United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

[STICKY] On-Line Writeins

lostfairytales — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:08:26 -0700

..an online write-in meeting? I did that for Script Frenzy and it seemed to go well. We'd meet online and everyone would check into the online chat and we'd have the meeting virtually. I still have the domain, we could do that if any of the MLs is interested.

URL:
http://xat.com/ScriptFrenzy?p=0&ss=5

(Making this a stick y and putting the link in the first post so we can all see it. - Testcase)
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Lost :0p
http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/LiveSupporter/174568.png

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Word War Smack Talk

utoxin — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 09:14:04 -0800

Well... theanab asked where the smacktalk thread was. I'm not sure why someone on the SLC team would want to know that... but hey, he asked, so here it is. :)

First, for those who don't follow the unofficial forums, here's the URL for the wordwar stats:

http://www.utahwrimos.net/wordwar/

Hmm. Let's look at those numbers for just a moment...

As of this moment, Elsewhere is /ahead/ of the 50k pace as a team. And they have 8 members on pace to break 80k words.

SLC, on the other hand... is behind the 50k pace, and only has 4 members on pace to break 80k words.

Guess who's winning.... :)
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UtahWrimos.net - The Unofficial Forums for Utah Wrimos. Drop by and chat sometime.

United States :: Utah :: Springville

Writing while sick

Safaia — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:16:13 -0800

For those of you who saw me at the last write in might remember me mentioning that I threw my neck out. Well, it turns out that there was something much worse than that as I found strange bumps on the top of my head and neck the next day. They were extremely painful and before long the pain had settled in my right ear. Went to the doctor today and it turns out I have shingles. The areas around my ears are so swollen from the infection that they are putting pressure on my ear drum and causing a ton of pain. All in all, not fun.

I need some motivation help. I'm so close to 50k but this sickness is just making it so hard to write. Anyone have any ideas on how I can make myself work when I'm in so much pain?
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---
TwilightMist
LiveJournal

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Brandon Sanderson Writing Workshop @ Dragon's Keep

utoxin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:07:13 -0800

Sorry for the late notice, and the early sketchy details on this. I was notified last week, in passing, that Brandon would be at Dragon's Keep tonight, 'probably at 6'.

Well, it's official now. He will be there from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, and he will be giving us a little talk about writing. Not sure what exactly, but I'm sure it will be excellent. For those who don't know, Brandon Sanderson is a published author with several excellent fantasy novels out, and he was tapped for the honor of completing the Wheel of Time series.

Please, try to be there early if you can. I know this is earlier than we usually meet, but this was scheduled with minimal input from me, and I'm not going to complain, because Brandon is going out of his way to do something nice for us, as is Dragon's Keep by providing us with this opportunity.

Again, that is tonight, Tuesday the 18th at 6:00 PM, at Dragon's Keep (260 N University Ave, Provo). I hope to see you there!
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UtahWrimos.net - The Unofficial Forums for Utah Wrimos. Drop by and chat sometime.

United States :: Utah :: American Fork

SLC NaNoWriMo mascot

FantasysDreamAurora — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:06:17 -0700

So, my friend in Australia thought of a mascot for his area. The NaNoRhiNo. I thought it was brilliant, and apparently so did everyone else in the area! One girl even made a NaNoRhiNo puppet.

Now, not to be outdone, I propose we think of a mascot of our own! I'm currently out of ideas, but I'll post a few as soon as I think of them.
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//My Mottos\\
~Reality is just a word
~Inifity is nothing with a twist
~If it's important, they'll call back
<3/Aurora

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Saturday Write-Ins at the City Library

banai — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:00:49 -0700

We are confirmed for three Saturdays in November at the City Library. We were not able to get a room for the 15th, so I'll be scouting out alternative locations.

Just like last year, we will be downstairs. (Sorry, they didn't give us a room with windows -- I asked.) We've been assigned two different rooms.

On November 8, 2-5pm, we're in Conference Room A.
On November 11 and 29, 2-5pm, we're in Conference Room, Level -1.

"Conference Room A is located on the lower level beneath the library foyer. It's accessible using the foyer staircase (down the stairs and to the left) or using the elevator next to the auditorium. Conference Room L-1 is the one located next to the Children's Library (on the lower level)."

Are those different? Actually, the foyer staircase... yep, that must be the difference.

