Tell Me A Bit About Yourself.

ah, I'm not too good with introductions, but I'll give this a whirl.

Throughout the wide and endless internet I go by my alias, Nickellye P. Skipper, or just Nickel for short. I'm sixteen for what's left of this year and I'm currently residing in ________, Rawang, Selangor. Its tiny, the traffic's bad and trash is everywhere, but few places in Malaysia I think, aren't. Did I mention the horrendous traffic? It makes bus-hopping dreadful. -aha, yes I'm in a whinny ranty mood about buses, but I just spent most of my day in one so there.

I am however, not in a public government school but the Alpha Omega Homeschool program. So in a nutshell, being quite a rebellion to the system, I skipped PMR, will skip SPM, and absolutely adore my new English classes (nothing beats morphology and etymology I tell you). It's my aim to graduate and finish my whole course by the end of next year, so here's to keeping those fingers cross! And oh, topping my list of things I want to be when I grow up is to be a cultural anthropologist. It's pretty out there for a little 'ol Malaysian kid, but heck you can blame all those Indiana Jones movies I watched as a child. (I don't care that he's old now, Harrison Ford FTW!)

In all randomness, I do graphic design (I'm red rabbit on RCR) when I'm bored as well as RPG (the writing sort, not the 'let's-bash-that-monster-with-the-unpronounceable-name' kind of rpg).

As for books, I mostly mainstream in reading fantasy, from Diana Wyane Jones to Melanie Rawn to David Eddings, Terry Brooks and the whole lot of them. I'm a real geek when it comes to my books. I do love Sidney Sheldon (don't you just find his work amazing?) and Jeffery Archer, among a million other authors. Has anyone read any Dragonlance trilogies by the way? Is it me or do the third and last books always fall flat? They either leave me disappointed, outraged or confused, but for most its confusion. Oops, looks like I've gone slightly off topic. Where was I? Oh, I dabble in reading and writing romance too, mostly regency era stuff. Julia Quinn is love. Yup. And Nora Roberts too, of course.

Any classical readers out there? I could swoon over Mr. Darcy daily, but Capt. Wentworth takes the cake.

To answer your forth question, I write what I read. Fantasy, Historical, Romance.

And lastly, why in the world would anyone remotely sane(not that I'm sure I am, mind you) join Nano? I've always had this urge to write, but procrastination and self-inflicted criticism has always been a barrier. I'm hoping this competition will help me over come it. its like wishing that a star would fall so you could make a proper wish on it, but I'm going to push aside all doubt and dive head on into this. Here's to anyone whose joining for their first year too, and to any who has overcome and succeeded or wants to try again. Malaysia Boleh!

Well im a foreign jounrnalism student living in malaysia, i study at limkokwing universitery. Im originally from Zimbabwe but since im not there i thought i should join this region.

I generally tend to read alot of horror/thriller books by authors such as stephen king, james patterson, jeff deaver, james herbert, dean koontz and clive barker. Oddly enough one of my favorite books was a war drama entitled Goodbye Mickey Mouse(1982) by Len Deighton. I write more of the same as my favorite authors although i suck at horror. Im more a thriller/drama type writer and often my stories are littered with dozens of subliminal messages, ambiguity and on the rare occasion someone i know in real life. But i hope to be able to dabble into some fantasy/sci-fi befor the year is done. Coincidentally i also collect manga, Rurouni Kenshin and Claymore are my favorites.

I have never done NaNoWriMo before because i found out about it today and well i thought i'd give it a shot. Im doing it to become a better writer through the completion of a story. Throughout the 15 years i have been cohesively writing( i am 20 now) i have only successfully finished one story, so for me its about finishing more than anything else and its nice to know there are so many other writers around the world who are going through the same thing you are and you can talk to them about. None of my friends know much about writing so it'd be nice to discuss the subject with other people who're interested. XD

=)hope that was okay.

Hello Nickel! Ho, another Eddings fan! He's influenced my whole LIFE, I swear. My outlook, my perspective... I hear Polgara and Belgarath giving me advice in my head everytime I'm considering a moral decision.

