Hi. I'm Tim Yao aka NewMexicoKid, one of three co-Municipal Liaison volunteers this year, serving with samcadams (Sam) and GwenTolils (Jenny). I mostly write fantasy with some science fiction. I've been doing NaNo since 2003 (and have managed to win every year); and I've been co-ML for Naperville since 2005.

In real life, I am a Portfolio Manager for Mobile Networks DevOps working for Nokia.

Welcome! Please take a moment and introduce yourself to everyone.

We have four preparatory workshops planned for October; and our Library Crawl is back for 2018. Have some questions? Just shoot us a NaNo mail.

--Tim

Hi, writers!

I'm Todd Hogan, aka writertodd07. I've enjoyed being a member of the Writing Journey for in excess of seven years and enjoyed meeting all of you and reading a lot of your work. I've participated in several of the excellent anthologies that the group has put together. I encourage everyone to participate in these wonderful opportunities to write, to edit, to critique, to be critiqued, to learn, and finally to be published.

I moved to Joliet last year, so I will not be participating in the Writing Journey in person as frequently as in the past, but I will be catching up with everyone online. It's been great to see the progress that our members have made.

I will be joining in the pressurized fun of NaNoWriMo 2018 this year. I was thinking maybe a Western, something very different for me. So, this September and October, in addition to brainstorming and outlining for November, I've been rereading some classic Westerns -- The Virginian, The Ox-Bow Incident, and The Octopus. I highly recommend all of these old classics.

What intrigues me about the Western genre is the idea that the characters are involved in a primal morality play. When the Sheriff or Marshall lives 500 miles away, who establishes justice? Who decides what is justice? Is a powerful man / fastest gun always the final arbiter? These questions are worth exploring, but I'm not sure how they will lead to a story.

I wish everyone the best, and success in NaNoWriMo 2018!

Todd

Hi all! I'm Bonnie Bradlee, aka me-n-Jesus. I participate when I can, but have a job dealing with people ALL the time, so I tend to not want to deal with people when I'm off work.

I write Biblical historical fiction, sort of, and short stories. I have won NaNoWriMo 2 years in a row, writing by hand. The year before last I even did it with fountain pen! This year I'll be a NaNo rebel as I revisit a novel from a few years ago and actually try to finish it.

See y'all in November!

Hi everyone!!!

My name is Megan, though I go by Kathleen on here. Currently, I am looking for a new job since I graduated college back in May so I don't know how that will affect my writing in November, but I hope to complete a decent novel this year. Typically I write adventure novels, though I did try my hand at writing a sci-fi novel a few years ago.

My writing utensils include my laptop, I just got a new one (Yay!!!) because I really needed it, and paper and pen/pencil. Of course, when I write with paper and pen I transfer what I wrote onto the Word document on my laptop. Though I am consideringdoing my novel in Google Drive since I have the app on my phone.

Wow, it's that time again?? Goodness!!

Well, I'm Tanya. I started my first nano journey in 2014 and I instantly fell in love. I love the friends I have made, I love thekinship, I love going to the write in's, I love it ALL!

I'm a mother of 1 (...3...if you count the husband and the dog)...Daughter was born in January of 2017 and I love her to bits (even IF her new thing is "lets take off all my clothes and run around naked!!"). As a profession, I'm a nanny/babysitter...have been since 2012...but for 1 year, I was an accounts payable secretary. Had to quit when Amelia was born because I'd be paying more in childcare than the job payed ME. At least with babysitting (even though I only do it once a week now)...I can bring Amelia with me!

I love to write, but it seems I only do it during Nano times (camp, or november). Though, November is when I REALLY put my heart and soul forward with my novels. This is my third novel...one that I started in 2016 (having won 2014...still unfinished....and doing a new novel for 2015)...I am in love with this story SO much that even though i don't write often (except for nano), I can still see the end and I can't wait to write more.

