Welcome to NaNoWriMo 2009! Whether you're a new participant, a returning Spokane region author or a visitor from afar, please take a moment and introduce yourself here. Don't be shy, we've asked this of you before. =)
Share as much or as little as you like: How many times have you done NaNo? How many wins do you have under your belt? Do you know what you'll be writing yet, or are you winging it? What genre are you attempting this year? If you're visiting, what brings you to the Spokane lounge? If you're local, what part of town (or zipcode) do you live/work in? What's the biggest hurdle you must overcome to complete NaNo? Your proudest NaNo moment is - ? How did you find us? What's the real meaning behind your username?
Here's me:
My name is Dana and I'm one of your Municipal Liasons this year. I'm a middle-aged mother of three, living in Cheney. I've participated in NaNo for four years now, but since I'm middle-aged don't ask me to try and remember how I discovered it. j/k. Two of my children also participate, although not to the extent I'd like them to.
I am totally winging it this year - that seems to be my modus operendum. Don't fix what ain't broken, right? =) Usually I attempt some form of mystery or paranormal. I think I'll just close my eyes and pick one at random this year. Of course, that may kick me in the rear later on, but we'll go with it for now.
My biggest hurdle is making decisions - no, it's getting through the middle of the story - no, it's procrastinating - no, it's.... you see my dilema? My proudest moment? Helping a despondant Wrimo accomplish his goal last year - Yay!!
I really look forward to meeting most of you - either here, the chat room (it's coming soon, honest!) or in person at a write-in. Samantha is ultra busy with work, but I know she'll be around sometime.
Now it's your turn! =)
Oh - and my username? It's a very old RPG character of mine who's been hanging around since my teen years. She can be a pest sometimes.
----------
Dana
"This is a lot more fun when they're not shooting back!"
Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison
40,053 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 15 44
Hi everyone.
I'm a Gonzaga graduate as of April, and I'm moving back into town in about a week. I've signed up and "participated" for many years now, but this is my first NaNo post college. I found that November was just the WORST month to try to write a novel while I was a college student; it was the month all my term papers were due and all my finals were scheduled. Now that I'm out and (hopefully only temporarily) unemployed, I'm excited to give the goal more serious attention.
This year I'm writing a collection of related short stories (think Winesburg, Ohio or The Marian Chronicles).
----------"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."
- Mary Oliver
32,061 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 16 24
Hello All!
My name is Jenny. This is my third year nano-ing. Thus far I've managed to win each year so here's knocking on wood!
I live in North Spokane with the husband and two boys. I'm a full-time writer the other 11 months of the year--non-fiction though so November is the month I get to practice the writing I love that unfortunately doesn't pay the bills, yet. I usually write fun and light-hearted but somewhat twisted fantasy. Lately modern urban fantasy has been my thang.
As for my user name, back before marriage I traveled overseas a lot with just a backpack. I would come home long enough to earn a few bucks for the next plane ticket to somewhere. I highly recommend the life-style and plan on getting back into it once my boys are older :)
Hopefully this will be the year I make it to the kick-off event, I've been promising myself I would for two years now!
----------wordcount widgets
42,124 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 17 27
Hello everyone! I'm back again! This is SKSuncloud from EWU!
----------This year I'm working (very very hard) on doing a mystery story.
Also, I would be more than happy to help set up write-ins for the Cheney area. It's very hard to get into Spokane for all the write-ins unfortunately. T_T
Good luck to everyone this year!!
It's elementary, my dear Watson.
0 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 19 38
Well, I guess I'll report in semi-sorta official like.
I'm 29, live in Airway Heights, work on Fairchild in a civilian status. This is my first bout of this craziness, so wish me luck. I've had a story bouncing around my head for the last year and a half, and I think this will be a good driving force to try my hand at writing.
The story will follow a survivor of a worldwide epidemic that killed 99.9% of the world population, with lots of details on the actual skills of surviving (firecraft, shelter, etc.) and dealing with questions like cannibalism, preparation, theft for survival, etc. Kind of a how-to manual disguised with a story. Only a rough outline in my head so far, but I have lots of details to fill in the gaps.
