Fredericksburg & Neighbors!

So exciting, Heather!
=] I'm not going to be able to finish this year unless I finish five days early.
'cause we're leaving on the 25th of november to go to florida, and I won't be able to access the internet for like.. a week.
But! I'm still going to write my booty off.
I got all excited and told all my friends that I was talking to earlier "THE NEW NANO SITE IS UP!" and there were two split reactions.
Either they were fellow nanoers and they cheered, or they groaned 'cause they knew they'd nearly lose me for a month into my favorite word processor. >:3

Guys who are new and guys who are not, I'm Billie, this is my third attempt at Nano, I've only won once.
And I'm revved up and ready to go. =]

Billie! Isn't it so ridiculously exciting? *happy dance* You can do it, finish five days early. People do it all the time. I don't know HOW they do it, but it must be possible. Florida is so nice though, you better enjoy it even though we'll miss you. :-)

Im personally determined to finish this year. I haven't finished since my first year....

Its going to be hard because the second weekend in novemeber Im going to be out of town and away from a computer.. Im hoping to write extra before I go away =/

You can do it xfaereveriex! Maybe we should make a regional goal to get ahead of the minimum word count in the first week, that way there's a cushion for travel, illness, work, etc. I might try and do this, even if no one else does.

I need buddies this year. I had none last year! I can't decide whether I am dreading this year or excited about it...I guess a little of both.

I haven't the foggiest clue what I'll be writing about-anyone else gonna just wing it?

xo

Hey, no worries! I had the same thing happen last year-- went out of town-- and finished 5 days early by the skin of my teeth! It was worth it, though. Last year I was bad and only wrote about 8 times during the month, tho, and binged at 8-10k words per time... naughty me, I got all burnt out by the end. It worked, tho.

Hi everyone! I am new to NaNoWriMo. I ran across the website while searching for resources for writing and decided it was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at writing that novel I have been threatening for years to write. So, here I am!

I would like to get together with others in the area for write-ins or get togethers. If anyone has anything planned, please let me know.

~ Kelly aka The Digital Witch
Website/Blog | MySpace

Awww, 88, I had responded to your post but lost it in the crash! :-( I know what you mean about the excitement slash fear. It's NaNo, it's always exciting, but the dread can be stifling as well! I only have characters and a minor plot... I really don't know how well it will hold up. Yikes!

digitalwitch: Welcome! NaNo will change your writing life forever. Seriously! We usually try to plan a meet up once a week in November, picking a time and place that most everyone agrees on.

I vote we start planning the meetups NOW rather than in November, so we don't waste valuable writing time debating the "when and where". What do you guys think?

Personally, I'm free anytime. I'm lucky in that my parents watch my kid anytime for NaNo stuff, they understand how important it is for me. :-)

I'm also okay with anyplace we want to meet, the only trouble is if it's not a place I'm familiar with and I get lost and miss the meet up. Like last year. :-(

We have had success at Panera Bread (but they close too early) and Camille's (I think they close even earlier!) and Caribou Coffee in Central Park. Any other ideas?

Hey all! Cheryl here and reporting for duty! I just applyed for MLing the region, so we might actually have one this year. I'll be out of town the first weekend of the month, sad, no OMG IT'S STARTED party for Cheryl. Probably do one in my hotel room at the theatre convention. I'm so excited and I'm trying to get some sponsors this year. Cheryl likes pretty presents! Who's up for a plot-in? Must be on a weekend, though. I'm grounded on school night. I'm so happy it's almost NaNo time again!

Yay! An ML! Go, Cheryl!!!!! I'm up for a plot-in any weekend except for this one. :-)

Hey all,

If I remember correctly, the place that said it would <3 to host us is WriterHouse. Here's a link to a blog post about NaNoWriMo. They have a mailing list just for us, too!

Sorry for posting so much in this thread, but -- it might be better for us Cville types to go congregate in the "Where the heck did C-ville go?" thread, which can be found here.

Bella! Great to see you this fine NaNo season! This weekend is full of stuff to do for me, so maybe next weekend? The Daily Grind on Walpole, up near where I live has offered to host us. They have great coffee!!!

