And you are....? (introductions please)

Hi. My name is Lissa and I love everything about nanowrimo. The caffeine. The writing. Hearing about everyone else's stories while I am procrastinating. The bursts of inspiration when racing toward a word count goal. The way my characters surprise me when they take over the storyline.

Most especially I love that this is an event that everyone can join and everyone can win and each person can make what they want of their November. Does that sound cheesy? Probably. But it's true.

And my cheesy optimism is one of the reasons why I'm the Topeka Municipal Liaison. (The other reason is because I work at the public library, so we can partner with them to schedule some of our events there and get free photocopies and advertising for our Kickoff and stuff.)

This will be my sixth year writing a nano novel and my fifth year as ML. I don't have any ideas for this year's story, although I do have plenty of distractions already lined up since I have a new baby at home and my maternity leave will run out halfway through November!

How has everyone else been doing since we all lost touch around December 1st last year?

Nice to see this site up again, and thanks to those who worked so hard to bring it back after the crash October 1.

This is my first Nanowrimo, and I plan to have as much fun with it as I possibly can. I'm an English teacher, but my assignment this year (not as a classroom teacher, actually) will allow me a lot more time to work on my novel. I've whipped up a 30-chapter outline for a YA novel - no excuse for writer's block now - and hope that I can reach the goal. I've written two YA novels, one 40,000-words and a spinoff 30,000-worder, so I should be able to hang in there and finish this one. I do plan to attend as many of the get-togethers as possible, and I've already indicated to Lissa that I can help out with some of the duties, although I'm terrible at planning any kind of social event. Hope to meet many of you in a month or so! -Paul

Hi!! I'm Sarah!! I so totally bit the dust last year, and hoping this year I'll do better.

I'm a proud mom of two and married to an awesome guy. He works in Lawrence for the post office. I'm a stay at home parent for now, since my son is still too young for school. My daughter started her first year of school this year (my baby is a kindergartener) :(

Are you a Nanowrimo veteran, or will this be your first year of frantic noveling?
This is my third official year, and I'm hoping this will be my first win :)

Where do you fit on the scale of noveling sociability? Do you think you'll attend events in person, hang out on the forums, or seclude yourself for 30 days with your laptop, emerging only when you cross the 50K word finish line?
I'm hoping to attend some events. Depends on my husband's schedule because a 3 yr old and a 5 yr old are not happy campers being stuck and listening to adults, LOL.

WAAAAAA!!!XD
HI ALL!! I'm am so stoked up for this November! I can't wait! I'm here with hot chocolate and a sword and I shall conquer!...is that spelled right? *shrug* oh well.
Glad to be back and in the swing of things. I can't wait to see everyone again and meet all the awesome noobs!
Remember:
*procrastination is an art
*Do your homework
*Love your neighbor...even though they are ahead of you in the word count....
Love ya all!
~Laura

Hello! I'm Debra, and I'm completely insane. I'm pretty sure that agreeing to be the co-ML is proof of that. But my love of all things NaNo made it an offer I couldn't refuse. My lovely one year old daughter, Elisebeth was our mascot at events last year and I plan to drag her to as much as I can this year, though she's a little tougher to herd now. She doesn't like it when I try to stick her in the sling and get her to just hang out. But I found last year that I really needed all the events to keep me going. My first year, I only went to the kickoff and maybe one write-in and I bit the dust around 20,000 words. Which still was more than I'd written in that short of a time period, but I don't like not winning. So last year I won.

I'll stop my long rambling very soon, but I just wanted to put out there that I'm going to be putting my winner certificate on a T-shirt. I priced it at Hobby Lobby and it'll be about $15 to get the iron-on transfer paper and the shirt. But the iron-on transfer paper comes with like, 15-20 sheets or something. So if anyone else would like a shirt with their winners certificate from last year, send me a nanomail and we can work out the details. I plan to wear it as my lucky writing shirt. And I'll probably do the same thing after I win this year. Eventually, I'll have enough shirts to actually be able to wash them in between wearing them.

Hi, I'm Diana! And I'm desperately trying to remember which NaNo this is for me. I know for sure it's my fifth but I may be leaving off a year somewhere. However many there were, I've managed to win the last two years, after disasterously horrible previous attempts.

This year I'll be taking on book 3 of an urban fantasy trilogy (the first two books were NaNo projects too). I'm kind of exited to get started and my faithful beta reader has been poking at me to start it already (because I left book 2 of on a cliffhanger and she hates me for it) but she'll just have to wait.