I think my biggest hurdle will be time, plain and simple. That, and the occasional bout of procrastination.
I stumbled on NaNo by chance, just brousing around the net one day back in March 09.
The first part of my username comes from the Myst series of books. One of the main characters, Aitrus, is an explorer that finds his own path. I admire his outlook on life, his determination and his ethics. The second part, ak, stands for Alaska, the place where I was born and raised.
I'm looking forward to this thing. Should be fun!
----------You may not be able to outrun Death, but you can sure make the Bast@#d work for it!
- Opening line from an episode of Andromeda
13,257 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 19 58
Hi, I'm Shannon. This will be my 4th year. I have yet to win, but I'm determined that this is my year. I have made excuses about being too busy--kids, work, laundry--you get the picture, but no excuses, I'm in it for the long haul this year. I'm recently unemployed after my job of 7 years was sent overseas and I'm settling in to being a stay at home mom. My strategy this year is going to be, "the early bird gets the worm!" I plan to get up before the family and be at they keyboard when I am at my best--before dawn. I also hope to attend at least one write-in this year,so see you there!
6,133 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 20 17
I'm giving in to verbosity...
This will be my 5th NaNo... I've won 2 of the 4 I've attempted (though the first two, despite being under 50K, were more than I thought I'd manage). This year... I've absolutely no idea what I'll be writing. I always wing it, for the most part. I'll probably start thinking about the "what" in another week or two.
I live in the Spokane Valley, work just north of downtown Spokane. My biggest hurdle for completing NaNo is life. I'm hoping to have it all cleaned up, weeded out, and organized by October 26th (the day I have to be out of my storage unit or pay $79 a month... totally unjustifiable). I figure NaNo will be a breeze if I can wipe the stress and distractions out of my life.
Can we change our user names? Or must we create a whole new account in order to do so? Sadiqah has been my internet name for a long long time. That's the only reason behind it. It means "Honest/Sincere" or "(female) Friend" in arabic, depending upon pronounciation. I figure I pronounce both incorrectly, despite having taken Arabic language classes.
Oh, yeah... and I have just now, this very second, decided ... I'm going to do my "writing hat" again this year :) Or I guess it will really be the first time, since the first attempt failed so miserably (I tried making my own hat... and it just didn't turn out right).
Happy Weekend everybody!
----------Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn’t look up. Well, maybe once.
- Isaac Asimov
38,636 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 20 50
Hey, all! I'm Rachel/Rheill.
I'm 20 years old (as of about a month ago - saying 'goodbye' to my teens is really scary) and currently attending EWU.
My first NaNo was last year, and I won! Yay! It was such a fun and hectic experience that I've been looking forward to doing it again since the last one ended. SkSuncloud's my roommate again this year, so we'll be kicking each other's butts until we've hit that glorious 50,000.
My story this year is something that has existed for years but I never really knuckled down to writing. It's changed a lot during that time, and most of all in the last few months. It's going to be sci-fi with a bit of horror mixed in. We'll see how scary I can go without keeping myself up at night, yeah?
I look forward to meeting you all at write-ins and such!
42,240 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 21 31
Hey there all!
Glad to be back and really hope to meet most if not all of you this year. Trying to think of another place here in Cheney to hold some write-ins at since Cheney Delights closed...sigh that was THE BEST ice-cream.
Anyway alittle bit about me. My real name is Richard C. an artist who happens to be working at West as a 2nd level tech/cust service for AT&T. My favorite mediums for my art is photography (won some awards), painting, and theater.
I'm also in my second year of apprenticeship to Grandmother Pathweaver. Basicly I love to study and learn spirituality and metaphysics as much as I love the arts.
Have several ideas for this year. Not sure which one is going to happen until I sit down and start writting. My biggest hurdle is getting past the 25000 mark, then the procrastination kicks in and cleaning the litter box looks so much better than putting another word down. But the good news is that each year I've done this I've beat what I did the year before! YEA!!
