Hey everyone. Since I doubt anyone knows me, my name is Paul. I'm a 16 year old junior at Catalina Foothills High School and I did manage to complete NaNoWriMo last year with my novel Split Soul. Unfortunately, I never edited it, and I never got the paperback copy from CreateSpace either because I couldn't figure out how to get the page formatting fixed before the deadline.
Anyways. I made a promise last year to get to know my fellow NaNo writers better, and this thread should help new comers get to know others as well. So maybe say your name, age, whether or not you've done NaNo before and if you've completed it, and your hopes for the upcoming NaNoWriMo
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53,191 / 50,000
oct. 2, 2009 - 15 34
Anyways. I made a promise last year to get to know my fellow NaNo writers better, and this thread should help new comers get to know others as well. So maybe say your name, age, whether or not you've done NaNo before and if you've completed it, and your hopes for the upcoming NaNoWriMo
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Hi, Paul! Congrats on winning NaNo last year, and welcome back!
Re Create Space, if you're working in Word, just go to "page layout" and look for "custom" under page size, and choose whichever one you like. I believe that 6x9 is the smallest that Create Space uses. You can get a proof of your novel for very little money -- under $10.
I think it's not only really fun to see your book looking like a book, but also much easier to edit in that form. The errors and need-more-here places seem to just leap off the page, whereas in ms. form or on the screen they tend to hide.
I published my '07 NaNovel, The Green Boy, through Create Space and it's now available on my website (www.AshleenOGaea.com) and through Amazon. I don't think I've actually sold any yet, but it's available, anyhow :-)
And -- no promises, but just last week at the Society of Southwestern Authors' annual writing conference (here in Tucson) I met with an editor/publisher who asked to see the first three chapters of that novel and of the sequel, which I wrote for the '08 NaNo. (I'm writing the third in the series this year.)
I'd also like to let you (and other NaNoids) know about the SSA's annual writing contest. It runs from January 1 through the end of May, and it the $10 fee/each piece you enter includes brief feedback from each of the three judges in the category. Winners are notified around the beginning of September, and awards are presented on the third Sunday in October. You don't have to be a member of the SSA to win -- and there are cash prizes to win in each of four categories: short story, memoir/essay, poetry, and children's story. Check the website (www.ssa-az.org) for details -- they'll be up for the 2010 contest by the end of December.
Ashleen
----------meet me at www.AshleenOGaea.com
57,449 / 50,000
oct. 2, 2009 - 20 14
Hey everyone, hopefully I know some people here this year. I'm Aubree and I'm also 16.' This will be my third year participating in NaNo, and with any luck, my third year finishing.
Ashleen, I think we may have a mutual acquaintance. Do you know if Sam Turner is participating this year? I haven't had a chance to email him yet.
----------36,849 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 00 44
Hmmmm...I guess some connection to the community instead of just lurking isn't a bad thing. So, for introductions, I'll say that my name is Jerome, though I go by Ogre as well. I'm 28, the father of twin girls, and would be more of a dilettante if I were independantly wealthy, but I do so like to pretend.
I've been writing for...Well, a long time, though I didn't do NaNo until years ago, and strangely never bothered to complete it until I was so busy that I shouldn't have been able to. Last year was my first victory, but the work has since expanded so it's not "done" and is currently scheduled for a rewrite, and I have a brilliant new thing set for the upcoming year. Or something.
13,338 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 05 59
Nice to meet you all.
My name is Shauna and I'm in my thirties. This will be my third year doing Nano, and hopefully my third win. After the first time, i swore I wouldn't do it again, and so far...this is the second time I've caved and decided to go for it. :-) I hope to get to some of the get togethers this year, if I'm lucky, and get to meet ya'll face to face again.
----------T.H.
53,191 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 06 53
Hi, Aubree! I'm not sure about Sam, but I e-ed him as soon as I saw your note, and we can hope to hear from him soon. His enthusiasm is a great motivator, so I hope he's in this year, too.