I've read plenty of classics (have to, being an English major and all), but I have little patience for them these days. Same with romance novels - I used to love Johanna Lindsey, but more and more of her heroes are becoming assholes! It's like her publisher demands they be assholes to counter the fact that her heroines kick ass.

Helo Souji! Welcome to Malaysia! Have you been here long? LimKokWing is a pretty decent school - I'm not in Malaysia atm but I still joined this region - you could do the same to see if anyone else from Zimbabwe is writing, too!

Goodbye Mickey Mouse sounds like an interesting read! I'll have to give it a whirl.

Finishing stories is my bane too, which is why I've stuck to short stories for now. XD I'm so scatter-brained sometimes!

Nickel, am I correct in assuming that you know a certain Deborah Low from Ultimate Storylist? Y halo thar :D Small world eh.

Although my username here is 'seorangperempuan' (not very original, i know, but aiyo it's just a username right) people call me Kero. Yes, Kero, it's even on my nametag hehe. I'm in Petaling Jaya : D currently studying in SMK Damansara Jaya, but switching to a private school next year because lovely SMKDJ does not teach English Literature and they hate students with more than a pair of piercings, boohoo. I've got four pairs in both ears and five more piercings on top of that in my left ear. But I'm letting most of them close for now because I keep losing studs hahaha. As you may have guessed from that, I'm fifteen years old. And my ambition is to conquer the world, so there. I don't know why you're not allowed to write that when asked what your ambition is in school essays, I think it's an awesome ambition :(

What I read, well, that depends on what mood I'm in. I don' t often read non-fiction (unless it's physics, in which case, yay!), but if it's a war account or something like that then I will read it. Not sure why I like that sort of thing, but there you go :P I used to read a lot of Dragonlance type fantasy, and I couldn't (still can't, actually) stand David Eddings haha. Now I don't read that sort of fiction so much, instead I read lots of Gaiman and Pratchett. I love those two hahaha. And as you can see from my profile here I also like reading books by various Japanese authors, though I didn't list them all there. It's not an "OMG JAPANZ ANIMEZ KAWAII DESUDESUDESU" sort of thing, I'm honestly interested in the culture and I love the way most of them write. Especially Haruki Murakami, though some of his books aren't thaaaaat good. Also, I have a thing for surrealist fiction, and assorted books that screw with your mind, like a lot of Stephen King and Murakami Ryuu books.

I'm currently re-reading the Dune series by Frank Herbert. I think a lot of things flew way over my head in the first reading, so now three years later I'm reading it again! And it's every bit as awesome as the first time, if not more, because now I actually get a lot of subtleties as opposed to only seeing the surface of things.

I write a lot of different genres, but stylistically I especially love writing first and second person present tense and third person omniescent. Though I think the genres I write most often are horror or psychological thrillers. Sometimes I like to write campy bodice-rippers because it makes me laugh :P and also terrifies some fellow writer buddies because of the sheer cheesiness of the dialogue.

This year I'm set on doing NaNo because I need to finish something! Everything I write has either no ending, no beginning or no middle. And while that's fine for certain scenes, sometimes I have this great plot in mind that I just can't find the motivation to set down. Then you know how it is with plots, if you dwell on it for too long then the idea gets a little stale and you start to find it a bit cliche. I think I'm going to tackle a romance this year :P

Thats weird..I remember posting on this topic..but it seems to have gone. Forum crash, maybe?

Regardless, shall do this again:

Just call me Sanctuarius, nick is just a modification of one of my favorite words, 'Sanctuary', which I thought was one of the most beautiful words in the language. Turning 21, male, just completed my law degree in the University of Reading, now starting my Certificate of Legal Practice (blearrrgh) in Brickfields College. Residing in PJ now, close to 1Utama, which is both a blessing and curse.

