Who the heck are you? (stickied!)

Hi! I'm Kayinay (Krissy). I'm a first-time NaNo and I'm doing it with my best friend (also a first time) but we're so excited! I'm in Gilbert, so it's great that there's going to be events nearby. Even though I've never written 50k words for one thing, I think I can do it for NaNo. *hopes*

I play badminton (yes, that sport with the birdies) and my high school /actually/ has a team (seriously). I also do winter colorguard (the flag-girls with the marching band). I'm totally going to come to some of the write-ins and events because it seems like NaNo will be such a great experience if I try a little of everything (even if I don't get 50k words, which I will).

My story has seven parts about the seven world wonders and there are three characters. Beyond that, I haven't planned much yet. XD That will probably be what I'm doing for the 30x30 challenge (plotting out my NaNo story). I'm not, actually, nervous, but seriously psyched for everything to start!

Halllooooo!!! I am Sotalia, aka Denise, and this will be my third year in NaNo. I didn't make it in 2006, but last year I not only completed my novel, I did so in 22 days! Of course, I now hate the story I wrote...

I am 29 years & 68 months old (hee!), and I work as a production manager for a print and graphics company in Tempe. I live in central Phoenix with 2 cats, a boyfriend and way too many damned fish. I'm an Internet nerd to the nth degree and I spend all my free time writing, reading, or surfing the net for random entertainment. I do spend a lot of time on Myspace and Facebook as well, and I have three blogs that I don't update.

My 2008 NaNo novel is a planned affair, which is different from the past two years. I'm really excited about the story, as it features characters I've been living with and writing for over a year. This is an all-new adventure for them and has a touch of the supernatural, which is truly my element. Last year's was a chick lit that although I had an easy time writing and finishing it, I pretty much think it's crap now that so much time has passed.

Next!

Hi, I'm Jandu (AKA Jim ), and this will be my second year doing NaNoWriMo. Yep, I won last year. I'm in the East Valley and belong to a writing group (East Valley Writers - Fantasy Novels ) . We are a group of 8 writers working on speculative fiction novels. Last year four of our members participated in NaNo and 3 of us won -- the fourth had an excellent excuse!

This year I'm tossing around the idea of doing a female paranormal detective. :)

Last year our group hosted a number of writeins in both Mesa and Gilbert and I expect we will again this year. When I have more information I will post it to the East Valley Thread (what? we don't have a thread yet?).

I just looked at my 'info' and guess I will be forced to update it. I'm not really 64 anymore LOL

We requested an East Valley region, which will hopefully be up by October 1st. Lindsey is getting to the requests as quickly as she can. We'll let you know as soon as it's all set!

Welcome! Even if you don't win, it's still a great experience. Katantion is an awesome ML, and I know she's working her butt off to make sure you guys have fun this year.

I'm glad you're doing the 30x30 challenge! I'm really excited to see how it goes this year, as it's the first time I've done it. It will be an adventure for all of us!

Oh noes! Not you again! :p

*gigantic cheesy evil grin*

You can't get rid of me that easily.

*enter villainous laugh here*

2006 - The Sandcastle (died at 20k) - FAIL!
2007 - Snapshots From the Ashes (54K) - WIN!

I'll try harder this year. Bwahaha!

Hello fellow peeps...

I'm faerieborn... or Fae... or Dina. Hehe. And many more that go on and on... I joined last year for a big whopping fail but this year I'm going to stick to my guns. I want to actually go to the meetings this year. I'm kinda crowd shy so I know I always found reasons to not be able to make it. So this year I will be coming to see you all... just you wait. LOL.

Um... I'm 23. A massage therapist and mom. I write nearly daily with a buddy online so I'm going to try to focus that on a piece that is all me... Um... I'm really into all sorts of writing and do a little of everything and I do plan to join the 30 x 30 thing. So I think I"m going to just get some things going for this... I can't waiting to meet some fellow writers!!!

I really can't express how much I want to get out and have fun with this... this year isn't going to be like last, and I'm going to break out of my shell!

Fae.

Hiya! My name is Wolf and this is my first year entering NaNoWriMo. I really think it will be fun, but maybe a bit hard. I also think that this might help me break out of my shell. My story is going to be awesome! ...I hope... Lol.

~Wolf

Greetings from Mesa, AZ. I'm Tower_Keeper AKA insp_nelson (also known as Chris). This will be my fourth year at NaNo. '05 and '06 were failures, last year was a success and I finished on the afternoon of Thanksgiving (23rd). All three years I have written fantasy stories but this year I'm trying something entirely different.

My listed genre is Historical Fiction but I go by the genre of...

Historical Romantic Religious Suspenseful Thrilling Mystery with a hint of horror.

