United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

TGIO! Party!

Kaydrienne — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:45:34 -0800

Oops! Sent the email about this twice. I love when my computer does things like that. It's feeling rather abused this month, I think.

Anyway, this is the place to post your thoughts and feelings and RSVP if you can definitely say yay or nay on your attendance!

Thoughts so far...:

A few of us had talked about it, and we were thinking on doing a Pizza Party at my house here in Naugatuck. Cost would be $10 and your drink of choice, we'll order a bunch of pizzas, eat, drink, and be merry, and not think about the eleven months of editing that we have to look forward to!

So what does everyone think about that? And what date and time would be best? I'm thinking either Saturday Dec 6th or Sunday Dec 7th? Or...is another time better?
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Crashing down

Dathar — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:06:36 -0800

Hello all my fellow nano writers... these last few days have been a royal pain in the ass. I've taken appart my laptop and tried to reseurrect it and of course the fact that the antivirus is expired and gone has led to many a probelm. The first was the constant pop ups warning my system was comprimised... even after i turned off the wireless and went completely offline i still had hundreds of messages about my system being comprised... i seriously think the virus is the windows secrurity itself... program is the antichrist. These problems escalated into a a horrid maelstrom which finally ended with the computer having to be hard reset... i should have known this would happen i had similar problems years ago when i first got the machine and my antivirus expired... horrible problems... so this morning i opened my computer cause i wanted to write that last few thousand words for nanowrimo... this thing which has been controling my life for the entire month...i turned on my computer and the horrible words greeted me... "No Operating System Found" I had complete system failure... everything is gone... well not gone but locked away in my hard drive... in good news i might be able to get someone to take the information off the hard drive, i might be able to save all the writing i've done. But it won't happen before the deadline for nanowrimo... so the whole month is still wasted... yeah i know that i can be pretty damn dedicated and get the work done but i still won't be able to win the damn contest.

More than ten years worth of writing... sort of ... my first novel which i've written and rewritten, and restarted and etc... that's gone, the second novel gone, the 140 pages for nano... 46K words gone... poetry and stories from high school, college, and the last few months are all gone... Well i'm not going to let it get me down... not gonna let it piss me off. So yeah my turkey day started with a real kick in the nuts... but you know what i think everything will be stronger... fuck it all... i'll restart the old novel and it will be better... and the nano was a spur of the moment shot in the dark... i can do it thats what matters, 50K in a month is something i'm capable of... next year i won't rebuild a computer and transefer files for three frickin days... wasting entire weekends doing shit! I'll come back from this the stronger. BE well.

Dathar...aka Kurt~

To the rest of you that made it... thumbs up and much love. Be well and happy turkey day to all.

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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Victory!

Kaydrienne — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:14:38 -0800

I just have to say that I didn't think it was going to happen, but tonight I crossed the 50,000 word mark sitting here at Panera in Brookfield.

My fingers are sore, my brain is tempura, there isn't much blood left in my caffeine stream, and I've started talking about my charcters as though they were real people causing confusion and questions of sanity to myself and others.

I've lost sleep, ignored chores, spent lots of money on coffee (woot to the pumpkin spice latte), and had 20,000 words randomly eaten by Word. I've threatened my characters with fire, murder, suicide, love affairs, and the almighty 'delete' key to make them cooperate. I've dreamed about them, I've woken up on my keyboard with QWERTY face (twice), and I've seriously considered dropping my laptop off tall buildings, in rivers, or hucking it at the garbage truck.

You know what though? It's all worth it. The little counter bar under my name has turned green, officially declaring that the insanity has paid off, and I've accomplished my goal.

And that, my friends and fellow (insane) writers/authors, is a very, very cool thing.
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Write-in on Wednesday, November 26

etoile1677 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:53:49 -0800

Hi all,

I believe there's a write-in that night, in Torrington (my calendar does not want to come up). I'm thinking of trotting merrily over to the Borders in Southbury that night as the commute is less after work, therefore (allegedly) equating to more time to write. I'll jot another post if anything changes.

- Jaimie
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Club Meg

STRiPESandShades — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 14:07:52 -0800

Heyyy, Meg, Megan and any other Meg's in our region!
Since there are so many of us, I thought it would be cool if we had a thread! ^^

PS. I'm trying to get Tempura Transformer Muffin scanned.. the scanner in the school's library was broken T_T
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

CT Regional Word Wars!

Kaydrienne — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:57:22 -0700

Oh, it's on!

We're taking on Fairfield, and the Shoreline Regions (thus far) in an all out CT Word War! How do you participate?