Ashleen
----------meet me at www.AshleenOGaea.com
53,191 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 06 55
Hey, Shauna! I only made it to one get-together last year, and am hoping to make more this year, too.
Ashleen
----------meet me at www.AshleenOGaea.com
50,000 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 08 15
I'm Eliza, I'm 24 (but will be 25 soon, 'cause I'm a NaNo-baby), and this is my 7th year. I'm part of the old guard in Tucson, so if you've been to any of the write-ins it's likely you've seen me before. I've won every year except in 2005, due mostly to extenuating circumstances.
This year I'll be the busiest I've ever been during NaNo; I'm currently a culinary arts major (despite what your or my mother says, going to college in your 20s is NOT the end of the world) and pulled the class where you work in the restaurant for the fall quarter, which means I have long morning and night classes and then a few hours in between, many of which will hopefully be devoted to my novel, and so far I still have my weekends.
Most of what I write would fall within the fantasy genre, though mainly I just like to make stuff up and I think we need fewer walls between genres anyway. My novel for this year features mechanics, alchemy, people turning into trees (as opposed to tree-people), and even a little bit of hopefully-not-cringe-inducing time travel!
----------2003 - The Long Road | 2004 - The Circle of Many Faces | 2006 - Searching for Sunset | 2007 - Souls in the City | 2008 - The Murmuring Mirrors | 2009 - Across
7,085 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 08 43
Hello, I'm Margaret (mereridkat). I've been doing this for several years, have never won. I'm hoping this year will be different as I should have more time. In August, I was laid off from work at the university. It's actually been nice so far - free time, helping friends, working on a journal quilt entry for the quilt show, got back into cross stitching, etc...
I signed up and my funding has been approved for a "web designer certificate" through the UA Outreach College, and I start that on 10/21. Trying to get everything set up for it as it is mostly done online from home. I'm excited as I will get to learn Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I did some web stuff at my previous job, and really enjoyed it. I'd rather do that than be a secretary! So here's hoping all goes well.
The novel I'm working on this year is one I tried before but failed. It's my family fantasy adventure story, I keep tweaking the plot and I'm hoping it will go better this time around.
Best of luck to everyone!
Margaret
----------~not all who wander are lost~
2009: Gathering Wind
7,085 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 08 50
Hi Eliza! It is far more common now to be a "non-traditional" student. I saw it a lot at work in the Computer Science Dept. One of the professors, well actually a couple of them, had other careers before going to college and getting degrees. Prof. Suzanne Westbrook worked for the US Postal Service before she went to college and got her degrees, and starting teaching Computer Science.
Also, I'm going "back to school" for my retraining at the Outreach College and I'm (gasp) 47. My nephew is in his early 30's, and he's just been accepted into the Comp Sci major at the university. So don't let anyone slow you down, go for it!
Good luck to you!
Margaret
----------~not all who wander are lost~
2009: Gathering Wind
4,756 / 50,000
oct. 3, 2009 - 19 16
Greetings and salutations, I'm looking forward to this year's NaNoWriMo! I'm a staff member at UA and live two blocks from the U so if there are any people who want to write together on campus, let me know. I'm a two-time winner, and a one-time loser (despite the No Plot? No Problem! book, in 2007 I found my complete lack of a plot crippling). I'm revisiting that idea this year and am hopeful. Last year I had just gotten back from a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon and my NaNoWriMo novel took place over the two weeks of a raft trip, a perfect time period for a short novel. I highly recommend short time periods. I love the write-ins they are so fun and motivating, if you are new do NOT miss out on the experience of at least one write-in. I'm writing this on my new netbook running Ubuntu; why, yes, I DO think I am cool, why do you ask? :-) My best advice for newcomers is, don't spend a single second worrying about how terrible your writing is, just hold your nose and KEEP GOING.
