Hello, hello, soon-to-be-novelists! Can you believe the month is starting in just a few short days?? And that means that you get to start receiving weekly e-mails from me about the events coming in the next week. Our first week is a big one, with our two Kick-Off events. The full month can be seen at our Google Calendar. Dates, times, and locations can change as the month goes on, so make sure to double check before you head out to an event. Here are the events for the week of November 1st through the 7th:
Midnight Kick-Off Write-In:
12:01am on November 1st (as in, the midnight that happens right at the end of Saturday, but before daylight on Sunday) until 2ish
Squirrel Hill Eat n Park
1816 Murray Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Notes: we'll be sitting in the back, but plug space is minimal - charge up your laptop battery! Also, plan to bring enough cash to get some food and coffee. All ages are welcome.
Official Kick-Off Party:
12:00 noon - 1:30/2ish on Sunday, November 1
Church Brew Works
3525 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Notes: check out the menu ahead of time if you'd like, and bring some money for the dish you'd like best. This is a laptop-free event - just a getting-to-know each other, relaxed kind of meet-up. All ages are welcome.
City Write-In:
6pm - 9pm Wednesday, November 4
Caribou Coffee Oakland
3619 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Notes: I'll try to snag us that big-ish table in the back, but if not, we can move smaller tables together so we can be all close and cozy :) All ages are welcome.
North Write-In:
6pm - 9pm Thursday, November 5
Barnes & Noble
1000 Cranberry Sq Dr (the same shopping center as Wal-Mart)
Cranberry, PA 16066
Notes: This one is kind of tenative - I will send out a post when the info is confirmed (JackFrost or Saalon - NaNoMail me please - I will also try to make it out), so check here and/or the Google Calendar before you leave for the event. All ages are welcome.
Monroeville Write-In:
11am - 2pm Saturday, November 7
Monroeville Borders
200 Mall Blvd.
Monroeville, PA 15146
Notes: Meeting in the cafe of the Borders. All ages are welcome.
If anybody has any questions, let me know, and I will try my best to answer them! I really look forward to seeing friends from last year and welcoming new WriMos to our group. I'll also keep you guys posted on new events (Robinson & South Hills people - let me know when you are planning Write-Ins, and I'll add them to our list and calendar), including our first-ever 21+ Write-In near the end of the month, and a Pittsburgh NaNoWriMo trip to see New Moon on opening night!
So Excited For The Kick-Off She Will Probably Not Even Need Coffee (But Will Drink It Anyway),
fox
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(banner made by the amazing ThisIsRocketScience)
46,892 / 50,000
Okt 27, 2009 - 15 22
Woot! A change of plans leaves me most likely gone from Friday to Sunday evening, but I can't wait till Wednesday! It'll be so sad not being able to celebrate the start of Nano with everyone this year >.<
If you give out stickers for Wrimo again this year I demand you save some for me Fox! (I'll be back in my home town for the weekend, kicking of Nano there with my little sister, boyfriend, and his brother.)
----------Dreamer of Inescapable Nightmares -- Vu
ぜつぼうした！
And I will look at these scars and shove my despair aside, and forthwidth shall come a grand total of 100,000 words!
3,871 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 00 41
Sure hope I can make it to some of these events. Too bad I've got a Halloween Party on the 31st or else I'd be there all morning with you guys on the 1st!
----------0 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 04 18
I won't be able to be there at exactly midnight because of work but I'm going to get out of there a.s.a.p. so I can finally be at one! I'll try to bring a surge protector to help!
----------2008 Reunion
5,345 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 06 29
So I've never done NaNoWriMo before, but I'm interested in coming to the Midnight kick-off thing at Eat n' Park. Anything I should know before just showing up?
30,421 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 06 31
I can't make it to the kickoff events. But I can't wait until the write-ins! I only got to one last year, but hopefully I will be able to make many of them this year.
It's so hard to believe that there are only three more days until November. I'm so excited. I've been looking forward to this all month!
36,113 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 06 54
I'll be helping with the Monroeville write-ins, just look for my laptop with the blue NaNo shield on it in the cafe (tethered to the wall by a power cord). I'll probably have my viking helmet with me, although it's a bit hot to wear for long periods of time.