I first learned about this from a poster on the door of 'The Tree Of Knowledge' bookstore in Cheney, in 2006 and have been hooked ever since.
My nick-name Spirit Bear is from a vision quest that I went on several years ago.
Have fun all!!
42,100 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2009 - 22 02
Yay! *waves to all her Cheney folks* Soo glad to see you guys came back! And hey there to all the rest of you early posters too! My husband is sighing as I type, I've been refreshing my laptop all night!
SK you're hired - now go find us a place please? LOL. Just kidding. There have been a few ideas - I'll start a new thread tomorrow listing them for comment.
In the meantime, keep posting your introductions. =) I love reading them!
----------Dana
"This is a lot more fun when they're not shooting back!"
Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison
4,513 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2009 - 00 05
Hello, my name is William. I live within walking distance of Gonzaga. Im thinking of writing mainstream fiction this year. I work at night during the weekdays so any meeting time i would attend would be on the weekends. My nickname is from a movie I find fascinating, with zeros in it instead of o's, because it makes a great online gaming id, which i stopped doing to focus more on school and writing. I cant wait to try this this year!
----------39,753 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2009 - 16 27
Hi! I'm Amanda and I just moved to Cheney from Tacoma at the beginning of the summer with my family. I'm going to attend BYU-Idaho in January (not my first choice, but that's my own fault I guess) and this will be my fourth NaNo. I'm hoping for a perfect four years! I found NaNo through a writer's forum I no longer go to, but found crazy NaNo friends both in real life and on another forum.
My NaNo experience sort of reminds me of a video game--every year there's a new quirk that makes it harder than the year before. The first year was pretty easy. Then the second year, my dad insisted on checking my homework and threatened to pull the plug on NaNo if I missed a single assignment. The third year, I had college applications to finish by December 1st... AND an 8-page literary analysis essay due on Nov. 26. This year I'm not in school, but I will be working as much as possible to be able to pay for college. Let's hope I pull through still mostly-sane.
I have three different story ideas for this year. One's fantasy/steampunk, one's scifi/political, and one's about vampires. I'm not sure which one I'm going to do yet. My username is sort of old and cheesy-sounding now, but it stuck I guess. AC are my initials and the initials of a few characters from a story I wrote, and one of them has violet eyes. So yeah.
----------2006: Wearing the Green and Gold
2007: Sousa: A Tale of Blood, Sweat, and Caffeine
2008: Canfyre
2009: Canfyre #2 (working title)
17,122 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 07 21
Hello all.
My name is David. I've been interested in NANOWRIMO since learning about it in Costco's magazine.
I live in Suncrest, Stevens County. I'd love to meet with other writers and perhaps organize a write-in at our local library or another location if that doesn't work. PLEASE RESPOND WITH SUGGESTIONS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.
I'm going to go for it this November. My plan is to write a novel quickly completely from imagination using a character that I created for a historical novel, still underway, set in the gold rush era. ALL the other characters are from history, and although my story has never been told as fiction before, it has been written as non-fiction many times. I'm greatly enjoying the recreation of my topic from a fictional perspective, but I feel confined by my commitment to historical accuracy. It means I have to pay attention to facts, geography, history, and other known issues about my topic in order to have credibility.
So NANOWRIMO will free me up to write completely from imagination. I know the character already, having created her in my favorite segment of my historical fiction. The new story will deal with her life up to her entry in that still unfinished work.
----------James D. Ellen
Suncrest
35,950 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2009 - 08 49
Hi, I'm Kate/katerkat, and I don't live in Spokane anymore. :( I did my first three Nanos there and I'm leaving you as my home region because I just don't like Oklahoma. :) Actually, if you're not in one of the two cities (plus OSU), you're just "other" and that just doesn't feel like home to me. I won't be to any of the write-ins, obviously, but I hope you'll still let me join in online! Those word sprints really helped last year!
I think this year I'm writing a novel about a family restaurant business. And that's about my full outline right there! Or I'm going to do that fantasy novel I've been dabbling on for the last five years. That requires actual planning, though.