50,000 / 50,000
oct. 4, 2009 - 07 52
Good to see you again, Margaret! :) I do feel there have been advantages to continuing my education when I did, especially after diving into the "real world" for a bit. So far it's been great.
memcinto: I myself am running Linux Mint (on a giant pink Dell, no less--it's big, but I need my screen res!) :)
----------2003 - The Long Road | 2004 - The Circle of Many Faces | 2006 - Searching for Sunset | 2007 - Souls in the City | 2008 - The Murmuring Mirrors | 2009 - Across
0 / 50,000
oct. 4, 2009 - 09 48
Greetings,
I'm Dangerous Bill, unregenerate liberal, retired chemist and failed novelist. This will make my sixth nano. So far I've got a drawer full of manuscripts for my trouble. I write all the time, not just for nano, and right now, I'm racing to finish my current work in time for Nov. 1. An added challenge will be the time needed for a rockhounding group I belong to, which travels around AZ and NM on weekends.
OTH, I've never 'won' nano, only used it as a starter for novels that I have gone on to finish later.
Travesties so far,
"Anne the Healer" - nano 2004 - A woman cursed with healing powers crosses paths with a petty criminal. Contemporary Chicago. Finished. Read it all at
http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=3048
"Unattended Deaths" - nano 2005 - A crime scene cleanup crew discovers evidence of a bioterrorism plot. Contemporary Chicago. Unfinished.
"Rhiannon's Men" - nano 2006 - A female lawyer helps corporate pirates steal from their companies, and then steals from them. Unfinished.
"The Ancestors of Star" - nano 2007 - A college senior takes a year to work at a reservation clinic in New Mexico, and finds himself attracted to the head nurse. Finished.
"Tinaja" - nano 2008 - A man is saved from death in the desert by a mysterious woman, who leads him to water and promptly disappears. Incomplete.
"Mortal Turpitude" - current - Professor Croft is having an affair with Lisa, his star grad student. She recently discovered a gene sequence that will turn ordinary cold viruses into killers, and the military is interested. Nearly complete.
Dangerous Bill
----------Nano 2009: 'Mortal Turpitude'.
Professor Croft's star student has discovered a fragment of DNA that will turn harmless cold viruses into killers, and his discovery has attracted the attention of the military. Complicating the situation is his two-year
0 / 50,000
oct. 5, 2009 - 12 14
Hello there! :D
I am Kim and I am 21 years old this year. This will be my second Nano. Last year I made the deadline, but am still in progress working on what I finished last year. Heh. I love the frenzied state of Nano, so I'm back this year for another go and hopefully another fifty thousand words of what I hope will turn out great.
I live in Sahuarita, so if any of you live out here and want to do Write-ins or whatever, that would be sweet. I'm not in school this semester (but next semester I am hoping to be a Wildcat, roar). I work at American Airlines, write a lot, play some video games, yadda yadda. ;3 Good luck to everyone!
----------~What's left to catch but the fear of letting go?~
www.twitter.com/hangthesilver
www.hangthesilver.tumblr.com
13,338 / 50,000
oct. 5, 2009 - 13 13
Woo hoo! I'm down here, too. Yeaaa, someone nearby! I'm just up Sahuarita road, near Houghton. I would LOVE to do a write in. Any ideas where? That coffee shop in the Sahuarita Fry's has comfy chairs, as I recall. :-)
----------T.H.
31,923 / 50,000
oct. 5, 2009 - 14 55
My best friend just moved to Sahuarita, so I'll likely be in the area at least a few times during NaNo. Would love to find a good place to meet down there. She's in Rancho Sahuarita, so we might even be able to use their posh lounge area :)
----------Municipal Liaison for Tucson, AZ (retired) - on call 24/7 during November
~~ Winner 2002 * 2003 * 2004 * 2005 * 2006 * 2007*2008~~
Expert 10 page critique for you, $5 for NaNoWriMo
26,204 / 50,000
oct. 5, 2009 - 17 43
Hi all, I'm Laura, back after MASSIVE failure last year, which broke my run of wins from 2002 to 2007. Not that I've ever really done anything with them, save one that I finished and edited, but that one was fanfic and so a dead end on the someday-hope-to-be-published front. I'm a grad student at the U of A in natural resources, and so this year could also be dicey as to finishing, but I've been doing this so long that it just doesn't feel like November without late nights, too many chocolate-covered coffee beans, and filling up the blank pages with brain barf.