I can't wait!

Hello, my name is Sara, and this is the first time I'll actually be participating in NaNoWriMo. I found out about it in the middle of the month last year, FAR too late to get in the 50,000 words! So I just tagged along for the rest of the month and waited for this year's event to come 'round.

I'm not hugely social as a writer. I like to be around other writers to discuss from time to time, but I have difficulty writing in public. I will probably pop in once in a while to the group events, but my presence will more likely be felt here.

I am going to be treating this month differently than most of you. I have a manuscript I've already started that I want to have pieced together as much as possible by the end of the year. As a result, I've decided to try to make my goal to get to at least 50,000 words in that novel/memoir in November so I can reach that goal. 50,000 words for that particular book will probably get me at least two-thirds of the way to the end of the draft. Ideally, I'd like to be able to have the completed draft to my pre-readers by early next year so I can get it to a publisher by Easter, 2009.

I'm doing this because my writing style isn't really conducive to being able to pump out a high number of words relatively indiscriminately. My first drafts are very often at least halfway to a final document, primarily because I'm such a perfectionist. I don't use outlines very often unless there's a plot space I know I want to fill with a particular series of events later on, and even then, the outlines aren't exactly solid things. So, considering my style, the 50,000 word mark would probably do more to drive me crazy than actually be an approachable goal.

Well, there you have it, folks! That's about all there is to say for now about my preparations and plans for the month. I look forward to progressing with all of you. Have fun writing!

Hi all, I'm Amy. This is my second year and I am so excited!

My sister and I had taken Lissa's journaling workshop at the library last year and she told us about NaNo. The idea sounded so crazy but I couldn’t get it out of my head. Then, on Oct 31, Halloween, just minutes til midnight, sitting in my son’s dorm room in Springfield Missouri, waiting to take him to emergency kidney stone surgery early the next morning, I logged in from his laptop and signed up. And wow, what an amazing experience.

My 2008 goal is to prove to myself that winning last year wasn’t just beginners luck. I will definitely attend the events. The ideas, advice and encouragement from the other participants were what kept me going. Being around such creative people was inspiring. In my real life I’m an accountant. Too much creativity in that field can get you into trouble. Thank goodness now I have November to look forward to!

Thank you Lissa and Debra for being our MLs. I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Hi, my name is Billie-Renee and this is my 5th or 6th year participating. I didn't do very well last year and completely forgot on November 30 to update my count. :-( I was also in the middle of working on my Master's thesis, so I wasn't as focused on Nanowrimo as I could have been. This year will be different. I'm finished with my Master's and I should be able to focus strenuously on my writing. I have a fairly detailed outline in my head at this point because I've been thinking and planning my novel in order to avoid last year's snafu. I also hope to particpate in more of the social activities this year. I tend to be a solitary writer and hope to break out of that mold.

I'm excited to see our Topeka writing group coming together again -- we may only meet in November, but we have lots of fun!

Amy - -I'm glad to see you back this year. I'm sure it wasn't beginner's luck for you - this year will hopefully be ever better for you!

Paul - I'm looking forward to seeing you at the events and I appreciate your offer to help! Let me know which events interest you and we can figure out more details. Sometimes it's just a matter of arriving a few minutes early to make sure that everyone feels welcome, etc.

Debra - you are already a great ML!

<< Let me know which events interest you and we can figure out more details. Sometimes it's just a matter of arriving a few minutes early to make sure that everyone feels welcome, etc.>>

I'm not much at planning anything, but I could certainly be the greeter, or step in when someone suddenly had a crisis. I'd be quite happy at accepting leftovers. Just let me know if you get double-scheduled, ill, carpal tunnel (god forbid), or just worn out, and I'll be there, as long as it's not during the daytime.

Hi. I'm Delwyn, at least online. A few people might remember me as Tonya from some of the community events in past years.

I attempted my first NaNovel in 2001, and have participated every year but 2005 since then (though I don't think last year is marked here on the site. I never submtitted a word count and didn't even hit the halfway point). I'm a 3-time winner, but it's a been a few years since my last win. I'm hoping to turn that around this year.

I tend to start out intending to be social, go to the kick-off and maybe the first write-in and then miss everything else. I really want to at least get to the write-ins at the library and the end of the month celebration this year. I do spend far too much time on the forums, and have to physically disconnect from the internet for my official "writing" time.