4th time Nano-er, completed 50K the first two years, but failed last year due to having to work on a script for my Uni's Malaysian Night in November (trust me, working on a 2-act script and a 50K novel in the same month does weird things to your creative side.) Despite reaching 50K twice, have never actually written a NaNo to the end, and so this year, attempting to do that.

I read all sorts of books: enjoy anything that makes me feel about its characters or looka t the world in a new way. Just started Stephen King's Duma Key. I have a soft spot for classics, for example Hugo's Les Miserables, and Dante's Inferno, but generally, am drawn to fantasy: favorite author of all time is Neil Gaiman (GENIUS) but also drawn to Susanna Clarke, China Mieville, Terry Pratchett and Phillip Pullman. As can be guessed, I'm more into urban fantasy than traditional medieval high fantasy: sorry, but after Tolkien, elves just don't excite em anymore. I also contribute book and theatrical reviews to the Star from time to time.

Also a MAJOR fan of Vertigo comics: the Sandman, Fables, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, etc..some of them are as powerful as traditional prose literature.

And I Nano because while I enjoy thinking up plot ideas and characters, somehow I always become lazy when it comes time to actually type the words down: Nano therefore gives me motivation and a goal to work towards, which pushes me to write. The adrenaline from the deadline is also a plus, hahaha.

And yay, seorangperempuan/Kero! Another Gaiman/Pratchett fan!

Good Omens was the awesomeness, wasn't it?

Sanctuarius! I love Good Omens man. I had three copies, all of which died because they were falling apart xD Just got myself a new copy a few weeks ago. I think I read more Pratchett than Gaiman, probably because I don't really buy books that often. When I go borrow books, Pratchett is easier to find than Gaiman... though I really really want to read the Sandman graphic novels. They sound really awesome :(

Watchmen! Are you looking forward to the movie? I'm just afraid they'll screw it up, like what they did to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen :( I don't think I'll be too miffed either way la, because I'm not thaaaat into Watchmen.

Ahh... freaked me out that my post was missing -- "Oh no! I must have offended someone by posting that I liked Artemis Fowl!" -- but if you all don't mind, here I go again... *cue sighs and nods*

Okay. I'm 14 this year, and I'm from Kuen Cheng, which is this chinese school in KL -- why, yes, people do always ask me where it is -- and I'm insane. (We all are, to try and do something this improbable.) I like drama, both as an art form and as a way to conduct myself, school, books, and more school. To sum me up... I'm a geek. But one with friends. (Had to put that in, or said friends would make me a friendless geek.)

I read fiction mostly. When I was a little kid, I was hooked on Reader's Digest Condensed Editions, even though they scared me out of my young and relatively small, skin. (Oh, and it didn't help that while I read 'The Hot Zone', which is about Ebola, the book had this musty smell, much like the smell described to be the sign of germs multiplying...) I stick to YA fiction, so my favourites are Artemis Fowl, Maximum Ride, and the occasional Alex Rider. I would read adult books, but when my mother took a peek into a James Patterson book I'd got from the library, that was the end of it for me. Why? Well... *cough*hisbooksshouldberated'mature'*cough*

I've done NaNo zero times. LOL. Well, I am going to do it because my mother said so. (So very guai hoh...) She wants me to do something with my Kumon English and all the dictionaries lying around. (I'm not sure if she included the French one, when she said that.) And because I've never written anything past 600 words, nor taken a fanfiction past the first half-page.

Cheers!

Haha, yea, stuff disappeared with the forum breakdown.

Hey Sanctuarius! I remember you! And Good Omens was terrific. I quoted it in one of my papers. Good times. I also used Sandman panels in my presentations, too.

Haha, Kero, our conversation disappeared XD

Yeah it did hahaha. But I subscribed to the Asia: Malaysia board so all the posts are in my email lol. Also why I usually reply very fast :P In case you didn't read it before the crash:

(you asked me which private school i'm transferring to)

"I'm transferring to Sri Nobel I think, not confirmed yet because thefees are really high - RM1000 per month. I am not a rich kid ): And their uniform is really ugly :P but aiya its just a uniform haha. I only really care about the teachers, and supposedly the teachers are really good. :) "

sdlkjfh!!! I want to read House of Leaves ))):

Kero, the Sandman stuff is awesome..seriously. They've changed the way people view comic books forever, and seriously, some of the stuff in that series changed my entire outlook on a lot of things.