1. Post in this thread before November 7th, to let me know I can count your total.
2. I will count up everyone's words at regular intervals, divide by the number of people that are participating, and come up with an average.
3. Dance around the room because our word total will be higher than the challenging regions! *grins*

FAQs:

Q: What if I'm in more than one region? A: Choose the region you'd like to be counted in, usually your "home region" but whichever you're most comfortable with choosing.

Q: What happens when we beat the pants off the other regions? A: We get some kinda prize and/or bragging rights. We (the almighty *cough* MLs) are still working on that.

Q: What's Meg's favorite icecream flavor? A: I'd have to to with Cookies and Cream.... (Okay, I was out of pertinant questions...)

So let me know asap that I can count you, and let's go for it!
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Torrington?

Kaydrienne — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:18:43 -0800

Hey all,

Is anyone planning on going to the Torrington Write In tomorrow (Wednesday) the 26th (the day before Thanksgiving) or would you rather just join Jaimie (Etoille1677) in Southbury at Borders?

If there are people planning on going, then I'll definitely head to Torrington, but if I'm going to be be alone I'd rather not make the drive.

I'll check this around 2pm on Wednesday (tomorrow); please RSVP if you're going.

Thanks!
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Sunday the 23rd in Southbury

Kaydrienne — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:40:49 -0800

Hey all!

By request I've added another Southbury Write In for Sunday the 23 from 4pm-6pm. (Well, you may opt to stay longer, I believe they're open til at least 8.)

If you have a power strip, please bring it, as plugs are limited.

WiFi is free if you have a Starbucks Gift Card and you register it. (Hey! Get off Facebook/MySpace/Email and get back to writing!)

See you there!
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Saturday the 22nd Write In Has Moved!

Kaydrienne — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:49:47 -0800

We relocated to Panera in Waterbury instead of Starbucks at Barnes and Noble since there were no plugs there.

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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Panera Bread in Newtown on Thursday

babblehead — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:35:32 -0800

This is more or less like the "Panera in Waterbury" post . . . except that there actually *is* a write-in in Newtown on Thursday.

I am planning on going to the write-in, hopefully with a friend. This will be my first one. Who is planning on going? What's it like at write-ins?

Basically, I'm asking the same thing as Zombie Boy . . .

Zombie Boy wrote:

Cool if I crash it?

Who else is going, so I will have an idea of how awkward to feel?

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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Panera in Waterbury tomorrow.

Zombie Boy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:54:53 -0800

Cool if I crash it?

Who else is going, so I will have an idea of how awkward to feel?
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Re-Post of Welcome and Introductions

Kaydrienne — Thu, 2 Oct 2008 18:03:53 -0700

Hey guys, when the server crashed we lost everything we'd posted here, however I have it saved in email, so below is the welcome and introductions of all who've posted:
******************************************************************************'
Kaydrienne:

Welcome to Connecticut's newest Region, Valley-Northwest! We created
this new Region for those of us living along Route 8 and no other
convenient highway, thus finding it more difficult to make it to meet
ups, write ins, and parties! If you aren't sure which Region you
belong in, it's okay to join more than one and see which events work
best for you. I hope with things being more localized for us, everyone
will have the chance to make it to a few events! If you have any
suggestions of venues, please feel free to bring them up in the
suggestion thread, or email me (LadyChatfield@gmail.com [2]).

We have just over a month before the craziness starts, so let's begin
introductions!

My name is Meg, though you'll see me on here as Kaydrienne. I'm 26 and
live in Naugatuck. This is my fifth NaNoWriMo, and will be my forth win
when I finish! This is my first year as a ML and I have a lot of events
planned for us so I hope to get a chance to meet you all this year!

Now go ahead and introduce yourselves!

****************************************************************************
Maura P:

Hi Meg!

My name is Maura and I am in Danbury. This is my first year with
NaNoWriMo and I am really looking forward to it. I recently finished a
60,000 word manuscript and am currently working on the rewrites.
However it took me a long, long time to finish that first draft and I
am being rather haphazard and slow on the re-writes so I am hoping
NaNoWriMo will help me to become a more disciplined writer. I need to
make it a true daily habit.

Please keep me informed of any meet ups. I would love to meet fellow
NaNoWriMo-ers!

Happy Writing,
Maura

PS: Good for you on four NaNoWriMo wins!!! You rock!!

**************************************************************************
ctrek7:

Hi Meg,
Its Cat! I have never written anything close to a book in volume, just
freelanced articles for newspapers. Looking forward to starting.

