Introductions!

Hey Emily,

Delighted we have an liason officer this year, though our unofficial officer was great last year. Emily; I'm relying on you to make a giant sign for the meet; its your first duty!

Did we meet you at the meet up last year? I'm crap with names but faces i do recall. I'm the fat woman who added monopoly into the damned writing to some scorn. Can't wait to see all the faces from last year again as we had fun and many chips. I hope we can utilise the facilities at Kro bar again, whilst the rum and coke was pricy they were amused at us weirdos with laptops. Though i'm not such a stuck in the mud if people have an alternative venue.

This years novel is dark for me, but I want to really do something with the novel this time round. I've won nano wrimo for two years running it's about time i got semi serious.

Looking forward to old and new faces. Feel free to drop me a line.

Catherine

Hi Iris,

No I wasn't actually at the meets last year as I spent most of November to-ing and fro-ing from Birmingham! I made it to some of their meets though so I'm really looking forward to this year's write ins etc. Were you the unofficial ML last year? And just to let people know that if they want to apply for co ML they're more than welcome to. I think the application deadline's middle-ish of October?

And don't worry, I'll get to work on the huge sign!

Hi again!

I'm Holly and unfortunately I wasn't at any meets last year either. I did attend one the year before though. I was only 15 at the time, so if you remember a young redhead, that was probably me. ;)

This year I'm hoping to attend a few more sessions, but I won't be able to promise anything since A-levels are upon me. I'd love to meet some more of you though.

Anyway, lucky me, I've got a pretty solid idea this year, so hopefully it will be a success! My first time writing in first person, though. I'm kinda nervous about that.

Here's to another good year in Manchester!

NaNo 06: Freedom Club (Sci-fi) - 23k
NaNo 07: Hex (Sci-Fi) - 51k
NaNo 08: The Five Hands of Gert de Vries (Supernatural) - 71k
NaNo 09: Bright Fire Burning Hands (Fantasy)

http://holliequ.livejournal.com/

Hi all. I'm Mike Sharpe..

I'm 25 now, and my birthday is on the 30th November!

Last year I did a week of Prep, Which isn't enough.. This year, I'm actually going to do one of two things, attempt one of the Novels I'd rejected, mainly as I'd been spending that last year in the Universe. Or basicly trying to work the Second half of the novel I'm working on now. Both are tricky to do, as I can rarely break 10k in a month.

Currently I'm a full time free lance writer with no contracts... Ok, I'm out of work.

Visit http://mikesharpewriter.com/ for a Free eBook set in Manchester UK.

I'm back for another attempt if you'll have me. I'm not actually in Manchester this year though, I got married 3 weeks ago and have moved to Belfast but I've lived in Manchester my whole life until now.

This will be my 4th year doing NaNo, I won my first and second years but only hit around 4k last year thanks to other things going on. Hopefully this year will be a better attempt. My NaNo will be yet another fantasy story and yet again I will do no planning in advance. Wasn't at any meet ups last year and seriously doubt I will be this year since my husband is away half of November and getting from here to Manchester would be a problem but I'll be with you all in spirit lol.

ETA: Oh, and I'm Sarah if you hadn't guessed by the oh so creative user name and I'm 26.

Sarah

"The first draft of anything is shit." - Hemingway.

Hi :D

I'm Joanna, from Preston but I figure that Manchester is the nearest region. I didn't make any of the meets last year, but I managed one the year before. Hopefully might get to some this time because I now have a Student Rail Card :D. I'm seventeen, in my second year at College, and I'm hoping to study history at Cambridge next year. Although my English Lit teacher seems to think I should do that instead...

Anyway, this is my third nano. I won the past two times, hoping to do so again assuming college doesn't get in the way.

Holly--I'm attempting college and nano too :D

I'm probably writing sci-fi, although I read more fantasy and thrillers. I just never seem to be able to find enough out about stuff in general to write thrillers set now... I think that's about it.

NutmegAngel
Inspired by chocolate.
Fuelled by tea.

Hi everyone! Glad you're all here. And don't worry, I'll also be balancing education with nano too. eek!

oops

"look at the skies regularly, my tears will be rain, my sobs will be the thunder and the lightening will be my heart beat"

Hi all im on board too new to NaNo, it is actually my first time doing this, though i am forward to a writing challenge

Let me tell you a bit about myself I'm Christine, 33 from Liverpool i have been writing since a young age, would love to meet some of you but unfortunately i can't travel due to being a single parent, also being a single parent this is going to be so hard to do 50, 000 words in a month but i will give it my best shot i have some ideas about what i am going to write and stuff i actually thought it started this month but thank goodness i have one more month to plan and prepare.

Take no notice to my lack of punctuation i have no time for it on forums lol

"look at the skies regularly, my tears will be rain, my sobs will be the thunder and the lightening will be my heart beat"

oops multi posted sorry

"look at the skies regularly, my tears will be rain, my sobs will be the thunder and the lightening will be my heart beat"

Hello again, Joanna/NutmegAngel!