And I do look forward to Watchmen, but I am really terrified they will screw it up..honestly, there is so much about that project that I think could go horribly wrong. It would be impossible to adopt every wonderful bit of that awesome book and a day or two of showtime, so I hope that what they do leave in, makes into an amazing film that still remains true to the themes explored in Moore's work.

And Jha Meia, I'm intrigued....what kind of presentation was this, and how did the Sandman fit into it?

Kero: I caught that one, and responded with a pithy comment on how most uniforms suck anyway.

My presentation was on Sir Philip Sidney's Defense of Poesy, which responded to Plato's attack on poetry, mostly that artists, writers and actors perform some form of lying to their audience when they share their works; that the things written in poetry are not true. Sir Sidney makes the argument that just because the exact events never happened, doesn't make what the message of a poem is untrue - a poem about love doesn't diminish the existance of love, no more than an epic tale of a hero destroys the truth that bravery should be highly valued.

Look into Book 3, Dream Country at what is being said in A Midsummer Night's Dream - at one point, Puck the hobgoblin exclaims, "This is magnificent! And it is true! These things never happened, and yet it is still true! What magic art is this?"

Later on, Auberon says, "But this diversion, although pleasant, is not true. Things never happened thus." And the Sandman replies: "Oh, but it IS true. Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."

These panels basically echo a bit of what Sidney says - the invocation of emotion towards higher callings is what's important, not the exact facts.

That was one class, 16th Century Lit. Then in another class (17th Century), I did a presentation on Milton's Paradise Lost - used a panel from Seasons of Mists and from Dawn: Lucifer's Halo. I used the panel where the Devil's all grumpy and like, "We didn't say it. Milton did. And Milton was blind" for my grand finale.

A for both presentations. Psyche!

Hey there you crazy wordie folks! Greetings from Neuchatel, Switzerland! Since joining NNWM like years ago, I've gone from single to girlfriend to wife - yes, I got married last year and had my wedding reception in February this year...and now I've become one of those expat wives. I moved from Petaling Jaya to Neuchatel and if you have been reading The Star, you may have read about my journey in September's issue of The Clove. (They made a mistake though - I'm not living nor have I ever lived in Lucerne.)

Currently, I'm in the middle of a tiring jobhunt in this French-speaking part of Switzerland while juggling French classes and a small online business of my own (www.eleraine.etsy.com). Yes, I've upgraded myself from knitting & buying yarn to dyeing, weaving, spinning and selling yarn & rovings (wool fibres for spinning).

I can't say that I've been busy reading - it's nearly impossible to find good English bookstores here and English books are limited to a column of shelves at the local bookstore. Coming from a country where bookstores like Kino & Border are stocked to the brim in all sorts of English books, it's very disconcerting for me.

I've gone through the whole NNWM craziness three times and won twice - I couldn't participate in the last two years because of commitments at work (I was a subeditor and at that time, I was juggling about eight or so books). My genres then included philosophical, fantasy, sci-fi, and drama.

I'm a little unsure about whether I want to do this again this year because of my online business so we'll see how it goes come November... ^.^

DAMN! That is one of my all time favorite lines from the series..second only to Rose Walker's 'I hate love' speech to Desire and the little poem that came after Death's intro in 'The Sound of her Wings'!

What class are you doing, by the way? Soem form of Classic Literature? Sounds really interesting.

I just did an Honours degree in English. To qualify for Honours, you need to take classes in several time periods, covering literature from early modern English to 20th century lit; I used the Sandman stuff for my Medieval credits.

This particular prof I had for my Medieval credits has a system where she has us pick a reading to focus on. We do a presentation on the reading, submit a proposal related to it, and write a paper based on our research on the work we selected.