I'm a Lifer at Wal-mart (just reached 12 years!) and currently working in Meat and Seafood. I'm married with two children, three dogs, 1 cat, 1 gerbil, 1 rabbit and some assorted fish.

That's pretty much it for me. Thanks!!

Chris

Hi, I'm Megan. This is my fourth year doing NaNo, but last year was the first time I made it past 50K.

I'm 24 and I live in the PV/Scottsdale area. I work at REI as an auditor, which basically means I'm in charge of all the money (not sure how that happened, since I loathe math and always have), and also have a part-time job as an SAT and GRE prep instructor for Kaplan. In my semi-nonexistent spare time, I play on a soccer team down in Tempe, volunteer at the botanical garden, and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.

I'm also loving that the forums are up early, except that I was planning to use the time before October 1 to work on planning my novel, since out of nowhere my idea decided to transform from historical fiction to fantasy. Watch, I'll probably spend October worldbuilding, and then on November 1st realize it's actually chick lit or something. Gah!

Hi!

You can just call me by my handle Scuzzimei, or Meimei if you prefer. I've used this handle so long on-line, most people know me by it instead of my real name. LOL This is my second time at Nanowrimo. I failed the year before last, and couldn't participate last year. So I'm back this year to try again! I'm really excited about it!

I'm 29 and work in sales, with some cake decorating on the side. I'm a lifetime sci-fi and fantasy geek. My hobbies include video games, rpgs, cake decorating, and alot of reading - books, comic books, mangas, just about anything I can get my hand on. I'm fascinated by history, anything paranormal, and dinosaurs. My favorite authors are Michael Crichton, Christopher Stasheff, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Though my sister introduced me to Jim Butcher, and I'm fast becoming a fan of his work, too.

I never made it to any of the meetings the first year. I'm hoping to make atleast one this year, but that depends on the price of gas since I live in very north phoenix. LOL

Since the first year I tried sci-fi, I figured this year I'd go for Fantasy. Maybe I'll actually get to 50K!

Hi All,

It's a great pleasure to meet you all. My name is Stacy Mantle (no cool name to log in with yet) and I live in Scottsdale, AZ. I'm a 39 year old freelance writer (and have been for the last 10 years) - primarily making a fairly decent living through magazine articles, copywriting for numerous companies, curriculum design, etc., etc.

I do have 3 published books that are all nonfiction, and have written 22 short titles for the children's market (selfpublished, 2 languages). I'm really interested in becoming a full time novelist and this will be my second complete manuscript. The first was historical fiction and I'm not sure there is a huge market for the novel right now. I'm also not sure it is high-quality enough to publish, so I haven't submitted it.

I am currently about 60k words into a paranormal/urban fantasy (my first in this genre as I have been terrified of vampires since I was a child). Ironically enough, I feel like it is one of my better works. This competition is more of a tool to help me finish the novel I'm on, which will require at least another 50k words. I hope that I can still be in the group, as I would also love to meet some fellow writers in AZ.

Life has been very busy. While I am working on this novel, I have to keep the bills paid, so besides freelancing, I own PetsWeekly.com (all you animal lovers out there be sure to sign up for the newsletter!), as well as GrokQuest (a publishing company that specializes in children's activities books.) I am also working on my MBA right now, and am married with two great stepchildren, 3 dogs (one a coyote/wolf hybrid), 18 cats (yep - seriously) and a turtle (who is the best pet!). So bear with me on time...

You can find me at any of the following:
www.petsweekly.com
www.grokquest.com
www.myspace.com/stacymantle (please add me as your friend!)
http://www.redroom.com/author/stacy-mantle

I am excited to meet such a great group! Thanks for having me!

Best,
Stacy Mantle, Author
"Audentis Fortuna Iuvat" - Virgil

Hello!

My name is Liz, I am 24 and I'm a writer. :) I am a nanny for the money, go to school for the insanity and write for pure glee. I am recently married. (May 11th :)) and I am happy and gleeful. This is good news as that is when I write the best.

I have NO CLUE what my novel is going to be this year but in the end it will be cheesy and romantic, and I get the feeling it will be with baseball as I am a bit of a nut. Beyond that, it will be good to just feel myself writing full time again.

I live in North Scotttsdale, and work in the PV area and I have gone to write ins. I can't wait to do so again.

Hello, all and sundry.
I'm Gavin (but I go by Sir Gimp or Abalidoth online) and this is my third year doing NaNo. My first year was a success, but my second year... well, let's just say that I got hammered with a combination of schoolwork and sophomore slump. So we'll see how it goes this time around.
I'm a math major (Yes! A mathematician! Doing NaNoWriMo! RUN AWAY!) at Arizona State University. I live in Tempe with my beautiful fiancee, who I haven't yet managed to talk into doing NaNo with me. I'm a complete sci-fi nerd, and I have this weird compulsion that everything I write, and most of the things I read, have to have either a sci-fi or fantasy element to them. My first year I did a hideously cliche space western, my second year I did a fairly original urban fantasy thing, and this year I'm doing a Regency-era romance with ghosts and robots.
Looking forward to doing write-ins... only got to attend one my first year, and none my second. If anyone at ASU wants to start up a little group, send me a PM!

