*****Introduce Yourself Here! at KanMoWriCo

Welcome to NaNoWriMo 2009! It's great to have you in KanMoWriCo.

My name is inkwet_image, and I'll be your ML!  I also answer to Esther, but I typically use inkwet online.  This is my 5th year of NaNo, my 3rd year as a Municipal Liaison, and it will be my 4th year to cross 50k.  It may also be my 1st year to have absolutely no clue what I'm going to write about.  ;)  With poetT, I'll be there to cheer you on, answer questions, and drink more coffee than you do.

Before my first NaNo, I had hardly written one thousand words... I was hung up, stuck, on the idea of writing well. But when a friend pushed me into NaNo, I discovered the open doorway of writing badly. ;) You'll be amazed what we can do once we give ourselves that freedom to get started. The great things are in there, waiting to be found.

I can't stay away because I think this epic is a great personal adventure--each of you is going to discover remarkable things about yourself and your creativity, about what you can do. I can't wait to see all that we accomplish!

Hello! I'm Shanya Almafeta, a recent transplant from Virginia (ultimately from Florida), student at UMKC (computer science), four-time entrant, one-time winner. I've written science fiction or games each of those times, and I figure I'll try what worked again.

I'll be trying to make it to some of the Kansas City meets (previous years, I lived in Backwater, Virginia; my nearest companion in this competition was about a hour and a half away!).

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Mishaela or Mish, I answer to both just about anywhere and everywhere. NaNo year two for me. Whooo-hoo!

I love the challenge this gives. Write fast, write hard, and writer's block be damned!

Still without a car, unfortunately, so attending any Write-Ins is next to impossible on top of my work schedule. I'm a third-shifter so most times I'm sleeping in the middle of the day, though I tend to get less when I've got my teeth sunk deep into a writing idea. It's the one time during the year when being an insomniac actually helps me. I'm used to running on three or four hours (if I'm lucky) of sleep a day.

And this is how I am without caffeine. I'm worse when I have a regular intake of that thrice-blessed substance.

Last year, when I signed up for NaNo, I was like a kid in a candy store. This year, I'm worse. I figure, the closer it gets to November 1st, the more likely it is for my fellow co-workers to have to rake me off the ceiling. Again, I'll be begging folks to let me borrow their cars on my lunchbreaks so I can write in peace out of the biting cold that always seems to flood our part of the US at this time of the year.

One of the things I'm trying to organize, in larger scale this year, is an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) NaNo Circle. It worked out really well last year for encouragement and whatnot. Just pop what your word count is (i.e. XXX/50,000 - I keep a calendar with daily totals on my wall over the comp desk) and if you're doing okay. If you're lagging or need some encouragement, someone will probably toss you an IM to give you a perk-up or outlet. We had a small group this last year, but I'd like to see it much bigger this year.

Anyhow, if you've got AIM, I'm under the SN "MishaelaMK" there. Just toss me a message if you see me on (even if I'm idle) and I'll add you to the NaNo Circle list in my BL.

Well, enough outta me. Good luck to everyone! May your pens be ever wet and your ideas plentiful!

~ Mish

"I don't merely write a story. I slit the wrists of my soul, bleeding it out in a readable form and hope that someone else can make sense of it."

~2008 - Dragonrise 50,562
~2009 - Witchery

Almafeta, welcome to Kansas City! We’re glad for you to join us—we’d love to cheer you to your second win. If you’re eager to meet people, you can come this Sunday.

Welcome back, Mish! Sounds like you’re already ready to go! The AIM circle sounds like a great way to connect an encouraging group. I hope you get a lot of takers, so you can share that enthusiasm. :)

Hello! I'm Darah, Sarah being my real name.

This is my first year with NaNo and I'm super excited to get started. I'm trying to distract myself with another story of mine but it's not working. Lol.

I joined NaNoWriMo to see just how far I can push myself. I've never written so many words for one story much less in a month, so this ought to be interesting.

Looking forward to writing with you all!