And me being the nerd I am, I'm generally the only one bringing in weird shit like this into my presentation.

Hello.

I'm Leil. I live in BU and I'm currently 19. I've recently returned to Malaysia after an 8 year stay/study in the U.S. I found about this from one of my friends from High School there. Currently, I'm deciding where I want to go to college at. It's either Lim Kok Wing or AUT at New Zealand, or even go back to the States to study. Not quite sure right now.

I like a variety of books, mostly anything by Tamora Pierce, Anne McCaffrey/ Todd McCaffrey, Nora Roberts/ J.D. Robb, Catherine Coulter, Christine Feehan, Christopher Paolini, Artemis Fowl Series, Orson Scott Card, Mercedes Lackey, and a ton of other ones. I also read a lot of manga stuff. I dislike horror movies or books though. That is the one genre besides non-fiction(unless it's interesting), that I avoid like the plague.

I like nano because it's fun and you get to know a lot of people who also like to write!

Heya, everyone! :) I'm actually a returning member, not a new one, despite what that "join date" under my name might suggest. I was "cherylline" on this board last year, became "Tethys" this year because that's the name I usually go by on m/boards and fora on the internet and I wanted a bit of consistency. (plus, cherylline just seems like an attempt to sexify the name "cheryl".) Hope the new account brings better luck with getting that 50k down!

Neh, for the where-I'm-from bit: Technically, I'm a Kuching girl, but I've moved around and mixed around enough so that even I get confused about where I consider my home to be. Lived equal amounts of time in Australia and Malaysia, did a bit in Singapore, and now back to Australia, in Brisbane in sunny Queensland. (I adore travelling, so that's all pretty fine by me :D )

I'm studying and working in Brisbane, last semester of a double major in English Literature, and at this very moment deciding whether to do a Literature honours year or go on to an already-accepted post-grad medical thing. (I have to decide within the next 24 hours, actually, if I want to do honours. I'm totally sitting the fence. Honours would rock my world, but it'd empty my pockets, and I'm weighing them against each other. Should I do it? Should I not!?)

I read and write almost everything. Classic lit, prose, plays, poetry, contemp. stuff, sci fi and fantasy, manga, and electronic lit - anyone ever heard of interactive fiction? Fantastic genre ;) I'm learning how to program and write the stuff. I have a soft spot for sf/f too, especially the old classic stuff - Alfred Bester, Frederik Pohl.

Why am I Nano-ing? 'Cuz I did it last year and the Malaysian Wrimos were so fun to write with ;) This year I might stop over-planning and just write a sentence or two to start, and see where it all goes from there.

... ... I use lots of brackets. *kills bad habit*

Salutations, ladies and gentlemen. I consider it an honour indeed to be associated with such distinguished company. Allow me, then, to introduce myself, in the hopes that I'll have a bunch of you cracking the whip when I decide to slack off, and to make new friends.

I'm a KL boy, born and bred and at home nowhere else. I graduated from the UK in 2005, obtained my CLP in 2006 (the horror!), and eventually got called to the Malaysian Bar in 2007. I am currently enslaved as a tiny and insignificant cog in a very very large corporate machine, which by my reckoning makes me a lot older than most of you youngsters. Am therefore trying to claw my way up, inch by agonising inch, the greased corporate ladder so that I won't have to sell my soul to the devil in order to finance a house, a car, and any future children. In my ever decreasing spare time, I enjoy reading (obviously), going to concerts and plays, and fragging people/bots.

Fantasy is and always will be my first love, having been introduced to it at a fairly young age (immediately after the compulsory Peter and Jane and Enid Blyton stuff most kids go through). I also enjoy science fiction, historical fiction, and many many good non fiction works. I must have read Tolkien's LoTR around 20 times, and I still consider it THE seminal fantasy work. Other favourite authors include Neal Stephenson, David Eddings (before he got old, both literally and stylistically), Frank Herbert, James Michener, Alexandre Dumas, Sterling Seagrave. Haven't read any good fantasy in a while though, so I'm definitely open to recommendations.