Looking forward to meeting everyone and another month of frantic typing.

I'm Jeff. This is my fifth year. Not a social writer, but I hope to at least soften that a bit. What I lack in social interaction I make up for in enthusiasm. I've convinced at least one co-worker each year to try nanowrimo.

Happy noveling.

Hey my name is Becky im 17 and new. i hope to make lots of new friends. (im Lauras friend). If you have any questions just ask me. im really nice and i'll answer most questions.

Hi! My name is Marta and I am a NaNoWriMo "noob"! :) I don't know what I've got myself into, really, but I'm sure I'll soon find out. I love to write, although I haven't done much writing as of late. My brother-in-law inspired me to join this year--he made it through last year and made it sound so fun. I'm a stay-at-home Mom to four beautiful kids--6-year-old boy, 4-year-old identical twin boys and my almost-one-year-old baby girl. I am homeschooling my oldest and, well, I guess I just want to add one more thing to make my life even crazier than it already is!!

I'd love to attend some events--hopefully at least the first one. Wednesday nights don't work well for me, so I will miss the caffeine-chugging and socializing (you'll have to throw back an extra java for me, OK?). With my husband's schedule (he's a firefighter and a youth pastor) and mine, I'm fairly certain I'll be doing most of my "hanging out" on the forums.

Good luck to all!

Marta

Welcome!!!

I love new people. Especially ones that are busy enough to make people go "Say wha?" when they hear you're going to write a novel in November. Any events that you can come to, feel free to bring your kids if you need to. I'm going to be toting around my daughter's playpen and I figure the more the merrier as far as that goes. The young ones are more likely to be entertained if they have a buddy. I don't know how close to one your daughter is, but mine is 14 months, so she's just on the other side of it.

We're very kid-friendly around these parts.

Hey, I'm Smantha.
I'm 16, a Junior and a NaNoWriMo noob.
I don't actually live in Topeka, I live in a small town about 60 miles south, so I won't be at any in-person events.

I've heard about NaNoWriMo for the past two years from friends and I finally decided to give it a shot.
Hopefully I'll be able to stick it out without too much sleep deprivation...

I think that's all.
=]

Fred Miller, here. I'm a two-year NaNo finisher. I'm a full-time caregiver-- can't leave the house. But I have hours of quiet time every day. So these weeks of writing are my greatest adventure of the year.

Last year, lysistrata and I produced the Topeka NaNo Radio spot. Sorry I didn't get to it this year. If Chris needs one, I'll get one together.

I'd like to attend at least one of the social events this year. Maybe the Nov 1st one at Hastings. But I write alone with the whiskey glass at my elbow. This will be my fifth or sixth novel I've written, so I'm pretty set in my ways. Maybe for a bit of a change, I'll attend a Caffeinate and Chat. Just disregard the ethanol fumes from my coffee if I'm there.

I get paid Friday. I'll donate then. That's another thing. Everybody donate. Get the T-shirt. Wear it around town.

Hiya! I'm Renee, well actually Christina, but I write under Renee and keep it all there. My prudish roots would tar and feather me if they knew I wrote anything other than scriptures. Ha, just joking.

I wasn't going to do NaNo this year, but since I just completed revisions on a novel, I figured hey, what better time than now. I need a jump start on the next novel anyway. So this week will be filled with sending out query letters and plotting the next so that I'm ready to go.

Hey, Debra, great to see you around. Glad Elisebeth is still keeping you on your toes.

Renee Lynn Scott
Unlocking History Through Romance

The kickoff was amazing tonight -- over 40 people - hopefully many of them will come introduce themselves here soon.
I ran out of goody bags, but I can put together some more for people who missed it. I saw several Topeka nano-regulars tonight and everyone seemed excited to be back...

Hi Fred - great to see you back for another year! I don't think the classic bean serves whiskey, but they maybe do wine and beer, if those can get your creative juices flowing :) I personally am a fan of diet soda and ice cream myself.

Call me Luke, if at all. Can we go yet?

Now that I have my plot outlined (finally! hurray!), I can totally understand that feeling. I want to start writing already. Though, I suppose I should be looking forward to my daughter's first trick-or-treating. Since it's sooner, and all.

Hi, Christina *frantic waving*. I was going to call you but my cell phone took a swim back in August and I lost your number. I'm glad to see you're doing NaNo again this year. Hurray!