This is slightly scary... are you turning 18 this [school] year? Because otherwise you just managed to completely describe my hopes for the future! XP Except you'd be a year older than me. I think I remember you doing GCSEs last year though? Or it might've been the year before... lol. Anyway, is it bad that I feel like this is a family reunion of some sort?

Also, hello Christine! Good luck with your novel this year - it's not as bad as it sounds, I hope. I think you're really brave, though, I couldn't imagine trying to tackle this with children (I'm sure they're perfectly lovely, of course! But so distracting...)

How old are they, if you don't mind me asking? If they like writing or reading, you might be able to get them involved in the Young Writers' Program. Although, err, they might not be old enough for that sort of thing yet, hehe. ;)

EDIT: I seem to have assumed you have more than one! Not sure where I read that from. Ah, it's late. Well, however many you have, I'll be cheering you on! Go Christine!

NaNo 06: Freedom Club (Sci-fi) - 23k
NaNo 07: Hex (Sci-Fi) - 51k
NaNo 08: The Five Hands of Gert de Vries (Supernatural) - 71k
NaNo 09: Bright Fire Burning Hands (Fantasy)

http://holliequ.livejournal.com/

Lol it is ok i have three children, two boys one girl, my sons are 15 and 7 my daughter is 8.

My boys are typical boys and don't seem to like reading and writing,only doing the writing they have to do, at school. my daughter however loves reading and writing though she writes very well with some help with construction yada yada she is going to one day be a great writer, unfortunately I am quite protective of her and the internet she is probably too young to join in the young writers program but please private message me with more details and i will discuss her options with her as she is nearer to nine, I do however have a niece who might be interested as she is also a little creative in her writing she is 12

Thanks for the vote of confidence as you see from the time on this post i usually do most of my cretive stuff late on at night anyways, I have known myself to be up til 3 or four in the morning when really creative :D (not a good idea when you have three destructive children believe me)

"look at the skies regularly, my tears will be rain, my sobs will be the thunder and the lightening will be my heart beat"

Hi all.

I'm Dawud, 22 and I'm another nano newbie. I found out about it last December and have been buzzing around the forums ever since. Graduated from Man Met Uni this August so now I'm having fun with the job search!

My novel was inspired by a newgrounds flash video about a guy who wakes up with no memories. I've put about two months of planning into it and it's turned darker than I first anticpated.

Notes for other newbies: Google "Writing Excuses" Its a useful writer's resource. Scriptorium.net is cool too.

Plot ninjas are ninjas that you randomly throw into your story because its slowing down. They interact with your characters and make stuff happen. When December rolls around, you edit them out but leave in the effects that they had - usually awesome effec

Hey all.

I'm Vicki, I'm 32 from Thornton which is near Blackpool. This will be my 4th nano and hopefully my 4th win.

Hopefully this year wont be as hectic as last year....last year i went to Florida for two weeks and a day in my laptop cable broke, i had to do two weeks of nano by hand.

Hey Christine :) I have 4 children the oldest is 16 and my youngest 9, its very possible to do with kids around, write when they are in bed, in the bath watching television, eating their tea, at school, doing homework. You only need to knock up 1667 words per day...its amazing how many you can do in short spurts :)

I'm Fiona, I'm a freelance programmer based in Levenshulme.

I came to a couple of meetings last year but life conspired against me and I eventually failed Nano. (I did get to about 25k so hmmm)

This year things should be different though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for me...!

Hi! I'm Rosie, and I'll be turning 21 on the 13th November (which happens to be a Friday). I came to one meet up last year, which I found pretty terrifying, haha. Socialising isn't really my strong point! I don't know if anyone remembers me - I'm small with curly brown hair, and I turned up late and didn't say a lot. XD

I won Nano last year, JUST. I literally had about 5 minutes to spare, but I was so proud when I won.

I was present at Kro for first 3 Wednesdays last year. I was working on the 4th, and was full of a cold didn't come in on the Sunday..

Visit http://mikesharpewriter.com/ for a Free eBook set in Manchester UK.

I remember you Rosie... you were there at the high table and then you weren't... your leave taking was spooky...Mike Fiona hello again. Delighted to have new faces as well as familiar ones onboard.

For any of you who are worried about coming to a meet for the first time don't worry. Do it. Come. Socialize. It beats staring at a blank screen! You don't have to write in public either unless you want to. Last year i wrote nothing at the meet but still met my deadline.

ALSO If we are all scary(unlikely that you will find EVERYONE scary) when you meet us all invent a writing excuse/house crisis/friend in need/pressing engagement and leave.

Chris i like the writing.excuses.com site. It's always good to listen to a podcast from real working writers. I'm off to check the other site out now.

Hello (again), all! This is my third year NaNoing in Manchester -- I'm Liam, the Belgian-by-way-of-America guy with the glasses who writes crap fantasy.

I have no idea what I'm going to be doing this year, except that I plan to dive in enthusiastically and make it to all the meet-ups I can.