In addition, this year, we have been warned to not bring food into the room or we will be charged a cleaning fee. We have been asked to eat in the foyer or outside the building. So... don't be seen carrying in the BK bags, don't leave crumbs, and don't leave evidence in the garbage can in the room, OK?
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Banai
Co-ML in Salt Lake City, Utah
AIM, YIM, GTalk: banai47

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Wednesday Night Write-Ins

banai — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 12:53:05 -0800

The SLCC Community Writing Center has graciously offered to open their doors to anyone doing NaNo for Wednesday evening write-ins from 7-8:30pm. They are located in Library Square, along the row of shops on the outside of the main City Library building.
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Banai
Co-ML in Salt Lake City, Utah
AIM, YIM, GTalk: banai47

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Signs the world wants you to be writing.

greywanderer — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:14:38 -0800

First sign: I got laid off from my job on Oct 6. Clearly the universe did this so that I'd be free all November.

Second sign: My monitor always fritzes out when I'm surfing around or playing games. But it has never once in 12 days this month cut out on me while writing my novel.

Anyone else?
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Whales. Lord do I hate whales.

Toccoto — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 09:31:58 -0800

"So I had that dream again."

"Which dream?"

"You know... /the/ dream."

"..."

"Whales."

"Ah... whales."

"I swear to god, man. Freaking whales. Those things are out to get me."

"Hah hah."

"Dude seriously, have you ever seen Shamu?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Have you ever seen Shamu... with murderous intent?"

"WTF."

"I have. And I assure you, it isn't pretty."

"They're whales. They can't even survive on land."

"I know, God was a genius when he thought of that. Only way to contain those natural born killers."

"What?! Didn't you ever see Free Willy?"

"Hell yes, horror movie for the ages."

"Free Willy was a horror movie?"

"Yeah, imagine if whales could really jump that high. They would have the advantage."

"Dude, whales can jump that high. It's called breeching."

"That isn't funny man."

Oh! Hai!
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Just a question....

lostfairytales — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:04:01 -0800

I read somewhere that Chris would rather have a neat piece for folks to be working on during the nano or script frenzy month so as to not cause headaches because of something that's written....like a piece you have put away for a year because you lost interest. Are we allowed to be working on something that has already parts written? If this is true that we can, boy, I'd have worked on my first book in my series instead of my 2nd. That would have made my life soooooo much easier. What do you guys say?
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Lost :0p
http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/LiveSupporter/174568.png

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

ML Love

theanab — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 12:14:25 -0800

As Chris said on the front page, share your love for the ML's!
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Utah Wordwar Signup & Rules

utoxin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:01:02 -0700

First: I'm VERY sorry this is so late getting posted. I've been going crazy dealing with life. Anyone who's ever started a corporation can tell you what I'm going through. :)

Here are the rules for this year. The community has spoken, and it the vast majority of you want the rules nice and simple, so we're going back to first year rules on this:

1. Teams must be completed by Noon on the 8th of November, local time. No changes will be permitted after that.
2. Signups / Retractions must be posted in this thread.
3. That's it.

There are two teams, unless I hear otherwise, since it seems like the various 'elsewhere' regions are all too small to form their own teams. SLC and Elsewhere.

Here are the currently known team members:

Elsewhere (55):

accountingchick
Aelysium
AGMeade
arah4ever
Austindm
banana split lady
bobitaG
bobtheenchantedone
BreeBreeScreeScree
Brytning
c4larsen
catmagnet
cheboricuas
Cheriwrites
cossackboy
CurryClaire925
dani_writer
DarkSilven
emjohns
erratic247
Fredjikrang
Hapshepsut
Havoc
i am the Pen
jaguerns
keyaroscuro
Kitan
Logan_Xan
magicalbookworm
maplenihongo
monotreme
mr_nyuckles
mudu
Muirnin
Nanny
nefarious247
nisovin
operasinger17
pokemon_brainiac
redthunder
scarletglompgirl
Scone
sortitus
squeebe
Sunnyvampire
teen.hearts.beating.faster
topsecret
Tricia Simpson
trickytroy
Utoxin (ML)
writer-faerie
Xanderpan2000
youcallhersusie
zilcherkatx

SLC (40):

Banai (ML)
Beth
BrantEaton
cadranni
caveats
chanel
daggerfang
downsideleft
elmanoroboto
emeralddarkness
FantasysDreamAurora
feargus
Feresa
gretchasketch
greywanderer
higginszoo
inktip
jcoaster2008
jo-b-4
JsBugga
Judie
konajar
littleblueengine
lostfairytales
Maelstra
miraclewhip
pejorativecharm
phrog
Safaia
Sakerra
starrarte
stenar
tchansen
Testcase
theanab
Tricia V
wheelerclown
Writing_Fast
Xena
zeephee

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UtahWrimos.net - The Unofficial Forums for Utah Wrimos. Drop by and chat sometime.