Hey everyone, My name is Kendra but it seems that I either go by thediarywithin or d.w on the forums. This is my fourth year of Nanowrimo and my third year being an ML. I am the ML on the forums of Kansas:Elsewhere and Kansas:Emporia. I go to Emporia State so I am often there especially since this past summer I got married to my best friend and we live down there. But I thought I introduce myself here because I often pop in time and time again also because on some weekends I'll be in Johnson County. I am willing to give people an extra push by saying that they either get to name a character or tell me how to kill a character in my novel if they reach so many words. Also I like to do the crazy challenges and go to 100K or write three Nanowrimo's in one November. Trust me don't do it unless you are ready for the challenge. But this year I am still thinking of taking it slow as I have no plot and I have to write a whole novel and edit it by the end of the school semister. Too bad I couldn't use it for Nanowrimo but i had to start writing it back in August. Oh well...

HI everyone! I am Rachael. I am 25 years old, this is my second year doing NaNo. I live in Lees Summit and I am curious to know if there are write-ins close to that area. I am a little nervous about write-ins as I don't really do good meeting people, but I thought this year I might give it a try. Maybe! Anyway, I am looking forward to getting to know all of you and hopefully this will be a successful year!

------
NaNo 2008 - When the Lights Go Out - WINNER (60,714)
NaNo 2009 - Promise Land

I have lost my mind.
Care to help me find it?
Oh ... You have lost yours too.

Darah, there you are! I was hoping you'd find your way back after relaunch. Just because you haven't written much before doesn't mean you can't. November is permission to blow through all your old bars. I think I said, my longest story before NaNoWriMo2005 was about 3300 words. It can be done!

dw, long time no see! Congratulations on your marriage. Maybe we'll see you at a write-in this November.

Welcome back, rachael.leann. ditty1013 has been heading up write-ins in Lee's Summit the last coupla years. Otherwise, you can always start your own. I'll start the November Write-in thread; that's where we'll get you connected to the support of real live wrimos!

poetT / Teri
ML in the black hat

I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more... or Missouri for that matter. But that doesn't mean I won't be keeping tabs on my original home region. This is my fifth year participating, I've won the last two - thanks in no small part to some of the friends I've made along the way. Sadly, I have recently relocated so I won't be able to do anything more than write virtually alongside most of you this year. But I'll be around. I'll likely poke my head into this forum on occasion, taunt one or two individuals and then head back to my own little world. And it is possible that I'll be back in Kansas City at some point during the month... if so, I'll drop in on anything going on. Good luck to everyone in KC!

Adjectives on the typewriter
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside the cell
-Cake

JM!!! You'd better drop in! I was afraid we'd have to come looking for you. We don't care if you've slipped into an alternate state of reality; just click your heels together and say, "There's no place like KanMo; there's no place like KanMo!"
Of course, if we challenge your new digs to a word war, yer goin' down.
And your little cats too.

You had BETTER drop in. It's pretty much a rule. :)

Hello! I'm ladymajnai (also known as ladyabaxa or just abaxa elsewhere on the interwebs) and this is my third year doing NaNoWriMo. Last year I started a sci-fi novel set in an alternate star system but I ran into some roadblocks because of problems understanding what the main antagonists - who amazingly had very little screen time last year because my human characters kept wanting to talk to each other - wanted, desired, and had access to technology wise. In order to break through that blockade I decided to write another sci-fi novel this year but from the perspective of the alien invaders. So far I'm having a lot of fun pulling a set of alien customs out of my bum.

Unfortunately as I do not own a vehicle I am not planning on attending any write-ins this year. However, I'm still cheering the rest of y'all on from here.

I would insert a signature here but a dancing chicken stole it.

http://ladyabaxa.livejournal.com/

Hi, I'm Kit. This is my SIXTH NaNo (holy crap) and potentially my fifth win.

However, I am currently in the midst of the most difficult semester of my life, which will soon be compounded by having a job at an ice rink (come visit me!), so um, if I actually do win, it will be the Greatest NaNo Achievement of My Life.