Cat

**************************************************************************
Dysis Raine:

Hi, Meg!

My name is Megan and this is my 3rd NaNoWriMo (and will hopefully be my
3rd win, too!)

I'm glad that us in the Northwest corner finally have a region, and
depending on where exactly everyone is, I may have some ideas for
places to meet up. (Maybe the Starbucks in Southbury or the one in New
Milford...?)

Good luck and happy writing to everyone!

**************************************************************************

YGJunkie85:

Hey all, I tend to go by CJ in real life, that is if anyone ever manages
to catch me in real life. This'll be my 6th nano, hopefully 3rd win. I'm
off in New Canaan, but am always up for a little travel if it means I
meet interesting people. Yay for finally having a region a little
closer to home. :D

*************************************************************************

Kaydrienne:

Nice to meet everyone, and hi Cat!

Wow Maura, that's awesome on your manuscript! Any advice for the
'newbs'? Actually, I'll start an advice thread too, but either way,
that's really great! And get ready for some 'shot gun noveling'!

Megan, wow, you won your first two years? My first year I came close,
but right around crunch time I couldn't put a sentence together, I'm
hoping that I'll be able to help this year's 'first years' through
similar creativity crashes. I'm all for the Starbuck in both Southbury
and New Milford, I'll get in touch with them this weekend and see when
would be good! :)

Hi CJ! I can get an event or two up in (or right near) New Canaan, not
a problem! I'm pretty excited about our new region too!

Cat, if there's anywhere or any night that's good for you that you
think you can make a meet up, let me know! I know your schedule is
crazy, but it's always good to see you!

*****************************************************************************

etoile1677:

Hi everyone, my name is Jaimie, and this is my first NaNoWriMo, and I'm
so excited. Can't wait to get started!

*******************************************************************************

That's it! I hope everyone finds us again!
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

The Things We Do For Our Characters!

Kaydrienne — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:29:39 -0800

You know, I just spent about fifteen minutes 'shopping' for the perfect cocktail dress and jewelry, and then matching shoes for Sophia Olivia's company post-election party.

I hate dress shopping! Of course, she's a nice size 6, so it's much easier to shop for her skinny little body than my own 12...lol!

Anyone else doing crazy things all in the name of 'descriptional accuracy'?

Oh, and has anyone else invented any words this month?

My current favorite is "Unfairities". And it means just what it sounds like it means. Sounds like a word, right? Spellcheck didn't think so. It also didn't like me describing Halley as "Pinkity Pink Pink".
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Where'd everyone go?

Kaydrienne — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:26:32 -0800

Our write in groups keep getting smaller and smaller...

Where did everyone go?

Just a reminder that a link to the Region Calendar is on the front of our forum, and we really don't bite! So come on down to a write in, or three, and while you may be overwhelmed by the quantity of Meg's (Meg...OtherMeg...and Megan), you will also be overwhelmed by the inspiration you can find and the words you can hammer out when you go out and write with others!

So...on Sunday we'll be at Panera in Newtown...can I expect any of you?
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Emails from the ML

Kaydrienne — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:34:52 -0700

Hey all, I'll be posting all the emails I send out here incase anyone misses any.

~Meg aka Kaydrienne
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Finding the time to write

rkalajian — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:08:32 -0800

Anyone else out there having trouble finding the time to write?

I commute to Glastonbury for work, and it's about an hour to an hour and a half each day. I've also got two young kids at home that I try and spend as much time with as possible.

I've been writing both over lunch hour at work, and some nights after the kids going to bed. It's working out fine so far, but something already popped up today where my entire lunch hour was NOT spent writing.

My WC isn't terrible so far, but I'm a bit behind from where I'd like to be.
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

I can't see the calendar!!

GreenTeapot — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 10:13:43 -0800

I've been trying to see upcoming events on the calendar for two days, and whenever I go to it, it just has the header that says it's the calendar, and the rest of the page is blank. Is anyone else having this problem?
Are there any write-ins or gatherings happening this weekend? When and where?
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"This corn is like an angel."

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

PinkSpider43 — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 06:07:03 -0800

I'm 7,000 words behind.

Wish me luck guys, life got in the way the first few days.

I'm feeling nauseous x__x
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Anyone have their idea yet?

PinkSpider43 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:46:10 -0700

I sure don't. I mean, I've got a vague idea, I want to do a kind of slice of life/coming of age story, but nothing much more solid than that.