My biggest hurdle is other projects and prioritizing. I also sew and I have four quilts I need to finish by Oct. 31, and two for Christmas, three pairs of Christmas jammies, a couple smaller projects, and a quilting class that luckily only meets once in November! I'm also running a half-marathon in January, so half of my kid-is-at-school time is taking up by training.
Proudest moment? Winning Nano last year while moving to Texas. From Nov. 13-24, I was writing while packing, supervising the movers, driving cross-country with my husband, kid and two cats, finding an apartment and renting furniture... Wait, a little bit of sewing and running this year? What am I worried about?
(Yeah, I know, I said moving to Texas, and now I'm in Oklahoma. I also lived in Virginia for six weeks this year. Husband's Air Force!)
My username is from a college nickname, Kater. Pretty self-explanatory!
24,412 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 16 08
I consider myself the Empress of Suncrest when it comes to NanoWriMo but have always allied with Spokane because there is strength in numbers. I won 3 times and then went crashing down in flames last year. I secretly believe that the problem may be 3 unrevised novels clutching at my ankles like unfed kittens.
I do believe THIS year I will have to stay close to home and write like mad to complete novel #4. I have no plan in this regard except NOT to try and pick up where I left off with the last unfinished business. wed & thurs I will have to set up camp in the library and type frantically until they kick me out. Time to look up hours of operation. OR for early pre work efforts maybe figure out how early Zips opens.
SUNCREST should have its own group. I know there are lots of people writing up here but keeping it to themselves.
----------SWIMMING TO COLORADO 2008
INCOHERENT FEET 2007 (won)
MORONIC HANDS 2006 (won)
RUDE HAIR 2005 (won)
21,819 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 16 12
Hi there. I'm Adrienne and I'm nineteen :)
How many times have you done NaNo?
This will be my second year doing NaNo and I'm really happy that I'm returning for a second year.
How many wins do you have under your belt?
I have zero wins under my belt because last year was just so crazy for me.
Do you know what you'll be writing yet, or are you winging it?
I have a basic premise for what I'll be doing but for the most part I'm winging it. I tried following an outline last year and that didn't work. I always seem to steer away from outlines so I don't waste my time with them anymore.
What genre are you attempting this year?
I'm attempting the same genre I did last year-romance/mystery. Those are the main books I read so for me it just makes more sense to write that kind of novel. I'd love to do a sci-fi one but I just won't have time for that.
If you're local, what part of town (or zipcode) do you live/work in?
I still live with my parents so I travel between houses. I mainly live in the 99216 area code but when I'm at my dads, I'm in the 99037.
What's the biggest hurdle you must overcome to complete NaNo?
Well I'm going to SFCC, my biggest hurdle will be just balancing homework and NaNo. I'll probably procrastinate my homework and just work on my story so I'll have to come up with some kind of system like finish one assignment and work on NaNo for ____ minutes or whatever.
Your proudest NaNo moment is - ?
----------I actually don't have a "proud" NaNo moment. If I had to pick something that could sort of qualify for that, I would have to say that even doing NaNo would take that title. I'm hoping to finish this year and make that my proudest NaNo moment.
“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.”---Denis Waitley
25,142 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 13 03
Hello once again my fellow nanoers.
This is Hannah reporting in for my fourth attempt at a full-length novel.
My last three have died in the middle for lack of a villan and plot movement.
This year, I have a villan, a map, and a couple side characters... but no hero as of yet.
And no plot. Besides a general sci-fi/fantasy/quest-type theme.
But that's okay!
I live around north spokane (but not as far north as Mead), but am currently attending EWU and would love plenty of write-ins in Cheney, preferably on the 65/66 bus line.
My biggest hurdle this year will be keeping up with my school work and midterms, and finding my plot, as mentioned above.
Now my username is mostly just because I used to be a competitive swimmer and slightly obsessed with dragons.
I kept it mostly because it makes me happy, and I remember it.
Looking forward to another year of frantic typing!
----------NaNo '09: For Their Own Reasons
Words: 9,033/50k
% to Goal: 18%
Pieces of Candy today: 4
Characters Killed: 0
Insanity Level: 23%
17,122 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 19 19
OK, we both know where the library is. When can we meet? I'm sure Brooke wouldn't mind.