This is my first NaNoWriMo, having being dragged into it by one of my friends. I've had this particular story idea in my head for a good few years now, so it's finally being given a chance to unleash itself on an unwitting public. I've written previously, from the schooldays compositions I used to adore doing (and get complaints from my teachers about for submitting fantasy pieces every time), to a really angsty emo period during my adolescence when I could do nothing but churn out bad poetry, and a couple of plays (best forgotten). This will be, by far, the longest and most ambitious project I have yet undertaken, and I'm excited to see how it pans out.

I look forward very much to working in solidarity with all of you in the next month, and I wish all of you the best in your travails.

PS: OK, please don't be put off by the bombastic fluff you've read above. I'm not quite that boring. Really. I promise.

Hello everyone,

I'm a software engineer from Penang trying his hand at Nanowrimo for the first time. I'm doing this just to see if it's ever possible for me to come up with 50k words ever for a single story in my life. Engineering has made me... more to the point than I ever was. Now, this is good when you're in engineering, but when you're trying to write stories, you end up getting to the end sans the elaboration on everything in between stuff. I just hope that this November will help reactivate my longwindedness when it comes to writing. Basically, turn on the "verbose" flag for me.

I read horror and fantasy mostly, although I have tried to read other genres before with very limited success. My favourite horror authors are Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft, although lately I've found the fast pace of Brian Keene to be rather refreshing. David Gemmell, may his soul rest in peace, remains my favourite fantasy author. When I pick up his book, I usually don't put it down until it's finished. I like him that much.

Er... anyway, again, trying to reactivate that verbose flag in me. Best of luck to everybody. Let's get this on next month.

*returns to prepping for next month via outlining - yes, I'm one of those who need a plan for writing*

Ah. Hullo. I'm Yati from PJ. I'm one of those oddballs who have been participating since 2003 and have yet to win. My total wordcount for all those years probably is still short of 50 000. I tend to self-edit too much and perhaps even too harshly, hence the not-winning streak. I'll end up with an almost-perfect-but-not-quite prologue and never move to the first chapter because there's still something wrong with the prologue. Sad, I know. I don't visit the forums much but I do recognise some familiar names from across the years!

I studied engineering, used to work in a software development company, and right now I'm in publishing. (It's all non-fiction and no, I don't know how you can get your novel published. :P) I'm still not really sure if I'll be able to participate, actually . . . it looks like it will be a very busy November/December (and probably January too, ergh).

. . . I was going to type "I read a lot", but that doesn't seem very true these days. I do like reading, though. I have a soft spot for young adult fantasy -- I love Diana Wynne Jones, and Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favourite books. Other YA books I like: Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

I like Good Omens (of course!) and most things Gaiman (though Pratchett drives me up the wall most times). David Mitchell is now one of my favourite authors. I used to read a lot of fantasy but right now I'm sort of flailing about trying to recall even one author I really liked -- used to read Eddings but I think I outgrew him; Robert Jordan was OK and then he started writing books even thicker than my textbooks; GRR Martin, uh, when is his next book coming out anyway? I'm not much of a historical fiction reader but I adored Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles (the first book is called The Game of Kings, if anyone wants to look it up -- I have such a hard time trying to get people to try the book ...) and I thought Naomi Novik's Temeraire series was good fun if you don't mind combining the Napoleonic wars with dragons.

Why I'm doing Nano? Because I have to reach 50 000 at least once! ^^;;

Hi all,

Nice to meet all of you, awesome guys and girls who have the passion for arranging words! My background is quite humble, hence it will be brief.

I am a proud KL'er, who hold KL pride as my own heritage. Currently working as writer for a website company named HEWO.com (http://www.hewo.com). I write mostly on herbs, medicine and healthcare, which are the stuffs that creative writer would like to avoid... Too much academia can kill creative brain cells, you know... For your information, I am a UM graduate in Languages and Linguistics, and majoring... I hoped I don't blow anyone off here... in Chinese language. Yes, I am a graduate in Chinese language, not English like most people here do.