I'm here because unbeknownst to me-at-age-fifteen, back in 2004, what I needed in my life was the goal of writing a novel every year, come hell or high water or college biology classes. I knew that no matter what happened during the rest of the year, no matter if I couldn't seem to make any time to write, November would come along and I would be putting words together to make a story. Even if they were terribly-arranged words. Even if they were REALLY terribly-arranged words.

The thought of NOT doing NaNo no longer even crosses my mind. It's just how my year goes. Celebrate New Year's, get out of school, enjoy summer break, have a birthday, do NaNo, eat turkey, do a little more NaNo, get presents, etc. So the cycle goes. NaNo's stuck in there for better or for words. (CWIDT?)

I keep coming back because it's a part of my life, and so are the people. This year I managed to go to write-ins almost every month, which I didn't manage other years. I met lots of these people at TGIO in 2005, and they are definitely a big reason why I keep doing NaNo. It's just FUN to get together with a bunch of cool people who are insane in all the ways I am insane, e.g. thinking it's fun to write 50K-plus in thirty days. Also, they are super-nice people: they let me complain about my life at them, they bring me books and pictures, and they loan me Buffy DVDs. I love them a lot, even more than I love the crazy joy of making up a giant story in one month.

I don't know what I'm going to write about, and this is the latest I've ever gone without even having a shred of idea--but those shreds are finally starting to form. We shall see. I still have a month! I assume it'll be somewhere in the realm of scifi/fantasy, but last year's realism attempt went stunningly well, so maybe I'll head in that direction. Who knows.

Hi hi hi!!!! Dolphin, Teri, Esther, JM!!!
I'm Eri, and this will be my 3rd NaNo! I find NaNoWrimo to be inspiring and empowering and it helps to have people to share in the craziness.
I can't come to the 10/10 kickoff at the library because I'll be out of town celebrating my mom's 80th birthday. But I'll be there 10/25.
I might be writing about vampires this year because I've never written about vampires.
But I'm not sure.
Maybe it'll be all kittens and apple-picking.
Doing NaNo the first time kept me from suicide. Seriously. Doing it the second year helped me learn some of my limitations and what I wanted to go beyond.
Third time's the charm? For what I do not know!
Cheers!
Eri
PS, I'm a librarian at the Corinth branch of the Johnson County Library. For all your research needs....

Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.

Hello everyone!

I'm Melissa (Mel), and this is my 4th year for NaNoWriMo. I realized today that it is October, November is rapidly approaching, and I don't have a clue as to what I'm going to write. Maybe I'll get lucky and figure it out before October 31st - we'll see.

I'm looking forward to indulging in massive amounts of caffeine, good conversation, and writing challenges at the write-ins scheduled this year.

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

Hello, BurntEyes. I hope your sci-fi attempt is astronomical! You might not know, but the Young Writer’s Program is NaNoWriMo specially designed for your age group. We want to make sure you’re plugged in in the write place. Good luck to you!

ladymajnai, welcome back for another NaNo! Your P.O.V. flip sounds like an excellent writing experience. Have fun with it, and tell us how it’s going!

Kit. Hey you. You know we’ll encourage you, even if you need to focus more on the death-defying academic adventures. (Of course, I will still pick on you and distract you with odd humor.) It sounds like everything you write this year will be a personal feat, so good luck and get ready!

Hi there, Eri; good to see you back! You're right about the inspiring... I look forward to seeing what this third year has for you, too. Maybe it'll be apples and kittens and vampires--oh my!

Hiya, Mel! Great to see you! You’re not the only one with no clue what to write. Either we’ll figure it out over the next month, or we’ll start a Fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants club. Either way, it’ll be another great year.

Hello all! My name's Brittany, or Yasaibatake, or Yasai if you don't want to write that whole word out. I live out in southern OP and study French Education up at UMKC (a very special hello to my fellow Roos out there!). This will be my third NaNo; in the past, I've written science fiction and fantasy, but this year I'm writing romance. Despite the fact that this my student teaching year, I've decided that I want to write two novels this year. Because, you know, my life wasn't complicated or busy enough as is :) I have a few ideas, but they still need a lot of development; I normally don't outline either but maybe this year I will try some light outlining to help keep me a little closer to on track. Ah, well, that's what October is for, right?