-I'm half filipino, half 'murican...(so...yes, there is always a pot of rice cooking at my house)
-I am also a huge nerd/geek (as if my user icon didn't give it away. Stay tuned for my yearly "Interests, Hobbies, Fandoms" thread!),
-I love to read (even if i have periods where I don't do it often),
-I LOOOVE to knit and cross stitch.
-I have an etsy shop called the Sturdy Nerdy Stitchery that sells hand made cross stitch patterns (as well as commissions).
-I am a BIG foodie...so, I'll ALWAYS be more inclined to attend your parties if you mention that there will be lots of delicious food!

Hey everybody! I'm Madi, and I have tried and failed to complete NaNoWriMo for the past four years due to being far too busy with schoolwork. But alas! I graduated in June and now have no more excuses!

I'm currently a Library Assistant at the Geneva Public Library and a babysitter (to make up for not being full time). As I take off a year for school to figure out what to get a Masters in (Library Science or Creative Writing), I owe it to myself to get my first novel done and try to get it published to see what my future holds.

Each year, I've been a NaNo Rebel and revisited the book I keep getting stuck on, so this year I'm starting fresh. I typically write New Adult fantasy, but my brain decided to produce a thriller, so I'm working on a thriller this year!!

I've marked my calendar for all the Write-Ins that will fit with my schedule and that aren't too far, so I hope to be seeing a lot of you guys. And please add me as a buddy! I have been on this site for four years and have no buddies to show for it :( Good luck to everyone!

Hey all!

I'm Jenny, one of your MLs this year, but I'm published under Gwen Tolios. I work as an analyst for a PR firm in the city and side hustle various marketing stuff and copy writing. I'm usually busy, but I like that.

Jumped on the NaNo bandwagon in 2010, winning all but one year.I typically write SFF, but last year wrote a drama that I'm going to spend this NaNo revising and actually, le shock!, make happier. And you know, actually end it because I stopped at 53K words and maybe have 5K left.

Looking forward to meeting all of you guys! And if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Hi, all! I can't believe that time of year is almost here again.

I'm Mary Fran, and this will be my sixth NaNo, and hopefully my fourth win. In real life, I am a case manager at a social service agency, and lots of uncertainty and stress over the past year or so have kept me from writing as much as I previously have. I have previously self-published four novels and am in the process of preparing my fifth for publication.

So far, I have published contemporary romances, and while I have been working on novels in a couple of other genres, love always finds its way into my novels. This is also the case with the novel I am planning to work on for this year's NaNo. It is a romance set against the backdrop of the 1980s music scene, and I am being a rebel since I am planning to finish it and already have a few thousand words done.

Outside of writing, I also love listening to music and collecting vinyl records, watching some shows and documentaries on Netflix when I can, drinking wine, and reading.

Feel free to add me as a buddy! Best of luck, and happy writing!

Hidey-ho, friends! I'm an elusive Squiddish and I like to post in this forum every year and then suspiciously disappear from the rest of the month.

This year, however, is the first time since I originally started doing NaNo as a wee little one that I will only have one job and it's officially Monday-Friday. (I'm also back in school full time, though, so we'll see what happens there)

I've been doing NaNo for almost ten years now?? Only completed a handful of times, but every year I attempt to do some sort of project even if it isn't a full novel. This year, I'll be using the creative time to work on a collaborative comic with my roommate, who I will attempt to drag to a few write-ins with me as I did last year! Still figuring out how we'll track words and so on, especially since she'll be drawing the comic for us and I'll be writing it, but either way we'll be getting stuff done.

Looking forward to seeing y'all!!

Hey, everyone! I'm Melanie. This will be my fifth(I think) year with the Naperville group, but judging from Tanya's reaction when we bumped into each other in another group, I'm probably mostly known as that line that keeps going up and up and up on the word count chart. What can I say? I do a lot of sprints, and I type fast. But I'm not as intimidating as that might make it seem.