The reason I participated Nanowrimo is plain and simple... I 'kena tarik' by my friends to join this. Recently I met a bunch of crazy writers whose blood is actually ink. Knowing them is truly blessed because they have revived my dream of becoming a writer, in English. Since a little kid, I longed to become a writer, but only in Chinese language. However, writing in Chinese alone doesn't give me any fulfillment in my literature pursuit. Hence, I want to try exploring new territory, which I never dared to try, due to my Chinese education background.

It's a pleasure to meet all of you, and let's get this month going as we are all pursuing our dreams in writing our hearts out.

Hi,

I'm Suraj, 19 years old. I'm actually from Mauritius but right now, I'm in University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus studying Chemical Engineering. Since there's no Mauritius group, i joined the Malaysia one.

Last year I heard about NaNoWriMo but couldn't join due to exams. Now, I'm going to give it a go. I know it's going to be very hectic. But I also plan to have lots of fun! :D

The story I'm planning to write is sci-fic with touch of romance. let's hope I win. Keep the fingers crossed. :P

Take care,
Suraj

Hey guys and girls!

This is juzblue, member since 2004, but never completed 50k once. Ahem. Let the embarrassed silence pass please.

Anyway, had to sacrifice NaNo due to SPM last year, so this year I will do it no matter what!

So that's one thing about me. I'm 18 (for less than two months still), a Johorian currently studying in KL (I can join events!! I finally can!!) and why do I join NaNo? Well, after doing it every year, I'm pretty surprised at why there are people who don't want to touch NaNo with a 10-foot pole. Why not? :D It's crazy, it's fun, and it's cool. With cool people. So there.

Well, since college begun I've changed a lot, so I don't really know what to say about myself just yet. I used to write fantasy, sci-fi, fanfics and I used to read them too. Now I found that my tastes changed. I'm attracted to non-fics. I want to write a story about Malaysia, set in Malaysia, for once. Even though college workload really cut into my reading time and my writing skills are perhaps rustier than I thought, but for once I feel like I have a story to tell. Who knows.

See you at the meet-ups!! :D

Hi everyone!

It's good to be back this year. My name is Victor from Penang residing in Sunway. I've been in Nanowrimo since 2004. That was the only year I was serious but after 4 years I've yet to win one. Hopefully, this year will be different. I've never found time to go to any of the outings in November. But this year I'll have time to go. I decided to go freelance writing after a 6 months stint as Account Development Manager in a IT company. So, if there is anyone out there who can give me a few pointers to how I should start getting my work published in magazines and newspapers, your help would be really really really appreciated.

Since writing is part of my job now... I guess there's no excuse to losing this year.

I'm looking forward to November and the many friends I'm going to make.

Hey dreamkid - what sort of genre do you write? About all the submission details and stuff I know of are for fantasy and sci fi, and all are online magazines and journals. Generally, you can find online mags for almost any genre. :D I've got a fair list of bookmarks of their websites and submission pages and such... although you'd think I'd have at least finished writing something to be even interested in submitting it somewhere. :P If you're interested in print mags, though, I wouldn't be able to help.

Wow. We're a tiny population, aren't we?

Call me Avery; I'm seventeen, and this is my first year participating in the NaNoWriMo. I have absolutely no idea as to what I'll be writing about (I guess I have about a week to fill my head with -something- that could survive for fifty thousand words), so wish me luck there (if you have any to spare).

I'm a writer, an avid reader, an on-off Photoshop CS3 addict, as well as an anime/manga fan. I'm a former (and partially still active - emphasis on -partially-) fanfiction writer, roleplayer, and forum addict.