United States :: Utah :: American Fork

I think I'll miss you most of all scarecrow...

sircastor — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:35:16 -0700

Hey Guys,

Aaron Eiche Here. A couple of months ago, if you asked me, I would have told you that I wasn't going to participate in NanoWrimo this year. I've gotten myself too busy. I'm considering it though, and so I thought I'd pop in and say hello.

Hi!

Anyway, Also a couple of months ago, I moved back to my hometown with my wife, and so now I'm keepin' in real up in the Pacific Northwest. So I won't be joining you guys for writing this year (at least not in person.) I wanted to say to you all that you hold a special place in my heart, thanks for all the friendliness and laughter that we enjoyed.

Keep Writing,
-Aaron
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Hello Salt Lake!

pejorativecharm — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:06:13 -0700

Anybody out there?
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

The Unofficial Write-ins Topic

beth — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 21:20:45 -0800

If you're gonna be writing somewhere public and would like company, post here and see if anyone shows up.

I'll start things off, by declaring that we're going to be at Nostalgia Coffee tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 8, starting at 2:00, for two hours or so. See ya there.
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It takes a heap of loafing to write a novel. --Gertrude Stein
www.shimmerzine.com

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Utah Wordwar - 2008 Edition (Rules Discussion)

utoxin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:33:30 -0700

Welcome to another year of NaNoWriMo! To continue the tradition of past years, I am starting up this thread to establish the rules for this year's war.

Last year, we experimented with locking people out if they failed to update for a certain interval. In my opinion, that didn't work very well, and caused bad feelings on both sides.

This year, I propose we go back to the very simple rules we had for the 2006 war. You have to sign up to participate by the end of the first week, and once that period has passed, the participant list is locked.

Also, I would like to include all the Utah regions this year, if they are interested. It should make for a more interesting competition.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Feel free to post anything concerning the rules for this year's wordwar here.
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UtahWrimos.net - The Unofficial Forums for Utah Wrimos. Drop by and chat sometime.

United States :: Utah :: Cache Valley

University of Utah Wrimos?

theanab — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:03:34 -0700

Alright everyone, I know you're out there. I've met plenty ofy ou in the past.

Roll Call, Runnin' Utes! Let's hear the battle cry!
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Cast Your Vote: Mascot, Write-Ins, And Some Other News

banai — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 19:14:53 -0700

OK, I wanted to bring up some of this at the kick-off, but I felt too disorganized. Besides which, even though I could quiet down our group, there were so many other noisy people on the patio with us that it made things seem more difficult.

We need to vote on a mascot. Here are the choices I am giving you:

Rocky Mountain WriMounts (snow-covered mountain as our mascot)
Rocky Mountain WriMoose
Rocky Mountain Lion WriMos

Next vote is for write-ins. We only have 3 of 4 Saturdays (not the 15th) reserved at the City Library. So, we can:

Use the City Library for three Saturdays and go to a coffee shop the other.
Use the City Library for three Saturdays and take a week off the other.
Use the City Library for one Saturday and coffee shops the other three.

We can either go somewhere different each week, or go with Coffee Connection (because I've been to that one). It's on State Street, not far from the Trax line, but I haven't checked where the Trax station is.

But I think that, for now, and with the site so slow, we should just go with the City Library for the first Saturday, so there's no confusion with last -minute changes. Therefore, the vote is for the other three Saturdays.

Other News

Wednesday Write-Ins:
The SLCC Community Writing Center has graciously offered to open their doors to anyone doing NaNo for Wednesday evening write-ins. They are located in Library Square, along the row of shops on the outside of the main library building. I was probably told the exact times, but I can't remember. Was it 7pm? I will find out and post a separate thread.

New Co-ML:
Testcase retired three days ago. At the kick-off today, Avery (downsideleft -- that's DSL, not LSD) was very interested in my neon green T-shirt and I told him that if he wanted one, he gets it his second year as ML. So he volunteered and will officially be our new co-ML! (TPTB will get that set up eventually.)

IM:
There's always IM for chatting. This group leans towards Yahoo IM, so post your yahoo name and I'll add you to my buddy list. From time to time throughout November (usually late at night), we have a group chat. Feel free to start chats whenever you're bored or need ideas. These chats also invite Utah Elsewheres, but as long as we don't tell them our word war secrets, it's OK.

Facebook:
A few of us are on Facebook. Any more? With the NaNo site so bad (especially at the beginning of the month), we could start a group in Facebook and use that discussion board as a supplement, or we could just keep in touch better. I guess it depends how many FB users we have, or how many more would sign up for it.

