<O> Emails from your Municipal Liaison (ML)

Howdy Austin Affiliates,

Whew! It’s practically November already. I don’t know if it seems like time is crawling for you, but for me it’s bearing down like a freight train! Only a little more than two weeks to go, and we’ll all be writing our hearts out. Together. Fifty thousand words!

I’m lazym (Emily), your Austin Municipal Liaison. It doesn’t seem possible that this is my eighth NaNo and my sixth as Austin’s head cheerleader and cat-herder. I moderate our regional forum, organize get-togethers, and work to keep things running smoothly here in Austin.

Feel free to call on me at any time with questions, comments, or issues. You can send me a PM (private message) via the NaNo forum. Just find my name in one of the topics in our regional forum and click it. Then click Send NaNoMail.

Come on by!
The Austin regional forum is located at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/74, and we’ve already got some hot topics going. Please remember that the regional forums are “family-friendly.” Keep your language PG-rated; if you can’t say it on network TV, you shouldn’t say it on the forums.

Events!
We’ll have lots of events during Oct/Nov/Dec, and I heartily encourage you come and check out at least one. There’s nothing like mingling with other WriMos to fret about your novel, caffeinate, and celebrate your successes. There’s an event calendar at the top of our main forum page, and there will be periodic threads on the forum with details on specific events.

Although NaNoWriMo is limited to folks age 13 and over, this year we’re opening up some of our events to include younger folks. Ballyhoot, a returning Wrimo, will be hosting write-ins for parents and kids most Saturdays, and the library programs in Pflugerville are open to all. Please check event listings to see what the age limits are for each event.

Also, please note that I ask you to RSVP for some events – this isn’t meant to pin you down, but to give the organizers an idea of how many chairs, tables, or goody bags to provide.

Don’t miss these October events:
* An art opening/fundraiser on Oct. 20th
* A presentation on planning your novel on Oct. 21st
* A kickoff on the 25th to meet other WriMos and talk about our plans for November
* The midnight write on Oct. 31st to start typing the first words of our novels on the dot of midnight :00:01
For details on October events, see: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3282354

But wait, there’s more! We’re also planning:
* An online chat for our far-flung friends, hosted by akelsey333
* A word count challenge organized by the fabulous Flickguy (he’s back! and he’s baaaaad)
* Mentor-matching to help our new Wrimos succeed
* NaNoBruMo, our traditional brunch on the day after Thanksgiving, at mtb0001 and illuin’s house this year
* A 12-hour lockdown and a last-chance write-in at the Writers’ League of Texas
* A celebration of our noveling exploits– place and time TBD – most likely an evening in the first weekend in December
And that’s not all! Keep an eye on the forum and our calendar as we keep adding events.

Coming right up
Although we have 1335 affiliates, only 36 Austin folks have logged in to the site so far. Chris Baty will be sending an email soon to about half the planet, inviting everyone to come on over. The forums may be swamped. You might want to stop by now, before the storm. If there are problems, don’t panic! We’ll be updating folks in our yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aunowrimo/, on FB http://tinyurl.com/yj52zr8 and maybe even twitter www.twitter.com/aunowrimo.

Folks who are already in the Yahoo group - please check your membership and update your email address if necessary. And check your spam folders. My most recent email from the yahoo group ended up in MY spam folder.

Welcome, welcome, welcome to AuNoWriMo and another wild ride!

Good words to you (and lots of 'em),
Emily (lazym)
Austin, Texas Municipal Liaison &
ML Captain of Capital Ideas

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison

Note: I made an error in the original mail about the time for the Halloween midnight write - official start is actually 11:00 - but as long as you're there and ready to write at midnight - that's all that matters.

Hey writers!

A bunch of new folks have affiliated with Austin since my last email. Welcome.
I have so many things to tell you that I hardly know where to start. So, I’ll try the sequential method. (That never happens in my novels!)

* Come to the kickoff this Sunday, Oct 25th. Meet fellow Wrimos and talk about your novel. We’ll be at Space12 (3121 E. 12th St, Austin) from 3:30 – 5:30 pm. If you haven’t RSVP’d yet, please do. We want to have enough goodies for everyone. You can reply to this email or send a private message to lazym via NaNo mail. (Age 13 and over, please.)

Please bring a book, CD, DVD, or game to donate to our $1 media sale/donation to NaNo. (Something to write with would be good, too.)

* Our calendar is bulging with events (and we expect to be adding more). You can see the calendar at the top of our forum: www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/74.