Hope to see you there!
41,094 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 07 12
I'll be there, but considering the battery life my Macbook's been getting lately (my god, it's atrocious), I'm going to have my netbook or nothing at all. Still, I love the social aspect of it and look forward to seeing all of you again!
Ayako, I still have those DVDs I promised you LAST YEAR sitting around here somewhere. Plus a few others at this point, I think. I stacked everything up against my wall when my shelves overflowed and promptly forgot. I'm an idiot. :)
----------http://jessicarbrown.blogspot.com
50,325 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 15 02
Rock on. I promise to come to some write-ins! At the very least I plan on being at the kick-off write-in.
----------Winner 2007: The Plains
Winner 2008: Primiodnes's Traveling Cavalcade of Oddities
44,100 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 16 58
I should be able to make it on the 4th and/or 7th. I am interested in coming to the kick off at Eat n Park but how late do the buses run? It's a little too far for me to walk back home...
----------2009: Bounded
2008: Make Me Fat! (won)
2007: Cream Cracker Tinker Knacker (won)
2006: Love Thy Sister, Love Thy Home (won)
"Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." - Gene Fowler
25,326 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2009 - 17 12
O.O I just realized I'm visiting college campuses this weekend, and this is the first NaNo weekend!! How did I miss this! Is anyone else wondering why October has suddenly vanished?
----------Third year of NaNo and I've yet to make it to a midnight kick-off...and it looks like I can't do sunday also. Just wanted to throw that out there...
Hope everyone has a great and productive first weekend!
The Otherside of Things
0 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 04 03
For those who can make it, I reserved the back room at the Panera in Penn Center (on Bus. 22 across from the long-closed Showcase East) from 1:30 to about 3:30 on Nov 1.
41,045 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 16 56
I'll be there at the kick off, dividing my time between hanging out with my swing dance friends and the writing people. We'll see how that goes. Since my laptop battery sucks and dies within two minutes of being unplugged , if I can't find a plug near you guys, I'll have to sit elsewhere.
If anyone is interested in learning how to swing dance, there is a dance at the Wightman Community center just a few blocks down the road from EnP, starting tomorrow night with a free lesson at 8, followed by a $10 dance from 9-midnight-ish. The Sweaty Betty Blues Band (who does bluesy music you can also swing to) will be playing.
I think you might find it an interesting pre-NaNo activity.
----------NaNo 2007: When You Seek Him (Won!)
NaNo 2008: Untitled Fantasy (Won!)
NaNo 2009: Untitled (WIP)
10,383 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 20 15
I can show up for the Monroeville meet at Panera, I'm pretty sure, but I'll be passing on the Borders thing. Personal choice, but they're the competition.
18,192 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 07 29
Could I nominate Kiva Han on Craig Street for the rest of the city meetups? The last few times we've been to Caribou for the october meetups it has been so packed we've been lucky to carve out 4 seats. It is student-studying central, which will make it even harder to find large open tables when we need them. I know it is a little further out of the central area, but I also tend to like Kiva Han a little better because they aren't as snooty about making sure everyone buys something.
8,781 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 09 47
Interesting. I was just joking last night about walking to Squirrel Hill at midnight, and now it seems that's exactly what I'll be doing tonight. Hurrah! As long as I don't forget to leave a Halloween party, that is. I'll also probably be in a Halloween costume, bonus points to anyone who can guess (and, being writers, I put the most faith in you guys to guess). And I'll be there starting NaNo off old-school. Notebook and pen, ohyes.
And I was super excited for the Oakland write-in... then I noticed it's during my Chemistry class. D: But I might try to make the Monroeville one.
By the way, I also vote for Kiva Han for future write-ins.
36,113 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 17 33
Sorry we won't see you at Borders, Stark. I perfer B&N, but Border's has a bigger cafe, so we are less of a nuisance there.
CaesiumTea, I would suggest skipping Chemistry, but I hated Chem. Hope to see you at Borders!
41,094 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 19 56
Not feeling all that great right now, and I'm exhausted after getting up so early in the morning, so I'm bailing on the kickoff. I'll see you guys at the Brew Works for sure, though.