Kick-Off Success
This year, we know who all of you are! Well, no, we don't remember who all of you are, but we've got visual evidence!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64821&l=e3fda&id=630438273
If you visit that and you're on FB, hopefully there's an easy way to add me as a friend (fi you want to). Just make sure you put NaNo in the personal message field, and include your NaNo username, so I know who you are!

And that's all I have for the moment. Happy noveling!
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Banai
Co-ML in Salt Lake City, Utah
AIM, YIM, GTalk: banai47

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Write-Ins -- where oh where should they be?

banai — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:01:35 -0700

OK, y'all. Seems like even if we'd planned two months early, we still wouldn't get a room at the City Library every Saturday in November (they're awfully busy this year). As it stands, we should be fine on the 29th, and two other days we will possibly get rooms (albeit different ones each time). However, on the 15th, we definitely will not get a room at the library for our write-in.

Chuck suggested we find someplace downtown where we can schedule in the off-hours (2-5 is generally between meals, our usual library hours) to work and eat. Does anyone know of any locations we might try?

Keep in mind, sometimes we talk more than write, so we could use a place that doesn't expect silence from us, but also someplace that doesn't play music too loud to converse over.
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Banai
Co-ML in Salt Lake City, Utah
AIM, YIM, GTalk: banai47

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

The 2008 SLC Kick-Off Party

banai — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:39:44 -0700

Hello fellow Rocky Mountain WriMos!

New stuff
Introductions... I am Banai, your ML. My new co-ML retired before we got started, so the newest victim... I mean, volunteer, is Downsideleft, aka Avery. Welcome aboard!

Pictures from the kick-off!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64821&l=e3fda&id=630438273
It looked like only two came out a bit on the blurry side, but still clear enough to see. Hooray for my clunky, old camera!

We missed those of you who didn't make it. Maybe you'll make it to some write-ins or the TGIO.
End of new stuff

This year, November begins on a Saturday and Chuck and I have decided to have our kick-off party on that very day. And as The Pie has become a tradition, we're continuing it. So mark your calendars for Saturday, November 1, 1-5 pm, The Pie, 10627 South Redwood Road, South Jordan.

If you're new to Salt Lake or to NaNo, or just never made it to a kick-off, you're obviously welcome to join us. We take over the outside patio (which has heaters, don't worry) and just scare away any other customers that may wander out there. You don't have to stay the entire four hours. (Except for you Chuck, you have to stay.) As in previous years, you are responsible for your own beverages or other food extras, but we ask that you contribute at least $5 if you have pizza; we usually order a few jumbo sizes with a variety of toppings.

(I haven't scouted the place for electric, but you're welcome to bring your computers. However, the MLs and The Office of Letters and Light take no responsibility for pizza, soda, or any other mystery substances that may end up on it.)

Please RSVP to me or Chuck, or in this thread, if you plan to be there just to give us an idea of how many to expect. (Be sure to include your real name and user name, since sometimes we'll get responses both ways and list both names, not knowing it's the same person.)

I'll see you guys at the parties, at the write-ins, and on these forums!

Banai

Edit: Current RSVP Status

Banai
Chuck/Testcase
Aurora + entourage
SarahBear + possibly boyfriend
Alyssa/Writing_fast
HoodieWriter
Jen Evenson + possibly roommate
Avery/Downsideleft
Joel/Phrog
Loey14 + Jessica
Spencer/spncram
Danny1216
Kim/Starrarte + possibly roommate Emily
Kristen/Kricket + husband
Rachel/Shonirue + 1
Flightless_dragon
Chelsey/Strangely lovely
Rachel Ross/Nova-fov
Gretasketch
Sage
John McDonald
Carrie Steele/Konajar
Sunny + John
Jaron/Fridgecrisis + Rachel/Tsirachel
Brant Eaton
Sunny + friend Cami
Melinda Heins/Zephee + husband Don
Michelle/Feargus + World_of_blade
Emeralddarkness + possibly Mom
Chanel
Mike/Tuathail
Brenda/Benschwensch

Possible attendees:
Rowan/Opheliac -- needed a ride from Trax
Bloody-falcon -- needs ride from Trax
Water_nereid -- homework dependent
Safaia -- maybe
Inktip -- needed a ride

Offered rides:
Alyssa/Writing_fast -- can give rides from Trax
Joel/Phrog -- can gives rides from Sugarhouse
Gretchen/Gretchasketch -- can give rides from Trax

Looks like about 38 yesses, 12 maybes/conditionals.