* After the kickoff, our next big event is the midnight write at Dragon’s Lair on Halloween. Official start time is 11:00, but if you’d like to participate in their annual costume contest, come early – maybe 10:30 – and get signed up. (Please RSVP for this one as well – 13 and over, please.)

* The date for our celebratory party (TGIO) is now set – Friday, Dec. 4th from 7-11 pm. This event is going to be so awesome that I must announce it in first in person. Come to the kick-off and hear all about it!

* We’re also working on:
- An online chat, hosted by akelsey333 (ADHDiva on the chat) from 8-10 pm virtually every night in November.
- Our annual word count challenge, the Lushguins (Austin+Houston) vs the State of Maryland, led by the fabulous Flickguy
- Online matching of our new folks with NaNo veterans for advice and encouragement

* Everyone please! To be a full participant in all our doin’s and shenanogin’s:
1. Make sure you have accepted the Terms and Conditions under MyNaNoWriMo User Settings (and don’t forget to click Submit).
2. Show your penguin pride by homing with Austin. When you home with us, your word count and donations are included in our regional totals. Instructions are here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3288584
3. Check your NaNoMail for communications from other Wrimos. Go to MyNaNoWriMo Check & Send NaNoMail. If you want, you can set mail to notify you when there’s mail in your box at the bottom of the MyNaNoWriMo Manage Notifications page.

Wow. I am thrilled we’re all going to write a novel in November! And I’m stunned by your generosity. Our donation coffeepot already has over $1,000 in it – almost half of the total amount our region donated last year. We’ve got a ways to go to reach the ambitious goal that Ciri set for us – but y’all are MOST impressive!

Excitedly,
lazym
Austin, TX ML
ML Captain of Capital Ideas
NaNoWriMo!

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison

Ah, brave hearts! I want to say the perfect thing to get you started and keep you writing all the way to 50,000 words. But all I can think of is: If you write every day, and you average 1667 words per day, and you don't delete words or allow your evil inner-editor a word in edgewise, you'll make it.

We're all in this together. If you need advice, inspiration, or commiseration, there are Austin Wrimos standing by to help you, both on the forum and in person.

We're one of the larger regions, with 460 peeps calling Austin home tonight, but most of our meet-ups are more human-scale with just a handful or two of writers in attendance. Don't be shy! We're very nice when you get to know us. The Halloween Midnight Write will be a larger gathering, but you can always hide behind a mask.

For details on the Midnight Write, see the post near the top of the Austin forum, which is here: http://www.nanowrim o.org/eng/ node/74. Don't forget to RSVP (a reply to this mail is fine). While you're on the site, use the link at the top to check the calendar – and click forward to see the plethora of November events. Check back frequently, since new events are likely to appear – sometimes quite spontaneously.

Mom Says
Be mindful of your health and the health of you fellow writers. Please stay home if you feel unwell. And cover your sneezes and wash your hands frequently. We don't want anyone to lose precious writing time to the shivers and shakes.

Save and backup your work! Every year a penguin loses words to hardware or software malfunctions. Don't let it happen to you!

If you are new to NaNo, find a mentor on kswope's Mentor-Matching thread. You can safely ask questions in the Help thread, where you'll also find a glossary of NaNo terms and acronyms. (You may need to look for this and other threads on page two, depending on how you've set up your forum view.)

Housekeeping
We have a full-featured event and forum, so there's a lot to absorb. Please check the Housekeeping thread now for important information: http://www.nanowrim o.org/eng/ node/3288584

There's something strange haunting our forum – and apparently only our forum – that makes the New Topic button disappear in some browsers. Until we've squashed that bug, you can make a new topic using a direct link. See this post: http://www.nanowrim o.org/eng/ node/3327624

For the next few days, don't be concerned if the site is slow or unavailable. This usually happens this time of year. You can minimize disruptions if you read the forums off-line and log in only to post.

Everyone
Talk to me wherever you find me. I'll be at the Midnight Write on Saturday and the Café Caffeine write-in this Sunday. If you're going to Sunday's Pflugerville party and write-in, you'll likely find experienced Wrimos there as well. And you can always shoot me an email or NaNoMail. If you send NaNoMail, please make sure you have chosen Allow Private Messages in your My NaNoWriMo User Settings so I can reply to you.

If you need a ride, or can provide a ride to or from an event, check out the Carpool thread.