How about you guys? Have you got your idea all mapped out already and ready to write? Or are you getting nervous? I figured we could just chat ideas (or vent on the lack of) here!
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Help!!

zoomvw422 — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:51:24 -0800

Hi all! I'm a Nano neophyte, I'm cold, I'm shaking, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm excited. But I'm having trouble with this site, I don't know how to use it! I have a (dumb?) question. How do I post my word count?
Thanks!
~Zoom
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United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

On-line chatting / word wars anyone?

YGJunkie85 — Wed, 8 Oct 2008 04:57:32 -0700

I know that for some of us, it may be difficult in the upcoming NaNo season to make it for the local write-ins and meet ups. From my previous 5 years of NaNoing, I've found online meet ups to be an effective alternative, and the travel time is hard to beat. I'm almost always online in some way shape or form (unless I'm not) and I'm always up for a bit of writerly chatting, or word warring (unless I'm at work, in which case writerly chatting is still acceptable)

If anyone's interested in such things, why not post your methods of online communications (AIM, Gtalk, ICQ, Twitter, etc.) and corresponding screen name. I'll start:

AIM: YGJunkie85
Twitter: Silver_Wolf85

If I don't respond right off, it's most likely because I'm easily distracted by shiny objects. But I always respond once I notice someone's trying to talk to me, especially if they're strategic and use the word NaNo or writing somewhere in their greeting. ^_^

Happy writing!
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Your stupid!
...my stupid what?
EMail: charlesmuir@gmail.com

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Waterbury Write-In!

delirious19th — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:58:06 -0700

I just checked the calendar and I am so excited to see that our first write-in is in Waterbury! I will definitely be able to make this one (I'm having car problems, medical bills, etc etc) and I can't wait to meet everyone! I'm looking forward to soup, coffee and of course, writing!

I'm really sorry I missed the kickoff, so I'm more than excited that I can make this!

What weapons will you guys be bringing? I'll be bringing my laptop and my composition notebook for notes. And of course a nice cup of coffee to start off with. (:

-Elizabeth
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This year I am taking time off from NaNoWriMo in order to finish last year's novel.

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Wanna hang out with a NaNo dropout?

delirious19th — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:52:17 -0700

Hey everyone. I just wanted to let you all know that I am no longer participating this year. I've decided, instead, to use the time to finish last year's novel. I have a bad habit of not finishing things, and I feel that I've already gotten a lot out of past NaNo years. I also see big opportunities for this book and I want to try to take advantage of them ASAP.

That being said.. anyone mind if I still come write with you? I need the time set aside and I'd love to meet some local writers. I still plan on coming tomorrow and a friend of mine who would like to participate is supposed to come with me.
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This year I am taking time off from NaNoWriMo in order to finish last year's novel.

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Your Suggestions

Kaydrienne — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 20:01:45 -0700

Hello again everyone!

I'm putting together our calendar of events, and have several places already mapped out. It's been recommended to aim for 2 official meet ups a week, and that's what I'm aiming for right now, in addition to the Kick Off Party and the TGIO Party!

So far for suggestions I have:

Southbury Starbucks
New Milford Starbucks
Watertown Starbucks
New Canaan
Litchfield
Torrington

There's a few places I'm waiting on to get back to me that should be good as well, and I'll list them as soon as they're confirmed.

All confirmed dates will be posted on the Region's Calendar of Events. Also if anyone else organizes a meet up, let me know and I'll add it! (If you've been discussing it here on the forums, I should catch it and add it, but if you don't see it after a day or so poke me and I"ll get it up!)

I will have info on the Kick Off party up this week...don't worry, I will make sure it doesn't conflict with the Shoreline Party!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal

United States :: Connecticut :: Valley-Northwest

Kick Off Party! Please read and RSVP!

Kaydrienne — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:43:59 -0700

Hi writers and fans of CT Valley/Northwest Region!

The Kick Off Party details have been finalized...finally!

It will be a lunch party at Maggie McFly's of Middlebury on Saturday October 25th at 2:00.

The cost is $25 and includes:

Appetizers (platters for the tables)
Any lunch from the lunch party menu
Dessert
Soda
Tax
Tips

We will be meeting upstairs, they are closing off a section of the restaurant for us! Our reservation is under the name "Meg", and you can look for the NaNo signs, and me in my NaNoWriMo 07 T'shirt.

Please RSVP by Tuesday October 21st so I can confirm the headcount on Wednesday!

Hope to see you all there to kick off the 10th Anniversary of NaNoWriMo!

~Meg akaKaydrienne
Municipal Liaison for CT Valley/Northwest
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~Meg aka Kaydrienne
Municipal Liaison CT Valley/Northwest
***
Twitter :: LiveJournal