Hehehe, I got lost trying to find the Daily Grind last year! But I'm willing to try again. ;-) Next weekend sounds great to me. Anyone else up for it?

I'm up for it! Just for reference, is that the Daily Grind off Courthouse Road in Stafford?

I just took a nearly four hour nap.
And it was, dare I say, nearly decadent.
I got a new bed yesterday and its ridiculously comfy.
This years nano is going to be really hard for me. 'cause I'm going to be working (Haven't got a job yet, but I will soon with luck.)
And saving up money for our trip to florida, then we'll be gone.
But! I'm going to pick a topic here soon and mentally plan some stuff, maybe I can get a good jump on it the first week and..
not.. die.
( a wonderful goal to have for november. Just don't die. )
=D
Good luck with the ML position, Cheryl!
<3 I miss you!
I totally still have that arthur book you gave me on the last day of school!
Billie <3

I'm a newbie (though I tried to start last year, everything just fell flat and I didn't start a single thing), and I'm moving to Fredericksburg in about... a week. I'm really excited to be participating this year and look forward to chatting with everyone in the area!

I haven't gottem the ML position officially yet, Chris is takin' forever with it. No plot yet, but hopefully soon. Stupid AP work...keeping me from plotting and such...stupid lab write-ups.

HAPPY NANO SEASON BY THE WAY TO EVERYONE! It is upon us!

Hey all. I'm in journalism right now and I need to interview someone who's been doing NaNo for a while. Could you all NaNoMail me you stories of how you all got started in this crazy, upside down world of NaNo? That would be great!

Hello all! I'm new to NaNo this year, though I had heard about it previously. I'm in the 'burg for college (UMW ftw), and I'm super excited to get started. I normally lack the patience and drive to write anything longer than poetry or short stories, but I'm looking to change that. : )

-Brinn

I'm new to NaNo this year too, though not to writing.

This year's exciting for me because I have four novels under contract to two different publishers (Flux and Scholastic), so I've been working my butt of for them for the past several months.

I have a pet novel that is really burning in my head though, and unless I get it done during NaNo, I'm going to have to wait until after I write a sequel for my Scholastic book (due in April) to start it. So I really want to get a draft of this personal novel under my belt by Nov 30.

I'm looking forward to trying it!

I'm not anywhere near Fredericksburg, but there is no group close to me! I'm way down near Roanoke. So I'm trying to just tagalong with other VA groups.

This is my second try at NaNo. My first was in 2002! Since then, I've been epublished in erotic romance with a couple of different online publishers. I also write full-length mainstream paranormal suspense books. I haven't quite figured out what this year's project will be. I have a bunch of unused ideas in my idea folder, so I'll have to figure it out before Nov. 1st!

Looking forward to making new writing friends. :-)

Kris

Cheryl - I'm sure it will be official by the time November rolls around. Even if it's not official by then, we'll consider it I'm sure. I have faith in you! ;-)

quietbutterflies - Good luck this time around. Who knows, it may be your year!

Brinn - Welcome! NaNo is amazing for kicking yourself into gear. It helps to have the forums and to be able to talk to others that are going through the same thing.

mstiefvater - Nice to meet you, and wow! We've got a published local here! Congrats on the novels, that's really exciting. Do you have any tips for someone trying to get published?

Kris - Tag along as much as you like! The more the merrier, I say. :-) 2002... you're practically an original NaNo-er!

I started in 2001 and have been doing it since.

I'm in Journalism right now and I have an article due tomorrow and I want to write it about NaNo but I NEED INTERVIEWS! please please please NaNoMail them or email them to isabele@writing.com tonight!!!!

Yep, this time last year, I didn't have any books under contract, and now I have four and one just hitting bookstores now! I just about died when I got my huge deal with Scholastic -- so surreal.

My biggest tip for getting published is to keep writing -- if your first novel isn't getting picked up, don't fuss over it for years, write a new one and try again. Oh, and I love the blueboards for writing tips: www.verlakay.com (she has a forum there).

Maggie Stiefvater
my website
my blog

So mstiefvater, did you get an agent? How were you able to get published? For the record, I am completely jealous of your success.