If you've chosen to receive mail from NaNo, there's a great pep talk coming atcha this weekend, and I'll be mailing you again soon. Expect news on our challenge with the state of Maryland, a donation update, and info on our fantastic celebration on December 4th.

The Austin Penguins are thrilled to have you join us on this wild November roller-coaster ride.

Happy writing!
Emily (lazym)
Austin, Texas Municipal Liaison &
ML Captain of Capital Ideas

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison

Dear ones,

If you’ve visited the NaNoWriMo web site over the last few days, you’ve probably experienced slowness, occasional “can’t display” messages, and some unusual behavior.

Perhaps today you received an email from Chris Baty talking about NaNoWriMo as if it hadn’t yet begun. That message was sent a few days ago, but got stuck when our servers were hit harder than they’ve ever been hit before.

We’re now expecting 175,000 people to participate in the adult program, and school #1,200 signed up for the Young Writer’s Program today. All this activity resulted in a giant clog and an email backlog of epic proportions.

I’m holding off on sending an email to Austin’s 1,715 affiliates until the clog can be cleared, but I am sending this to our Facebook and Yahoo group members. There are so many things I want to tell you, and some of them can’t wait.

Writing has begun!
I don’t know our regional word count yet. I think the true numbers are buried in the giant clog, but I expect it to be a significant number. I’ve seen you writing – a record 92 Penguins at the Midnight Write and a smaller group at Café Caffeine on Sunday, and I hear there were more than 20 eager writers at Sunday’s Pflugerville launch.

All over our region we’re committing courageous acts of creation. I salute you in your efforts to make your someday dream a reality. At the end of the month – yes! there will be novels!

Don’t forget
The deadline to join in our Word Count Challenge is tomorrow, November 3rd. This is an annual challenge between the Lushguin team (Austin+Houston) vs. the Maryland Crabs. To participate in this optional challenge, you MUST email Flickguy directly: texas (at) flickguy (dot) com by end of day tomorrow. For details, see this thread.

ADHDiva is hosting our nightly chat 8-10 pm most evenings in the nanoaustin room on GoodChatting.com. (For more information on the chat, see this thread.)

Housekeeping
There are always some thises and thats – please remember to check the Housekeeping thread if you haven’t lately.

Highlights include:

• Exhortation: Save your work and back it up.
• Remindation: Check your time zone settings.
• Affiliation: Home with Austin – please!
• Donatation: Make sure our region gets credit for your donations in the international contest (which I’ll explain later).

Speaking of Donations
Penguins, your generosity is astounding. So far, $1,760 has been sent directly to HQ from the Austin region, and we’ve collected $84.55 at events! It won’t be long before I can send in $100 to get the penguins listed on the “brought to you by” page and snag this year’s EXTREMELY RED poster to give away at the TGIO.

Events!
There are way too many to list here (this mail is already too long). Check the calendar at the top of our forum! You’ll find something nearly every night – or day – this week. Among your choices are Saturday’s first kid-friendly write-in at the Pflugerville park and our traditional early November write-in at Mozart’s scenic location on Lake Austin.

On a personal note
Our region is chock-a-block full of wonderful people every year, but this year, you’ve caught me off-guard. Can there be nicer people in the world? I think not. Your enthusiasm and helpfulness make me a mite weepy. I am flattered to be on so many buddy lists, to receive Google chat requests, invitations to Linked In, etc. etc. – all these lovely offers! Just for the moment, I must sadly decline. My plate, like my heart, is full.

I want to be in contact with y’all! Don’t hesitate to send me NaNoMail or an email, post on the forum or talk to me at events. As for other networking possibilities – PLEASE ask me again in December, when I am breathing regularly again.

Closing Words of Wisdom
From the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian spiritual leader who inspired, among others, John Lennon of The Beatles:

“See the job. Do the job. Stay out of misery.”

All I can say is "ditto," and many words to you,
lazym

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison

Hello affiliates! All 1,834 of you!

Did you miss me? I wanted to email you over the last week or so, but there was a giant system clog that caused site slowness and a backlog of over 120,000 emails waiting for delivery. There was no sense in adding to the clog, so I held off until now. I did send a message to our Facebook and Yahoo group members, and posted it in the Emails From Your ML thread on the Austin regional forum, so I hope our local folks found it in one of those places.

We’re cranking!
Austin is 20th world-wide in word count today. We’ve written more than 2,794,316 words - averaging almost as many words per person as first-place Seattle. Way to go, penguins!