0 / 50,000
oct. 6, 2009 - 02 58
Ahh! More Sahuarita people! I didn't even know we existed on the internet! :D
I'm actually located in Rancho too currently. I'm not sure how the lounge thing would work, since I actually can't think of anywhere that's empty with just places to sit around, cept in the lobby, and then I would get bothered by everyone I went to high school with. xD J/k. I think there may be somewhere in the back, but it's more of a sports bar/lounge thing. And I'll just be quiet, because I haven't been in that clubhouse in at least a year h-ha. So it could be quite changed.
But also correct! There are comfy chairs at that glorious Frys.
Ahh, super excited there are people around me who know about Nano! I felt so alone last year heh.
----------~What's left to catch but the fear of letting go?~
www.twitter.com/hangthesilver
www.hangthesilver.tumblr.com
0 / 50,000
oct. 6, 2009 - 10 14
Hello I'm Desiree, 23 and back after a massive failure last year. This will be my second attempt on NaNo. Well I'm a student at Pima, and studying mythology.
Well I was so not prepared for the contest last year. I have actually set aside some time to actually finish. Well I hope to finish anyway. It's nice meeting you guys :)
----------http://www.facebook.com/dezyray
http://www.myspace.com/dezyray_85
21,000 / 50,000
oct. 6, 2009 - 13 38
Hello all,
I'm new to the Tucson area. Just moved here about 3 weeks ago from Florida. I'm 27 and saving up money to get certified as a yoga instructor.
I've participated for several years, but have won only 3 years. Hopefully, this year will be a win. In the location I lived in Florida there was not a big community and I never managed to get to a write-in. 2009 will be different. I promised to be more social and outgoing, plus I just need to meet people.
Good luck to everyone.
----------"What are you girls, part of a vicious art gang? Have you come to take my wallet?" Enzo Torcoletti
7,085 / 50,000
oct. 6, 2009 - 15 41
My brother lives in Rancho Sahuarita. He doesn't write... I can hardly get him to write email much less a novel! But anyway, interesting to see a Sahuarita contingent.
Margaret
----------~not all who wander are lost~
2009: Gathering Wind
34,119 / 50,000
oct. 7, 2009 - 07 00
Another Old Fart checking in. I'm Rick, and with my birthday falling during November, I'll turn the Big Five-Oh during NaNoWriMo this year (Book 'em, Danno).
This will be my fourth WriMo, with three previous wins under my belt. I will most likely show up at the starting Midnight Sprint in my wizard costume, so for those who are there, I should be easy to spot.
----------"We do not quit playing because we grow old; we grow old because we quit playing."
2006 - The Daedalus Child - Winner.
2007 - Lana's Pack - Winner.
2008 - Precocious by Design - Winner
2009 - Empty Threats
61,000 / 50,000
oct. 8, 2009 - 12 26
Hello fellow NanoKnights! I am Xander, I'm 27 and I am currently working in AmeriCorps helping youth do community service! I am also part of the Old Guard, as Eliza put it. I've been doing Nano since 2003 and haven't lost yet... but have never been able to slap "The End" on anything. This year will be different, I hope! :D I am looking forward to this year because I plan on having a new laptop to play with! Cannot wait for the Midnight Dash!
----------___________________________________
*ML for Tucson, AZ*
You see these? You see these words? These are REVLON words!
358 / 50,000
oct. 8, 2009 - 16 42
Hi I'm Shannon and moved to Tucson at the end of last year from Tallahassee, FL. I've lived in Albuqueruque, Phoenix area, Santa Barbara, Sacramento and my official hometown is San Francisco.
I know Sam Turner from RWA (Romance Writer's of America) Tucson. He's really outspoken and fun at the monthly meetings. Glad to know he's such a motivational force here too!