I can't agree more with Iris. EVen if you don't get any writing done at write ins you'll always come away with something - whether it be inspiration for a plot point of your story or some writing tips or even just the buzz of meeting new people. Just come along, you'll be glad you did!

Last year I found the hardest part was actually getting myself there. The first week I wussed out and pretended I had other stuff to do. When I actually plucked up the courage to go (I was in brum at that time so never had the chance to meet all you lovely people) I didn't understand why I was so worried. EVeryone tends to be v. welcoming as we're all in the same boat and have similar interests.

ALso, this year I plan to have some fun games and word wars and hopefully there'll be some cool prizes too. And there are also some official Nano stickers on their way to me atm as well. It should be fun =D

How do,
I'm Mel

I'm 17 (18 on the 10th November) This is my first NaNo. I write alot of Fantasy, Adventure and sometimes a bit dark and odd things. I have back luck with colleges in Leyland (Near Preston), So I sat down last year and said follow your dream and write things and i'm rubbish with new people but you all seem lovely. and writing about me's but oh well. :)

2009 - We Looked Like Giants.

"Everyone should be able to do one card trick, tell two jokes, and recite three poems, in case they are ever trapped in an elevator." ~ Lemony Snicket.

Hi all. I'm Mark, a programmer living in Manchester. I did nanowrimo last year, and remember a few people here from the mid-week meetings.

I've next to no idea what I'm writing this year, but that seemed to work last year, so hopefully lightning can strike twice.

Hi Mel! I'm guessing we don't actually live all that far apart then :D.

I was a bit nervous about going to the first meet up--we get the whole never ever meet up with random folk off the internet at school quite regularly, so my dad came in with me at first... Anyway, I really enjoyed it.

Hi Holly too! Yeh, I'm 18 this school year, but I'm an August birthday, so I'm just about the youngest in my year group. So second year of college, doing History, English Lit, Maths and AS Ancient History.

And hi everyone else as well :D

NutmegAngel
Inspired by chocolate.
Fuelled by tea.

Hey there!

I'm Aeryn, otherwise known as Gorg. This is my third year doing (and hopefully winning) NaNo. I came to the meets last year, so if anyone went to those I was the girl with the Cure hat on all the time :P I'm a second year student at MMU doing Philosophy.

Looking forward to getting this going again! Might even be bringing some people along with me this year again.

Hi! I'm Jacqui and I won Nano last year! I'm the one with the red hair and the big sign!

Had a great time last year and looking forward to working on a new novel this year.

Great to see so many people from last year and so many new faces.

I plan to write a contemporary women's fiction novel and am straining at the bit to get going! See you all soon.

Visit my writing website at http://www.dirtysparkle.com
Dirtysparkle Blog http://dirtysparkle.blogspot.com

Hey 8D My name's Kraig, I'm 18 and in my second year of college. This is my first year attempting NaNo and I'm gonna be writing fanfiction :D Sticking to my writing roots and going with YuGiOh XD

My little creation is based on some AU characters me and a friend made up XD Our universes have slowly crashed so I thought I'd attempt to write about it.

Nice to meet you all :3

There was something about that trademark smile...

Hiya all. I'm Helen, 36, mum and housewife. This is my third year NaNo'ing (though my profile says two). I'll be doing science fiction, rewriting a novel that disappeared along with my laptop last year.

I'm not sure if I'll make a meet - having 5 kids and living up near Bolton does present difficulties! Plus I'm away the first weekend, attending the Creation Farscape con in L.A. *g*

misadventuring in time and space since 1999

2007 : "Resurgence" - Won
2008 : "Maps & Legends" - Won
2009 : "Out of Time"

Hey!

I'm Hannah, 17, and in my last year of A levels.

I feel a bit of a fish out of water, being passionate about writing, since I'm a maths student! I'm hoping to take maths at uni next year =) Mostly I've written fanfiction (gasp shock horror) and last year's NaNo was my first original work...nothing short of NaNo seems to have been able to kick me into gear and write more than a page. Hope it works its magic again.

For all those people trying to tackle college and NaNo at the same time, let me assure you that it CAN be done: I did it last year.

Last year was my first year, and I did it! I went in blind, and I think I came out even more confused than I went in...can't wait to do it agin. Not a clue what I'm gonna write about...

Hoping to get to some of the meetups this year, if I can squeeze it around my college time table, revision etc...

Still wondering when I'll find time to write...

img src="http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/WordWar/446456-450176.png"/

Hi all!

I'm Martin and I'm 38. I'm married with two cats.

Been writing on and off since I was 13 - mainly songs, poetry, and short stories, though occasionally I attempt something longer. Just never seem to have the patience or the time.

I'll be honest - I'll be lucky if I can make it to 50K due to the amount of time I work and travel, plus some health issues I've got. I intend to try, though. Meetings will probably be a no-no unfortunately (mainly due to the above, but also I'm still incredibly shy even at my age).

A rose by any other name would still have thorns...

I'm Wendy, 37 years old and this is my second attempt at Nano. Hopefully I'll have the time to get my story finished.

JordiB

"A book is a doorway to another world."