I delighted to know you are here, and looking forward to hearing about other Suncrest Writers.
----------James D. Ellen
Suncrest
24,412 / 50,000
Oct 5, 2009 - 19 19
I live up north but I work in west plains so Starbucks in AH is always a possibility - saturday in particular because I get off work about 530-6pm that day.
----------SWIMMING TO COLORADO 2008
INCOHERENT FEET 2007 (won)
MORONIC HANDS 2006 (won)
RUDE HAIR 2005 (won)
0 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 09 27
I've done NaNo four or five times, I think, and "won." Last year's novel still needs heavy editing, and I have a number of other writing projects that need attention, so I'm not sure I'll be doing it this time around.
But, it is fun, and I wish luck to all those who participate this year.
33,544 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 12 08
Hi Everyone:
I work downtown, close to the Rocket Bakery. Yippee! This will be my 3rd Nano...I did really well the first year in 2006, but the next year my brother-in-law came and stayed for a week and I also got the flu for 10 days, so no Nano success! I forget what happened the year after that.
Anyway, I'm back, and working on a novel about paranormal suspense set in my hometown of McCall, Idaho!
Can't wait for kickoff. :-)
--Nikko Blue
----------Nikko Blue
"I was born like this, I had no choice..."--Leonard Cohen :-)
38,738 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 13 06
Hi everyone....I'm Sara, I live out in the boonies and this will be my 6th year doing NaNo.
I've finished every year except 2007, but that year, I had a 2 month old son. I did make it to 25,000 that year though, so I'm no slouch.
My 2006 attempt turned into the real live thing -- 4 Drafts later, I'm ready to try and do something with all 103,000 words of it. Anyone know any agents? haha ;)
I mainly write literary fiction, and this year I have a very basic plan for my story, so that's nice.
(Also, in the interest of self-promotion, I'm also the co-editor and writer for SPOKE(a)N(e) Magazine, which can be found at http://spokenspokane.blogspot.com It's an arts & culture mag for the Spokane area, and I do a music column about... whatever strikes my fancy, usually in the British rock area. So do take a gander. Issue #10 will be talking about NaNo and comes out in about a week.)
50,060 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 18 48
Hi! I'm Annie, and I'm 15. I live up on the North Side - by Shadle. (Although I don't go there.)
I've done nano since I was 13 : 2007 and 2008. I won both years - but not easily! Biggest challenge? For half of November last year, I was traveling in Europe. I made it, though.
I'm doing nano again this year because I can't help it. No matter how hard I try to remember how many times last year and the year before I swore I would NEVER EVER do this again... well... yeah. That worked. Write or Die is my friend.
The past two years I've used very structured plot outlines - and it's been really hard. Neither of the novels produced are anything I want to finish. So, this year, I'm just going to take a running jump and see where I land.
I hope I can make it to a write in or two, but I'm not sure about that.
----------32,042 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 22 41
Hello, my name is Sara, this is my second year doing NaNo. My other novel is still stuck in the middle, but I've got a good idea about what's going to happen...I think. Last year, I didn't find out about Nano until November had started and I had a story then. I'm not sure what to write about yet this year, but its only early October. I hope to actually participate in some of the write-ins this year, but we'll see.
Laters,
Sara
12,198 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2009 - 23 20
Hey everyone, I'm Kaitlyn. I'm 16 years of age and I go to Mead HS. I enjoy musicals, books, the internet and a slew of other similarly geeky hobbies. ( Debate team? I'm so there. )
Hm, what to say. Let's start with those questions, shall we?
I have participated in Nano for three years, with this being my fourth. I've been diagnosed with ADD, which explains why I have yet to hit the 50k mark. Not this year though. ADD or no ADD, I am PASSING that finish line. :D
My story this year is looking to be a zombie novel. I don't want to call it horror, because it's not particularly scary, but it's not really anything else, either. Adventure, maybe.