472 writers have homed with Austin and entered some word count. Over 170 of us have written 7,000 words or more so far. If these folks keep up the pace, they are destined to win.

But what if you’re not one of these writers? You can still win! You could start today, average 2,000 words a day, and make it. That’s not a whole lot more than 1,667 words. You CAN do it!

We already have a winner in our region - the remarkable Caeraerie, who wrote a million words last year. This is a stunning accomplishment and congratulations are in order!

Also in order is writing your book – the book that only you can write. One of the surest ways to misery is to compare yourself with others. Remember: the Maharishi said, “See the job. Do the job. Stay out of misery.”

Here’s the plan:

• Post your problems, tips, and solutions in the Writer’s Resources thread on the Austin forum.
• Go to a write-in. I usually write more solo, but this year my best word counts have been at write-ins. So give it a try and see if write-ins work for you.
• If you can’t make it in person, try our online chat (more on the chat below).
• Challenge others to word wars. I don’t think we have a forum thread for this yet, but I bet one will be appearing soon.
• Remember, if you win NaNo this year, Create Space will give you a free proof copy of your manuscript in paperback book form and even cover basic postage. Details on this offer are here.

Write-ins
There are a bunch on the calendar, and it’s likely that more will be added. We’ve got three coming up this Saturday: the Round Rock Writer’s Group at 10 am, the kid-friendly write-in at Pflugerville park at 10:30, and our traditional first-Saturday write-in at Mozart’s at 2. See the calendar at the top of our forum page for details. (Also, please note that there’s now an extra hour to write on Sundays at Café Caffeine. We’ll be starting at 2 pm.)

Don’t forget the 12-hour lockdown from 7 pm on Friday the 13th until 7 am on the 14th. It’s a wonderful chance to get a lot of words written. The venue is small, so it is very important that you RSVP to lazym and receive the secret password for this event. If more folks want to come than we have space, we’ll start a waiting list. Details on this event will be posted on the Austin forum right after I send this email.

Donations
Y’all continue to blow me away! Donations directly to NaNo total $1910 so far, and the in-person coffee pot has collected $88.76. We’ve less than $12 to go before I send in the first donation from the mighty Austin penguins as a group.

There’s a new menu item under Fun Stuff –the regional Donation Derby. We’ve assigned regions to leagues based on their size in 2008. As one of the larger regions, we’re in League 1, the fearsome Kodiak Bears. The derby compares average donation last year with average donation this year. The region that has the highest increase in average donation will be the winner. I’ll post more about this contest – and its prizes – in our forum soon.

The Lushguins vs. the Crabs
After going on about not comparing yourself with others, it’s time to say the opposite! Some folks do better with a little healthy competition. We’ve got one going with the team of Austin+Houston vs. Maryland. Flickguy, your challenge coordinator, reports that we have 72 peeps on our team. Sadly, at 1 pm today Maryland was ahead by an average of 367 words per person. So get writing, Lushguins!

Online Chat
The regular time for our nightly chat has been changed to 9-11 pm so that Amber can put her little ones to bed. The chat been going great guns – until yesterday when we experienced technical problems and folks switched over to instant messaging. Amber (ADHDiva) reports that things are working again. Check the thread Online Write-ins for details on our chat.

Housekeeping
Nothing new! Same old stuff! Save and backup your work. Affiliate and home with Austin. Make sure your words and donations count in Austin’s totals. If you don’t know about these things, please read the Housekeeping thread.

Have fun!
This should be a great weekend for writing. So, write! And then – write some more. Retreat is not an option. It’s too early to quit. It’s too late to turn back now. Go cats, go!

Cheers,
lazym

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison

How can you know?
I once worked at an international company. One afternoon, a Chinese co-worker asked: “How can you know?” Well, indeed. How CAN you know? I guess for me, it’s a combination of faith and experience.

I truly believe that everyone who signed up for NaNo this year, whatever their current word count, can win. You can write 50,000 words, turn that green progress bar to purple, and access your very own winner’s certificate. People have started later than today and won.

Does it matter if you win? You’ll be amazed what a charge it is to validate your novel and get the winner’s certificate. But even if you don’t make 50K, whatever your word count, you’ve won. You signed up for this challenge because you wanted to write a novel. Maybe someone cajoled you into it, but on some level it seemed like a good idea. And it is!

The important thing is your desire to write – to exercise those creative muscles. You signed up for a reason, and that reason is still there, lurking underneath your to-do list and the demands of daily life. Believe me, this is much more important than your list of excuses, no matter how believable. Even if it seems hopeless, this is no time to stop!