I have a bunch of ideas floating around, but for this Nano I'm going to work on an Urban Fantasy with Strong Romantic Elements. When finished that should fit into a contest catagory somewhere. :-)
I've participated in Nano before and took the last three years off. I am really excitied to dig in and finish this year.
Glad to meet all of you and I hope I can come to some of the write-in's this season.
----------“[My Mother was a school teacher, all the rest are lawyers]…sitting around the dinner table anyone who used one word when they could have used ten just wasn’t trying very hard.” Aaron Sorkin,
33,034 / 50,000
oct. 8, 2009 - 17 12
Wow. There's been a ton of replies since I last checked. Great to meet all of you and hopefully I'll see all of you at the kick off party.
And thanks for the advice Ashleen :)
2,896 / 50,000
oct. 9, 2009 - 16 22
Hi, I'm Melissa and I'm also a 16 year old Junior at Catalina Foothills High School. And I'm pretty sure that we have the same AP Lit and Comp teacher, Paul, because I'm reading TTOTS right now as well... O_o That's so crazy. Anyway, I "did" NaNo last year, but failed miserably. I just moved back to Tucson from a seven-year stint in Eagle River, Alaska, and I'm so excited to be here where people who do NaNo live near me! I wasn't able to go to any meetings with fellow WriMos last year and I think that's why my attempt was so feeble. Hopefully this year I'll at least come a bit closer to winning, although I'm not too involved with my current idea because I've been so wrapped up in writing something else that I'm unfortunately already over 6000 words in to, so I can't use it. Oh sad. Anywho, I'm sure this idea will develop itself into something I'll enjoy just as much once I start it. Good luck and good vibes to all of my fellow Southern-Arizonan-WriMos for this year!
40,027 / 50,000
oct. 10, 2009 - 09 29
Hi, all...
I'm Valerie, and this will be my fifth NaNo. I have wins for the last four years, and one additional 50K/30 novel. I am multi-genre but published in short speculative fiction and poetry. I never get to meet-ups, but I do stop by here and wave.
----------"I found out I need to write in community. So I've gathered people. Real people and imaginary people, and we all write together." --Maxine Hong Kingston
3,134 / 50,000
oct. 10, 2009 - 13 22
I am going to commit by replying. I relatively new-ish to Tucson (moved here from the midwest a year and half ago), and am in my mid-30s. I earned a minor in creative writing as an undergrad. I participated in NaNoWriMo seven or eight years ago, but failed (it also turned out to be a busier month at work than I had expected, too). I've been thinking about it since, and I decided to commit to success this year! I used to write fiction all the time during my teens and early 20s, but since then, it feels like life has gotten 'in the way', in some senses. I still write, but mostly journal-writing and blogging (about "real life" and book reviews, and the like). I am feeling excited about this, and hope I can stay motivated. I'd love to accomplish this.
10,277 / 50,000
oct. 10, 2009 - 19 46
Hi everyone,
This is my first nanowrimo...I had never heard of it before, and a friend who has successfully completed it in the past talked me into it. It sound intense, and fun, and I hope I'm up for it!
I'm 31, been in Tucson most of my life, and tend to write mainly in the science fiction/fantasy genres.
I'm always horrible at these introductions, not sure what else to say here. Anyway, best of luck to everyone!
36,064 / 50,000
oct. 12, 2009 - 09 36
Heya, folks.
I'm Andy, and I'm in my mid-forties, and this is my second go-around at the NaNoWriMo thing. The last time I participated was in 2006, and since I had an absolute blast getting to 50,000 I thought I'd try it again.
It's good to see everyone getting as excited about this as I am.
61,000 / 50,000
oct. 12, 2009 - 09 43
Welcome welcome! It's great to have you all here this year! It's going to be awesome! I can just feel it! *is so excited*
----------___________________________________
*ML for Tucson, AZ*
You see these? You see these words? These are REVLON words!