If you've arranged a ride, let me know so I can bump you to the yes list. If you still need a ride, contact me or someone who offered to set that up!
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Banai
Co-ML in Salt Lake City, Utah
AIM, YIM, GTalk: banai47

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

EEEEK!

beth — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:13:08 -0700

Only ONE WEEK left!

Guess I should decide what project I'm working on this year. I thought for sure I was going to do the sequel to last year's but now that seems like a hopelessly BORING and STUPID project that I don't have any ideas about. Now, it's pretty normal to decide your project is hopelessly BORING and STUPID and that you should do something else, which is kind of reassuring--this is part of the process for me. But geeze, it's STUPID and BORING. so i should do one of the other projects in my pile--but those are all STUPID and BORING and don't have plots EITHER. I know, I know, no plot, no problem--but I do better when I sorta know where the story is going.

So these are the projects:
-Sequel to last year's. Choose your own adventure novel about a private investigator who gets swapped into the body of a chimpanzee and gets sent to Mars to fight crime. Full of awesome (except for how STUPID and BORING and plotless this volume of the series is). Also, I am a fan of the CYOA format and think it is custom-made for nano. Every time you get stuck, you can change directions with perfect legitimacy!

-Urban fantasy about a fairy godmother who's lost her fairy godmother license, and spends her time helping out the downtrodden of the city (saving whores from zombies, etc) while she tries to defeat some Bigger Picture Threat involving corruption and taking over the whole city. Fights crime!

-Wereunicorn story that started as a script for ScriptFrenzy but didn't get very far--would make a perfectly good novel. Our Hero turns into a unicorn every time a crime happens to him. Sparkly! Fights crime!

-Some other random project that I'll pick at 11:59 on October 31. From the looks of things, it seems it will involve a spec fic element and FIGHTING CRIME.

So how are y'all doing? Hyperventilate here. Only 7 days left.
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It takes a heap of loafing to write a novel. --Gertrude Stein
www.shimmerzine.com

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Online Midnight Kickoff

Testcase — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:42:18 -0700

Get writing at the stroke of midnight! We'll be online in the chat: http://xat.com/ScriptFrenzy?p=0&ss=5 and ready to crank some wordage out! I'll drop in at 11:30 and will try to stay on till about 1. Let's see if we can get those first thousand or so out for the day and that way make some relax time for the Pie party during the day!

When: Friday 11:30 PM
Where: http://xat.com/ScriptFrenzy?p=0&ss=5
What: Kickoff/Smacktalk/Wordage
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Let's go already

daggerfang — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:53:17 -0700

Beth can be all panicky if she wants.

Me, I know exactly what I want to do and I'm chomping at the bit to get going. It's going to be a dazzling space opera full of space battles and other forms of derring-do, both atmospheric and otherwise. It's all about a kid fresh out of the academy who joins a legendary space fighter squadron and when he arrives nothing is as he expects and he finds out the media has been whitewashing things and that kind of thing. So there's some mystery there as well. OOOOOOOO!

For those of you who already know what they're going to do, sharing might give the panicking people some ideas.
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United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

Kick-Off 2007... Better late than never

banai — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:15:00 -0700

OK, I recently broke down and started a Facebook account. After much arguing with the site (and downloading Java, d'oh!), I can upload photos.....

So, I put some photos from last year's kick-off online. Finally!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61957&l=66911&id=630438273
(This is public. You don't have to be on facebook to see it.)

Please identify yourself if I haven't. I can't read the name tags in the pictures and I totally can't remember everyone when I meet large groups of people.

If you were there and didn't make the album, sorry. I had a lot of boring pictures of groups of people. No, the people weren't boring. The pictures were. Well, sometimes the people looked bored...
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Banai
Co-ML in Salt Lake City, Utah
AIM, YIM, GTalk: banai47

United States :: Utah :: Salt Lake City

UtahWrimos.net

utoxin — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 10:29:34 -0700

I don't know about most of you, but I'm not a fan of the message board software that they use here at the official site. It restricts the MLs excessively, causing us to have to send any requests for moderation or administration to the admins of the site. It is also missing several very useful features that most message board software has.

So, I have taken the liberty of purchasing a domain for the Utah NaNoWriMo participants, and I've set up a forum for us to use. You are by no means obligated to use it, but I think it's a lot better than what we have here, and I'd encourage you to use it.

The website is UtahWrimos.net and it is ready for use right now. It has and integrated calendar system, and I've already set up forums for all of the regions in Utah.

Again, please don't feel obligated to use these new forums if you don't want to. I, and all other MLs, will continue to monitor these forums, and make sure they aren't kept out of the loop.
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UtahWrimos.net - The Unofficial Forums for Utah Wrimos. Drop by and chat sometime.