Sexy is indeed a word. ~Luke

I have joined the livejounal world! http://profdumonde.livejournal.com/

Yo! I respond to the code name mike oleary. I am a triple agent spy and this is my first time doing Nano. I'm afraid of long walks on the beach (fair skin ya'know, land sharks, mechanical things in the waves), I can't hold my liquor but I can carry a watermelon.
You may never see me at a write-in or a kick-off, but I'll be around. Maybe not where you are, but if you want to find me for lunch, whisper into the tree.
The butterfly sings a song you can barely hear and the fish hums the words alone.

Is that Luke, Darth's boy or MMLJ the Fab Four?
sexy either way.

MLs, guard your candy. I'm hungry and will win.

Yasai, it was good to see you through the year at write-ins. Student teaching, 2 novels in a new genre? Well, we'll be here to hold you up!

Mike O'Leary didn't happen to mention that this is going to be his NINTH year overachieving at NaNo (do I hear 150K this year? hmmmm?). Or that he just pretends to be invisible. If you find yourself floundering and need a push of encouragement, he's the man--send him a NaNoMail. He is the shadow support behind a lot of what goes on in KanMoWriCo.

And, Mike, I don't care if you're going to be wearing your MI triple agent mask or not, you'd better RSVP for at least one of those Kick-Offs!

poetT / Teri
ML in the black hat

Hi, everyone!

This is my second official NanoWriMo and I plan to win this year. Last year I got close at 38,000 words but was defeated by technological mishaps in the wee hours of November 30.

I was too busy getting the hang of things to spend much time in the forums last year, but I'd like to change that this time. I hope to attend some of the local write-ins, too. It sounds like a lot of fun.

I loved my experience last year. It was great having a crazy deadline to push toward and I ended up writing more than I ever had before on a project. I look at this challenge as an opportunity to learn and improve -- and to have fun doing it.

I do have the beginnings of a story idea, but it's just general fiction -- or at least, that's how it seem right now. Last year a peripheral bit player ending up writing himself into a subplot that took up a quarter of my novel and then he went and changed my planned ending. Don't you love it when that happens?

I'm ready for anything this year.

I may not be a C.B., but I shall do something yet. -- Louisa May Alcott about Charlotte Bronte

Hi, everyone! I go by mylaurel on here, and this is my first year in Kansas City and third year as a NaNo writer. I managed to complete my first year, but had to drop out my second year, as it was my last semester before graduating/student teaching, and I didn't have enough hours or brain cells.

So I'm recently graduated and working part-time. I'm planning to write YA Fantasy. I hope I can attend some of the write-ins, and I would go to the pre-parties, but I have to work during both, sadly. But I'm really excited for this year, I have some cool ideas and can't wait to get writing!

Good luck to everyone!

Hey all, teamevil here.

Fifth year doing this, still trying to finish an entire story in the 30 day, and hoping to control my issue with diarrhea of the keyboard while not writing as much as last year.

I do this because it keeps me from playing in traffic (I wanted to say it kept me out of the bars, but to be honest sometimes it lands me in them).

Anywho, good luck everyone.

I'm normally not a forum person, but I figure I should do this right. None of that lurking business.

I'm Missy/Melissa/Mel/Lissa/whatev. I hang with the Lawrence group (KU student) during the year, so I'll be participating in their NaNo efforts. Still, I think it'd be silly not to take advantage of write-ins closer to home and lots of new NaNo friends.

I have a billion and one writing projects going on between school and the paper (I'm a KU columnist, the '09 Science Fiction Scholar, working on my honors thesis, and taking all writing classes), but who can't squeeze in more? Between the Lawrence writing group and support from KU faculty, I've been working on making my writing goals more of a priority in life. NaNo just seems like a natural result of that.