Helloo out there! I'm an avid writer, ever since I learned the alphabet. Literally. One of my first memories is rewriting Cinderella, because the original wasn't to my satisfaction.

I'm a high school student, learning Spanish, fiddle (not violin), teaching myself mandolin (it's not going well) and some basic quantum physics concepts. Funfun! Life makes it very hard to write the rest of the year, so Nanowrimo is my savior. Hallelujah and a gigantic cup of coffee to all!

Seems like this is the year everyone's cracking open their shells like stepped-on crabs. I shall follow in their majestic writerly footsteps and make friends this year! Whoohoo! Writers all, unite amidst your manic labors, and we may all emerge victorious!

Hey everyone! I live in Phoenix (I just moved to Arizona a few months ago, actually), and this will be my first year participating in NaNoWriMo. Now that I'm a college grad (and have no homework), I feel like I can actually dedicate enough time to make it all the way through.

I work as a social worker during the day, but during my time off I love to read, swim, hike, and spend entirely too much time on the computer :)

I'm definitely interested in getting together with other NaNoWriMo-ers. The only other people I know of who are participating are my siblings, and they're several states away from me. It'll be nice to just meet some more AZ people, too.

Extraordinarily off-topic: I just looked at everyone's location and was very amazed that we were all from Arizona. And then, genius that I am, I remembered this was the region forum.

It's amazing I can put my clothes on in the morning.

Hi, I'm Mary, usually known as Tam.

I don't make it to write-offs, since I don't drive. (I *can*...I just don't. =p) I just moved from Tempe to Goodyear, and that's made life interesting and less mobile. ~sigh~

I've been doing NaNo for ages, now. lol I've only lost once, and it was on a novel I didn't care about. I've won four times, and I thrive on the chaos and camaraderie NaNo brings.

I'm currently working on a novel idea that hit me this summer, so I have no idea what I'll be doing for NaNo this year. I'm also a World of Warcraft addict, I've been playing in the beta of the next expansion that is due mid-November, and I love it. That's going to make NaNoing VERY difficult!

I hope someone's handing out miracles this year. I'm going to need one. lol

Hey, another East-sider here. :)

I'm 29 years old, a wife and mother and crazy dog lady. I'm into music, books, photography, amateur astronomy, and historical re-enactment. I write fantasy -- the forbidden genre, oh noez!

I think this will be my 5th time attempting NaNo, with not a single success under my belt. Something about the experience is too irresistible to pass up, even though I know I'm never going to be able to devote the kind of time necessary to winning. So I guess that makes me crazy.

Just another from the East Valley here! I'm Lori, currently live in Chandler, attending ASU (go sundevils!). This is my second nano, last year I came close but failed, this year I have less to do, so I'm optimistic.

I don't know what I'm going to do for my novel this year, I have several plots floating around in that vast cave I call a brain, I think I'm just going to sit down on November 1st and see which one pops out. Spontaneity is the spice of live!

Interests: I love to dance! About as much as I love to write, which never ceases to surprise me. I only started dancing four years ago, but I've loved writing/reading my entire life, which is why it surprises me, but it's just so much fun! :-) I also love science, and I'm just about the biggest nerd you can find. l

That pretty much sums me up! I look forward to November! Friend me if you want

It looks like my original post was eaten by the server death, so I'm posting again.

I'm Beth, and I live in Buckeye. I've participated in Nano since 2002 and won every year except for 2005 (because my hubby returned from deployment), so I have a pretty good record. I have two solid novels from my efforts, one of which I am currently shopping to agents who requested partials at a writer's conference. I've also been freelancing and sending out queries for shorter writing pieces; I have a story in the newly published book "The Ultimate Cat Lover" by HCI Books.

My everyday life is pretty dull. I'm a stay-at-home mom to an autistic 3-year-old; he's now attending preschool four days a week, and I'll be utilizing that time for my writing. I read constantly, scrapbook, and enjoy rummaging around in thrift stores. I boast of having one of the largest collections of Dragon Quest slimes in the country.

I've been preparing for this year's Nano since February, and I'm really anxious for it to start so I can finally write this thing!

I am Buckshot George (also called Jason). I am a 32 year old rock n roll musician and social beer drinker. I play in Phoenix area rock band The Earps. I also have a boring full-time desk job and I am something of a bicycle advocate. Lately I have been reading Kurt Vonnegut, Harry Crews and Hunter S. Thompson. I have not owned a television since the late 1990s. When I grow up, I want to either be a cowboy, the leader of a harmless UFO cult, a barbeque chef or... just a writer.