My username was actually the name of a song I fell in love with shortly before signing up for the first time. Now it's just sort of stuck with me. ( Although that song will always be the first song on my Nano playlist. :] )
Letsee, what else... Oh, I also frequent the nanowrimo IRC chat, if anyone else does. During November, if I'm working on my novel, I'm in there. If you need to find me, that would be the place to start.
Anddd... that's about it? Hope to meet you all at some point. :)
----------2006 - Starving Artist
2007 - What Dreams May Come
2008 - Unnamed.
2009 - What Goes Bump in the Night ( maybe. )
0 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 10 54
Buenos! My name is Andreas and I live in the Brentwood area, a couple of blocks from Mead HS up on the north side. But I grew up in Suncrest (from 2 to 18), so add one to the tally of Suncresters here! I hold a professional position, suit-and-tie type, for the federal government, and have a wife and two fine young nerdlings.
This will be my fourth Nano, and I have yet to win any of them. The closest I've come is about 25k words. Unfortunately, life just always gets busy -- kids, travel for Thanksgiving, etc. I was even teaching a night class at one point during my second Nano.
I'll be winging it. I have yet to find a successful composition formula for myself (and I'm also an ADD'er, Kaitlyn! You're not alo-- hey, look, shiny things!). Sometimes I try an outline, other times I just shoot from the hip, beginning with the dark and stormy night and proceeding from there. This year, I'm going to decide on an overall concept, and then just write the most engaging scenes as they come to me. Once I have them down, I'll put them in the correct order and start linking them up.
My preferred genre is sci-fi, because I love exploring the ways in which real people react to new and unusual events and situations. In the end, I think sci-fi is about the people, not the swooshy technology.
Hurdles... where to start? Kids, evening activities, church, Thanksgiving... it all piles up on you before you know it. Just trying to carve out time is challenge enough; trying to focus on applying a creative process towards an end product is even harder.
I chose my username when I got out of the army. One of the last experiences I had was fielding and training on the Javelin anti-tank missile. I was signing up for a Yahoo email address so I put in "Javelin", which was taken, of course, but the system suggested a number of alternate handles, the first of which was "javelin98". So here I am!
14,822 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 12 40
Okay--This will be my second NaNoWriMo--my first one was successful (the story was G.Host--about a government agent hired to stop the North Koreans) but I took quite a few years off since that last event. To recuperate? Perhaps. Or was I just lazy? Perhaps. Anyhoo...I am a friend of Javelin98 and I will see if I can harass him enough so that he reaches the 50K word goal this year. I live in Deer Park and work downtown. I'm not able to do any of the write-in events as I carpool with my wife. What am I going to write about this year? I have no idea. But I may step out of my comfort zone and write about Elves. We shall see.
42,100 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 13 28
I am so pleased to meet and re-greet you all! Just a reminder - if you can't make any of the write-ins, there are a couple of options.
All that said, I hope you can all come to the Kick-Off Party so I can put faces with names. =)
Is anyone else getting ancy and impatient with waiting? *bites her nails*
----------Dana
"This is a lot more fun when they're not shooting back!"
Spokane, WA - Municipal Liaison
4,513 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 13 40
me, i can't decide on my story, eek!
----------4 / 50,000
Oct 9, 2009 - 22 52
Hello! I'm Garrett; last year was my first year, and I'm doing NaNo again because it was fun the first time! Last year I was working as a dishwasher; this year I'm going to college at Whitworth and working as a dishwasher. School is already kicking my butt pretty bad, so I'm not sure this year will be as successful as last, but I'm willing to give it a shot! Proudest NaNo moment was not giving up after I accidentally deleted over 5,000 words of my novel. Don't know what kind of thing I'll end up writing this year, but I'm thinking it might end up being pretty surreal; my dream life has been very active lately, so I'll likely draw quite a bit of material from the stuff I make up while asleep.
16,154 / 50,000
Oct 10, 2009 - 06 12
Hi there. First Nanowrimo, second book. Moving from self-improvement to medical thriller. I actually live in Jackson, WY, but I went to school at Whitworth in Spokane.