I made one prior NaNo "attempt." I stumbled across it, wrote a few pages, decided I was way too busy. Now that I realize I will always be too busy, this year's efforts won't be half as lame. I'm in it to win it.

http://www.happygothproductions.com
http://twitter.com/melissalytton

Well, Untamed Shrew, 38K was a great first try. Your determination is going to see you to 50K this year, I'd bet. We'll be glad to see you at a write-in.

mylaurel, welcome to the KC area; I hope you get connected here in a new-to-you NaNo location. Don't forget to change your Home Region; we want to add your 50K to our KanMoWriCo grand totals!

teamevil, I really admire your dogged dedication to pumping out those words and to that huge task of editing. It's been great having you as a year-round-write-in regular.

Wow, SweetNightshade, you have a prolific stretch ahead of you. I think you could give me some pointers! When you're in the KC area, this is the place to connect. We'll see--someone may start an Olathe or southern Overland Park write-in, as last year.

poetT / Teri
ML in the black hat

*sheepishly enters* Hi.

My name's Katy; I'm a junior at Shawnee Mission East. 16 going on 17, yadda yadda yadda... anyway.

This will be my third year doing NaNo -- first time on this new username, haha. I actually won last year... first year, not so much. I spend most of my time doing word wars in the chatroom, and last year I met so many great people through that (: And I'm a constant forum-stalker, but I'm not too good at posting.

I've never been to a write-in... maybe this year will be a first? Haha. I can't drive and I don't imagine my parents would be too willing to drive me to some coffee house with a bunch of "old" internet people, but maybe I can convince them :)

I've been working on a plot for the past few months but I think I'm going to scrap it. It just doesn't entice me. Oh well, we'll see! Got a month to re-plot, right?

Hi all! I'm Rachel, this is my . . . .fourth or fifth year, I can't remember now. I actually made it out to some of the write-ins last year, and looking forward to doing that again this year! I'll be working on the same story I've been working for . . .ever. Wow. That sounds bad! Am hoping to be victorious this year, go me!

Hello!

I'm VirgoMaiden (LJ user name Madeline Bemel, fanfic name same as here, fictionpress same as LJ) and this will be my second year doing NaNoWriMo! I "won" last year, and I'd like to keep up the streak! I have about three story ideas currently competing for favor in my mind now, and we'll see how that ends up. : ) I usually write fantasy, but this year might be more realistic. Depending on the plot I follow.

I live in the Leawood/OP area, but I go to school in KCMO. So I guess I'm pretty flexible on transportation.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to attend more write-ins this year (since I'm more self-dependent on rides.) However, I'm still in school, so that has top priority on weekends. So I apologize in advance if I mess up on any RSVPs.

Also! I don't know if we do this here or not, but I would be pleased as punch to adopt someone this year! I was "adopted" last year (Brittany) and it went really well. : )

Nice to meet you all!

http://madelinebemel.livejournal.com

Hi Fellow KanMo Nanos,

I'm Simi - or Scoobie-Scoob. It's my first Nano. I'm pumped. See you all soon!

1667-a-day, hey hey!

Who you callin’ old, Katy?! ;) We’ll be happy to see you around, whether it’s posting or or at a write-in. If you're going to be one of our lurkers, just remember that you're welcome to jump in any time. Good luck with the re-plotting, if that’s the way you go.

Welcome back for another NaNo, Rachel. We’d love to see you more often. It sounds like you’re dedicated to this story--do you ever consider working on another? I hope it’s a great year for you!

Welcome back, Virgo. Sounds like you’re brimming with ideas. It would be great to see you at write-ins, but I’ll always agree that school should be a priority. Of course, I still want to see your second win!

Simi, welcome to the creative madness! Good luck with your first NaNo, and stay in touch... We’ll be cheering you on. See you on Saturday. ;)

I'm Linda. I'm always gung-ho about Nano. This is my 8th year and we'll see about my wins. It's been a little spottier than I'd like to admit.

This year I decided to add to my challenge by being pregnant and due at the beginning of December. (It might actually give me an advantage, I vaguely remember something about insomnia at the end of my last pregnancy.)

I don't know what I'm going to write yet but I'm sure it will be some sort of genius piece about teens, libraries, magic, and tomatoes. Naturally.

Good luck to you all. You guys are always an inspiration to me!