----------http://jessicarbrown.blogspot.com
66,870 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 23 50
I'd be interested in the one in Cranberry, on the 5th.
----------http://elfriedabijoux.wordpress.com/
http://www.artfire.com/users/elfriedabijoux
30,421 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 21 57
is the barnes and noble for the north write in the one at the waterfront?
46,892 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 05 25
If we do this I'd rather like to rotate between the one on Craig Street and the one on 3533 Forbes Avenue (Forbes/Meyran, which is less of a huge walk for me...)
----------Dreamer of Inescapable Nightmares -- Vu
ぜつぼうした！
And I will look at these scars and shove my despair aside, and forthwidth shall come a grand total of 100,000 words!
18,192 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 17
I'm okay with this, but I haven't checked on what the seating is like at the Meyran location. Would we have the same problem there we've been having with Caribou (no seating)? The one on Craig is much less of a hassle for me to get to as well, but rotating seems really fair.
49,101 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 25
Aww man... I'd love to see you guys at Caribou, but it looks like I'm going to be busy from 6-9pm on Wednesday. *tear*
Hopefully I'll be able to catch you guys around again--Kiva Han's a pretty fun place, too! Good luck writing~~
----------29,230 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 11 04
Waaah. I think Saturday is the only one of these that works for me. I can't make it on Wednesday and I work until 8 on Thursday.
41,896 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 09
Nope. The Waterfront is in the Greenfield/Squirrel Hill area, not really near Cranberry.
Cranberry is off Route I-79, north of the city.
2004: Do-It-Yourself Widow - WON (placed as runner-up in Operation First Novel)
2005: Black Soul Choir - WON
2006: The Scarlet Letter Opener - WON
2007: Mrs Needlemeier's Novel Idea - WON
2008: Societal Smackdown - WON
2009: Reunited States
www.lindamaubooks.com
----------2004: Do-It-Yourself Widow - WON
2005: Black Soul Choir - WON
2006: The Scarlet Letter Opener - WON
2007: Mrs Needlemeier's Novel Idea - WON
2008: Societal Smackdown - WON
www.lindamaubooks.com
20,364 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 23 09
Missed the kick-off, but it's possible for me to make my way down to the event tomorrow. Errrrr later today.
----------9,132 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 11 53
I wish I could go to some of these. Does all ages welcome include thirteen year olds doing NaNo for the first time, LOL?
There's also the problem of Mimi= no laptop. So I wouldnt be able to write. *tear* *tear* *tear*
----------Words written- 9078
Characters use of drugs and alcohol- 3
Bottles of gatorade- 4
Candy- five bowls
Breakdowns- 0.5
Monster energy drinks- 0
Sanity- 90%
49,101 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 13 11
How about bringing a pad of paper with you, Mimi? :3 Then you can write along with everyone, too.
I'm going to try and make it to Kiva Han tonight. I might be an hour late-ish, though. xD
----------41,896 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 14 06
Hey, can anyone confirm that the North Write-in at B&N in Cranberry is ON for tomorrow night (Nov. 5)? Most of the references to it say it's tentative and to check back, but I haven't seen updates that confirm or cancel it.
Kinda need to know in order to plan other things around it, if it's still on.
THANKS for any official info!
----------2004: Do-It-Yourself Widow - WON
2005: Black Soul Choir - WON
2006: The Scarlet Letter Opener - WON
2007: Mrs Needlemeier's Novel Idea - WON
2008: Societal Smackdown - WON
www.lindamaubooks.com
46,892 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 14 30
I'll see you guys at Kiva Han tonight, though I may be a little late too. I killed my wireless apparently, like really really killed by accident and can't fix >.<
----------Dreamer of Inescapable Nightmares -- Vu
ぜつぼうした！
And I will look at these scars and shove my despair aside, and forthwidth shall come a grand total of 100,000 words!
56,075 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 14 53
I'll be there a little late as well, how will I know who we are?
Is there a secret handshake or code word I can use?
......
Actually, upon further reflection, I've decided that even if I don't need one, I'm totally using a secret handshake. Just so everyone is aware.
See you all there!
Matt