Well, I've been writing every since I was a teenager (I'm 26 now), and I have several hundred rejections under my belt. But when I wrote LAMENT, I just sorta knew I finally had written one good enough to get interest. I submitted directly to publishers (which was an idiotic idea on my part, for the record), and sold it to Flux on my own. They asked for revisions (editors always give you a 2-10 page revision letter) and when I was done tightening it up, they wanted a sequel, before LAMENT had even come out (it JUST came out -- I don't even think Border's is shelving it yet as an October release).

I didn't think a high quality agent would be interested in just taking me on to sell to Flux (which is a mid-size and thus not big advances), so I sat down and wrote another novel in the meantime, in about four months, so I could have something to show agents and say "here, submit this one elsewhere but please do my sequel contract for me with Flux!"

So I got four offers from agents based upon that novel, and my agent, Laura Rennert, negotiated my sequel contract and then shopped around SHIVER (the novel I'd written in the meantime) and that was when we did the hugely excited auction and the crazy deal that I never expected! Pretty wild, especially for a young adult novel.

It's been a whirlwind trip for sure. A long time coming!

Maggie Stiefvater
my website
my blog

The green monster is tearing at my soul...

Mucho jealous.

Congrats on the sucess though.

So, I'm trying to figure out how many Wrimos we have in the area because I am putting together a roster so I can keep track of memberships and plan the meets accordingly.

In other news, I found an idea this morning! I was sitting in Finance, working on a research paper on the stock market (snore) when all the sudden, it smacked me in the face!

Alright, I'm home and looking at my calendar...this Saturday, something might be possible, but it would have to be before 2 pm. I am signed up for a workshop class at my dance studio. After 3, I have until basically 5 before I have to go to a band competition. Whatever it is, if we plan it on Satuday, could it be at Daily Grind at Amyclae shopping center? That way, I could walk there from my class! Heather, I'll NaNoMail you directions if you need them. The 18th is Homecoming and I'm already signed up for a writers workshop that day (making my boyfriend slightly peeved) and the 25th I'm taking my ACT. A Sunday afternoon could work, I'm sure I can get an okay from my mom, but anything there would have to be after 2 pm. We drive quite aways for church. Fridays we have football games and perish the thought of me missing any of those. EVER. Except on the 24th (AKA MY 18th BIRTHDAY!!!). That day I'm free because it's my 18th birthday and I don't want to go to the football game cause it's gonna be freezing and I would rather drink coffee with my NaNo friends! Plus I'm pretty sure it will be cold and my mom doesn't want me to freeze because I'm more suceptible to get sick and stuffs because of all my medical stuff.

Trisa: Man, that's a long post.

Since I don't work, I am pretty much available anytime for meets, provided my daughter isn't working or off and gone in my car. Just let me know the day and time, and if possible, I will be there.

In other news, I bid on an AlphaSmart Dana on eBay, but got outbid long before it ended, so I decided to look at other alternatives.

My husband bought a Palm Tungstun T5 when he went to Iraq back in '04-05. I found out that it (along with many other models) can be hooked up to a portable mini keyboard and used in a similar fashion to the AlphaSmart Dana and Neo. You can transfer documents to and from the PDA in a Word compatible format, or even text files that can be converted to Word if necessary.

I mention this because, if any of you have a Palm or similar PDA, you might be able to do the same thing. If you already have one, its a lot cheaper. It is also easier to carry around than a laptop (just drop it in your pocket or purse) and is a lot less likely to come with built in distractions (i.e. e-mail, games, etc.)

So....I bought a keyboard for my Palm, only to find that I bought the WRONG kind. (If anyone has a Tungstun older than the T5, and would be interested, I do still have that keyboard. I would be willing to part with it for $12.85, which is what I paid for it.) I ended up buying another one and am now patiently waiting for it to arrive. I am hoping the newest one is compatible. It's wireless, so it should be.

Anyway, I have rambled on enough... You can e-mail me at digitalwitch2008 (at) gmail (dot) com or contact me on any of the following:

AIM: thedigitalwitch
ICQ: 449209065
MSN: thedigitalwitch
Yahoo: digitalwitch2008

~Kelly aka The Digital Witch
Blog | MySpace | Website