As to what genres I like, I suppose that deviates from time to time~ psychological thrillers steal me away most of all, though my current fixation lies with crime novels. As a writer, though, I prefer poetry and purple prose, at best - dabbling in the occasional fantasy/make-believe and a touch of romance. Realism and tragedy are a goal, though. I love pieces that are truly human; perhaps that might be my NaNoWriMo goal~

I wish you all luck, and godspeed - we're all going to need it.

*Pokes her head in*

Hello all!!

Name's Naoko, residing in PJ, working as a copywriter, and last year after deciding at the very last minute (think 30 minutes before the deadline) to do Nano, I finally won after 4 years! :p

I read fantasy, sci-fi, webcomics (xkcd anyone?) am a fan of Neil Gaiman's Death character despite never having really read the series, love the Discworld novels, am in love with Eriond from the Mallorean (and yes, Polgara kicks ass woot!), have an unhealthy fascination with random bits of trivia and mythology, and am an anime/manga fan with a fetish for megane characters (or bespectacled aka the all-knowing type of characters).

I'm into cosplay, psuedo geekery (Ubuntu on my new PC is simply love though I still boot up XP), have absolutely no sense of priority nor order, and am prone to being random on choices. My name is taken from my main muse who was also the first Role-play character I played, and I've been writing for myself since my mom made me do writing exercises to improve my handwriting back when I was 12.

And no, I am not Japanese, but I happen to like the name if no one has noticed. :P

Eh, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to introductions, so I'll just go ahead and write stuff as they come to mind.

Firstly, Sabah person. Woot!! To whoever that thinks we Sabahans cannot write, you haven't met Derialstrazus yet. :P Seriously though, it's kind of hard to find writers here in Sabah. Wait, make it really hard. Especially considering that I lived in one of the more sheltered towns. Short of my English teacher, I don't think I ever encountered anyone else that actually writes fiction in my town. Makes my fiction writing childhood kind of sad when I think about it. :(

Secondly, hardcore Drizzt fan. I haven't really seen a lot of Salvatore readers yet, but it's my favorite series. Beats Harry Potter by a long shot in my opinion (no offense to Potter fans). I'm wondering if there's anyone else here who reads Drizzt novels. I saw lots of Terry Pratchetts. Always wanted to read that, but never had the time or money.

Lastly, currently studying in Purdue, USA, so boo-hoo about not being able to meet other Malaysian writers. :( Wish I had attempted this when I was still in Sunway College. Ah well, better late than never I suppose.

Currently high on the Shadowrun series. It's kind of an old set of novels, but it's my type of read.

Also currently high on Magic: the Gathering. It's kind of an odd combination, I am. Part writer, part engineer, part gamer, part anime viewer. Sometimes, I don't think I have enough time to do all the stuff I want to do in life. :P

Nice meeting y'all.

Nice to meet all of you here.

I'm Nano-ing for the first time and BTW, did anyone realise 50,000 words is probably a whole PhD thesis and more! Fortunately, I haven't tried Permanent Head Damage (aka a PhD) yet and just might have enough grey cells left to get to the Nano finishing line.

Judging by the many, many introductions here, i have to be possibly the oldest person thus far given that almost everyone except perhaps the engineer and the lawyer are as old as my kids!

I enjoy reading but like many who are juggling full-time jobs (yes, another cog in the endless corporate wheel), parenthood, community activities etc etc, I haven't read a whole book in a long while. However, in my not-too-distant reading past, I've bulldozed my way through the gamut of fantasy, romance (period and contemporary - all done by 11, thank God!), classics, spiritual, chick litt, sci-fi, pulp fiction (raymond chandler is still dear to my heart), loooong books that defy definitions etc etc.

Having been reading since age 4, I can count almost 40 years of reading of things long and short, fiction and non-fiction, scintillating or panaceas for insomnia ...but I'm sure I haven't done it all.

I have to confess that in my other life I was a professional writer but not of the fiction kind. And like our engineer friend, I was trained to write to the point so the whole idea of getting to 50K words just for ONE STORY is a little terrifying.

Suffice to say this will be a challenge for me. Once done, perhaps a PhD would be something to aspire to??

See you guys and gals around!