“We’re lost!”
“No, it will turn out well.”
“How?”
“I don’t know; it’s a mystery!”

That exchange is repeated, with variations, several times in the movie Shakespeare in Love. When everything has gone wrong – Shakespeare has the mother of all writer’s blocks, the theater’s foreclosure is imminent, the lead actor is missing – there’s still a cheerful optimism. And that’s what I’m feeling now.

Some folks have hit 50K and soared beyond it. We congratulate you! Other folks are on target for a win, and it’s wonderful to watch their counts climbing. But what if you’re not one of these folks?

I overused the inspirational quotes last year, so I’ve been avoiding them. But I guess I’m a sucker, ‘cause I can’t ignore them any longer. This is from Brenda Ueland, who wrote the classic book, If You Want to Write:

“Forgive me, but perhaps you should write again. I think there is something necessary and life-giving about ‘creative work.’ A state of excitement and it is like a faucet: nothing comes unless you turn it on, and the more you turn it on, the more comes.”

So, go turn on that faucet. Sometimes the first water that comes out is rusty and awful, but keep that tap open and your water will run clear. I know it.

Events
In addition to many fine write-ins on our calendar for this week, there are some extra special ones coming up next week. Make sure to check the forum for details, and RSVP if requested.

• Our traditional brunch, NaNoBruMo is the day after Thanksgiving – six hours of eating, writing, and far too much Turkish coffee. Bzzzzzzzz.
• The Eleventh Annual P(ie) Party (immediately following Brumo) is your chance to kick back, listen to music, eat things that are round, and NOT write for a change.
• The Last Chance Write-in, Nov. 30th, is our last opportunity to write together - from 9-midnight at the Writers’ League of Texas.

Also, our final celebration of an incredible month, astounding wordage, and remarkable people is the Sixth Annual Fabulous Fantastical Whoop-de-doop Thank God It's Over and We're Still Standing, Bloody But Unbowed, Austin NaNoWriMo Party and Laugh-A-Thon on December 4th. We’ve grown so much this year we’ll have to get serious about RSVPs. Expect a detailed post on our forum soon with details.

Other stuff! And things!

• The Lushguin vs. Crabs Challenge – just today we pulled ahead of the Crabs and now have an average lead of 1,797.50 words. Go Lushguins, go!
• Check out our event photos here. Madding wants you to know she didn’t go to sleep at the lockdown until AFTER she hit 50K.
• Save your work! Back it up! Don’t lose your precious words!
• Donate! Our region is doing an amazing job in helping to support NaNoWriMo. If you haven’t donated yet, remember there are a ton of ways to help out – and some don’t cost you a penny. Check ‘em out here.

How do I love thee?
By signing up, you accepted this creative challenge, and took a chance. With all the responsibilities of your busy life, you picked this crazy adventure, and you began it. I am honored to write alongside you. Whether you get to 50K or not, you are a winner. Press on!

Your exceptionally proud ML,
lazym

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison

Howdy y'all!

Today NaNoWriMo is having a special “Help us embarrass ourselves this Tuesday!” fundraising drive.

We want to raise a crazy amount -- $100,000 in 24 hours. With about $420,000 in the coffers this morning, that should just about cover expenses for 2009. It will keep the lights on at the OLL office, maintain the NaNo and YWP forums for another year, and let the staff start work on the 2010 event.

And, if we make it, here’s what we win:

Chris Baty will write a song about the fundraising drive—tentatively entitled "That Beautiful Tuesday"—and perform it on NaNoVideo with Lindsey Grant doing an interpretive dance and staff providing musical accompaniment.

Please y'all, if you get something out of NaNo (and you know you do!), give something back. As little as $10 can make a difference.

Austin has already donated almost $100 more than we did all last year. But there are a lot more of us, and only 66 out of 566 penguins have visited the Donation Station. Please waddle over to https://store.lettersandlight.org/ between12:01 AM and 11:59 PM Pacific time today and help make this crazy song and dance a reality.

Coming soon
I’ll be sending an ML-type email in the next couple of days with information on validating your novel (you’re not a winner unless you validate!) and upcoming events.

Meanwhile, have a look at these tips for surviving the Thanksgiving holiday: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3309727#comment-4387343

And keep writing! You CAN do it!
lazym

ML Captain of Capital Ideas & Austin, TX Municipal Liaison