awesome blue ninja with knives to cut loose my creativity and cut off my inner editor. Now he has only one knife and one leg. It saddens me.
Jaime
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Still on for Dazbog or do we need to move?

CSWilson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:13:56 +0000

Zomby13, is tomorrow's write-in still scheduled for Dazbog? I know there was a scheduling conflict at one point. If that's still the case, I can offer up one of the classrooms at the school. Just let me know.
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Shawntel
http://.gundiva.blogspot.com
http://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com
http://gundiva-lyonsroar.blogspot.com

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Write in at my house on monday the 16th

lilone06 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:31:31 +0000

there will be a write in at my place probably on monday in the afternoon or early evening. come when you can i know there will be the moxie java one also. the address is 1201 Naomi Dr Loveland CO.
time between 6ish
ending time whenever people decide to stop writing.

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NaNo Winner 08 Sins of the Father
Writing transforms the insanity of the mind into sanity on paper.

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

the perspective of a child

Prcrstntr — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:49:24 +0000

So last night I was sitting in bed looking at my low word count and wondering if I'd make it. My seven year old brother who is visiting, crawled into bed and looked at my screen. He was amazed "Whoa, you wrote all of that" "That all came from your head." "I didn't know you could just write forever." I immediately had great gratitude towards myself for what I've written so far instead of feeling doom for what was not yet down. Hmm, haven't the sages heralded the perspectives of a child, I'm now refreshed and making small progress which is amazing progress in the eye's of a 7 year old.
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Lovelanders, report in

jensenroger — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:16:25 +0000

Anyone from the Valentine capital around? I know I can't be the only one. Well, I know I'm not, I personally know four people. But anyone else?

Also, if you write in public, where do/will you do so? I'll get some done at the LHS library during lunch, and maybe some more at the public library.
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Life is better in a bathrobe.

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Veteran's Day Write In

Gene_o — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:23:21 +0000

I hosted a write in all day during Veteran's Day last year. It was successful enough (well, I wrote a lot) that I want to host another one this year.

The Veteran's Day write in will be held on Wednesday, November 11th at 2701 Sutton Ct. (the same location as the Thursday night write ins). This will run from 10:00 am until 10:00 pm. I'll make some soup or stew to share and will have some warm or cold drinks available.

I hope to see some of you there.

Gene_O
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Any other CSUers? [Rams? Aggies? I don't know...]

antieuclid — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:20:24 +0000

I'm not actually affiliated with CSU but my sister's a freshman and it looks like I'm going to be staying with her on campus for most of NaNo. The good news is that she's thinking of trying it too! Who else here is a CSU WriMo? I'll be doing most of my writing in the library and I thought it might be neat for campus WriMos to agree on a particular group study room/area in the library and hold a more-or-less ongoing write-in. I'll be in the library during the day most days while my sister's in class, so I can make sure no one else takes our room ^_^ My favorite spot that I've found so far is the set of somewhat older study carrols in the Government Documents section near Y3.21, but I don't know the library that well so if someone has a different spot to suggest go right ahead.
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General Writing: http://therantinggeek.com
Economics Writing: http://technosocialism.com
Handmade goods for sale: http://antieuclid.1000markets.com

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

books

lematthews — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:57:12 +0000

Today is National Bookstore Day. Enjoy your contribution to books!
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

I Hate My Narrative Choice

thesquarerootof — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:17:16 +0000

Years and years of perfecting the omniscient third person narrative and I try to write my novel in FIRST PERSON? I'm so confused by tense. I mean, I'm writing in past tense because non past tense sounds odd but I'm too far in to go back and change the narrator to an omniscient power that is all-seeing and knowing. I'm down for a challenge and all, but I thought the challenge was the novel itself.

TERRIBLE choice I've made...
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"Without freedom, no art; art lives only on the restraints it imposes on itself, and dies of all others."
— Albert Camus

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Word count and homing and help I need a mentor

zomby13 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:10:30 +0000

Are you sure you are homed? It seems that quite a few people that should be homed to Fort Collins are not, even those of us that were homed to Fort Collins last year are not necessarily showing up homes this year, So I am asking you to check your home region and even if it shows Fort Collins resubmit the information just in case. That way everyone's word count will count towards our region. To home go to "my nanowrimo" then on the left hand side of the web page you will see a place to edit info pick "my regions" click on the home region tab. If one is not selected choose one of the regions that you belong to, if your do not have any regions listed search under the regions tab and then join the Fort Collins Region. Once you have joined it you will be able to go under the home region tab and select Fort Collins as your home region and submit. This will help me make sure that everyone gets their stickers on the poster for each 10% they accomplish.

In addition make sure you are updating your word count frequently at least every few days that way we will be able to contact those wrimo's who appear to need help.

If you need a mentor because you are falling behind or if you are willing to be a mentor because you have done NaNo before or are just doing really well and you want to help someone post here.

Together we can all finish this fantastic adventure.
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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

I may not have pom-poms, but I do have a loudspeaker.

kittygomeowr — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:29:12 +0000

Since Drew can't join us this year, I have decided to take it upon myself to be this year's cheerleader. Fair warning, I don't have any pom-poms.

This year, we're seeing a lot of new faces and many more brave souls jumping into the fray in the great battle between Fort Collins and Greeley. We have 214 people in this region, over half of whom are new. To the new people I can only say this, stick with it, even if your characters start talking in arcane languages, even if your settings shift and transmogrify with every passing scene, even if it feels like you're not making a lot of sense, KEEP AT IT. Don't worry that it's not perfect, don't worry about people liking it, don't even worry about yourself liking it. The point is to keep going, keep writing. Don't give up, don't doubt yourself. You can do it. I have faith in all of you.

If you feel you're behind, don't give up, just keep writing. Pick someone whose wordcount is close to yours and work to write past them. Pick someone else and challenge them to a word war. Work hard and keep those fingers typing.

Don't feel like you have enough time? Bring a notebook with you, write everywhere you go, everywhere you have a minute or two to write out one more sentence, one more word. Don't, however, write in the car if you're driving. It doesn't work so well.

We have so many people close to the line and so many people far above the daily dose of wordcount. For those of you not keeping track, your goal for today is 13,336 words. If you're past that, keep going! If you're at that line, take a second to rest on your laurels and then keep going! If you're below the line, see above, rinse and repeat as desired. I have faith in all of you. Keep at it!

Finally, keep healthy. Drink lots of fluids, eat healthy meals. This may be a competition of the mind, but your body is what keeps your fingers clicky clacking on the keyboard. Treat yourself well and take your vitamins.

Keep writing!
-Kitty
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USA :: Colorado :: Fort Collins

Sneakers for horses?

kittygomeowr — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:54:04 +0000

So I know practically nothing about horses except that I'm vaguely terrified of them in real life. Since it seems as if there are a couple of people in here who know something about them, I figured I'd post this here.
I have a point in my plot that has horses wearing "sneakers" basically to keep their hooves quiet on cobblestones. Now, normally, these horses have shoes and all that, but I'm wondering if any of you have any suggestions on giving them sneakers. The quasi-era for my novel setting is post apocalyptic proto-victorian, so no plastics, but any other materials would probably work.
Any ideas on how I can make my horses sneaky? Also, this would probably have to be something that could be taken off easily as well as not have a detrimental effect on the horses themselves. Even if this is fiction, I don't think we need to go around injuring animals in the name of science. :)
Thanks!
-Kitty
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