I am a first time Nano. I have never written a full-length novel although I have made several aborted attempts. I can be added on myspace at www.myspace.com/georgiefame if you are into that social networking thing.

Nice meeting you guys. I've been looking forward to this for nearly a year. I just learned about Nanowrimo a month after it was over in 2007. Bummer.

Cheers
Buckshot George

Hey, hey. My name is Ryan. You can call me that because it's much easier to type than my screen name. I'm 22, attending ASU (go Sun Devils!) as an English Lit. Major. I hope to graduate in the spring.

I'm a pretty laid back guy. I watch a lot of movies (somewhere in the realm of 1600 in the past three years), read a lot of books, play Rock Band. Do the class thing. Do the homework thing (but not as often as I should). Am currently on the job hunt (bad time for it but couldn't be help).

I've attempted NaNoWriMo many times before. I've never won, I don't work well with long form stories, but I'm always optimistic. Except this year. Because I'm not writing a novel for NaNo. Working on my submission portfolio for MFA programs, and I'm going to use Oct. and Nov. to work on my short fiction, which is really my strong suit. I'm going to try and keep up the 1600 some-odd words a day, though, as if I were doing NaNo.

I'm Kylen, as my user name suggests, but you can call me Ky, Greg, Or KyGreg. This is my first year, and I hope to hit the fifty thousand mark. I'm currently at Collins College, in the Game Dev program.

My likes include steampunk, cyberpunk, anime, anthros, catgirls, FireFly, swords, caffeine, anime, chocolate, romance, sword fights, caffeine, guns, gunfights, action, movies, and many other things.

Did I mention caffeine?

I'm actually new to the Valley area, having moved down here from Ohio, and I'm in the Tempe area, so if anyone shows up to the McClintock Starbucks, have a sign so I can point you out!

I think I know what I'm doing this year, but I don't have as much planned out as some of my friends do, but I figure I'll just let it flow, and hope to hit that 50k mark. I've found i don't do well when I force ideas to be written.

I'm Smashinator. You may call me Smash. Or Smashy, if you prefer to end nicknames with a (sometimes) vowel.

This is my 3rd Nano attempt. I've won the last two years. Last year's novel was a grueling ordeal because I wrote action-action-action with little description, and ran out of plot around 45k words. Two epilogues and a bonus scene later, I hit 50k, accidentally started a fight with my wife, and swore off NaNo. Worst victory ever.

This year's novel will be the third in my series of Holy Rollers novels, concerning the present-day adventures of two out-of-work deities.

Any other novel-bloggers out there?

Mornin, folks. I'm Guin (just pronounce it Jenn). I live in Phoenix, work in retail, and write when I can find my muse. My everyday life got turned upside down this past March, and my muse (Pixie, a nasty little faerie) chose to desert me, for the most part. Nasty little faerie.

But, the good news is, she seems willing to return for Nano. (I know this because she pulled out her sledgehammer last night, and whaled on me with it, giving me the title for this year's book. But... because of her finickiness, I dare not attempt the 30x30.

This is my second year doing this, and last year, miracle of miracles, I won. (I tried something different and difficult, took a full week off, and had to leave town (and my computer) during the last week!)

I am, again, trying something different. As in, not (I think) Post- Apocyliptic. No guarrantees there, though. After all, it is all up to Pixie.

If you like, you can find me at www.myspace.com/glward

Hi, everyone! I'm Jillian (jilli_naima on NaNo). This is my first year participating. I've wanted to do NaNo for a long time and now that I am out of law school, I don't really have any more excuses for not joining in!

My stats: I'm 33, married, no kids, one (very spoiled) cat. By day I am the IS Audit Manager for CVS Caremark. I live in North Phoenix (Tatum/101), but I get to Tempe quite often, so you can sometimes find me and my laptop in Coffee Plantation on Mill. I write all the time, but I haven't been officially published since I was 11 (not counting my blog and various websites).

My novel: I have a name, I sort of have the world planned out, and the characters are really "talking" to me lately...so I think I'm ready!

Since I'm a newbie, any and all tips/tricks are appreciated (other than large quantities of coffee - I got that addiction down cold...er...hot!)...

Hi Everyone!

I tend to go by Drew. I'm in Mesa, so I will be looking forward to that Region change, but anyway, I'm 29, doing Nano for my third year, and hoping for my third win. I'm currently living with a roommate who also plans to do Nano. Both of my previous winners were Sci-Fi. I'm going to do something with a modern day paranormal twist and see how long I can go before completely blowing it out of proportion.

I also am living with 11 cats. want one? anyone? Please? The roommate collects baby cats and bottle raises them. We have so many, all looking for a good home, so if you can provide for them, PLEASE send me a message!