Me in a nutshell? I'm 40-something, I've been happily married for 11 years, and I have two sons (ages 9 and 5). I'm a paleontology nerd, a board game geek, and a staunch defender of the Oxford comma. I read around 75 novels every year, watch way too much television (not all of it good), and don't clean my house enough. I'm goofy and loud unless I'm nervous, and then I'll either be stand-offish and too quite or extremely talkative and awkward. That thing I said 20 years ago? It probably woke me up in the middle of the night last night. I drink coffee. Lots of coffee. But it absolutely cannot taste like coffee. And otherwise, I run on chocolate and 80's pop. So, basically, I'm a big bundle of stories, funky coffee mugs, dinosaurs, bad jokes, pop culture references that no one understands, and music that was popular 3 decades ago.

This year will be my fifteenth NaNoWriMo, and I've never fallen short of the 50k goal. But honestly? Outside of November, my writing life has been a mess. I write mostly romance and fantasy (though I dabble a bit in other genres), but writing has always had to take a back seat. This year, though, both of my little guys are in school, and I have to time to focus on myself and what I want to do.

Hi everyone,

I'm Debra. This is my second year with NaNoWriMo, and I'm super pumped to start! I was a finisher last year, and used the experience to publish my first book in May. It's on sale on Amazon.com in paperback and ebook (https://goo.gl/UCwJ4B) Due to my work schedule, I didn't have the chance to attend a lot of write-ins last year, but the ones I attended I enjoyed immensely.

By day, I make the world safe for literacy. By night, I track down dead ancestors and solve the occasional cold case. I'm hopelessly addicted to Spotify, green tea, and kettle corn popcorn. I've taken up kickboxing, full contact origami, and finally got Invisalign.

I write and read a lot of non-fiction, and I spend a lot of time researching on location whenever I have the chance. This year, I've had to lower myself to writing a romance novel for my mom. I mean that not to cause offense to anyone who loves the genre, but after several motherly off-handed comments of 'why don't you write anything I like to read,"I know something had to be done. If 'revenge romance' is a genre, I consider myself a firm disciple. I want to write this book, get it published, and move on to my next non-fiction project. I've noticed I'm a lot happier when I have a project to work on. It's busy, it's creative, it's an emotional and intellectual investment, but I'm secure in myself and what I'm writing. It really is something I hope everyone can experience.

Hoping to host a write-in this year, and looking forward to meeting everyone!

Many Thanks,

Debra

Ok..ok....just come to write in's with ME...don't write...I'll write...and I'll just pass you all my knitting that has mistakes that I am too frustrated to fix on my own (Have one right now...that i've frogged out 5 times already hoping i could fix the ever gaping hole...but old ladies at Woolly Bully have said "just rip out your rows past the mistake and just start over. that's your best bet")

Then, when i get writing frustrated, you can speak out loud with deadpool type commentary to motivate me along!

writergirlmel wrote:Hey, everyone! I'm Melanie. This will be my fifth(I think) year with the Naperville group, but judging from Tanya's reaction when we bumped into each other in another group, I'm probably mostly known as that line that keeps going up and up and up on the word count chart.

Well, I've decided to have a go at another NaNoWriMo. The title for my book came from a dream had by my husband. "Mama Don't 'low No Three Antlered Moose". A mother and adult daughter live in the proverbial cabin in the woods. There is no electricity and no running water. They are extremely self sufficient, buying only the bare necessities in town. Their source of income believed to be proceeds from the sale of their farm and fresh eggs from their hens. How is it these two woman have lived relatively unmolested by the outside world all these years?

Honestly, pretty much all of the music I run on is music that was popular 3+ decades ago, so I can totally relate to that. It makes my writing playlists unique, to say the least.

Hello everybody

I'm Sam McAdams, one of your MLs, along with Tim and Jenny. I'm excited for another NaNo season. We have a full slate of write-ins planned, including the Library Crawl, Dueling Trains, Two Brothers Roundhouse, and the All Day Write-in. I've been writing during NaNo since 2006 and have happily server as your ML since 2015. This year I continue to write/edit my BarnYard Heroes series, a humorous/sci-fi/superhero set of novels, with a splash of horror mixed in.

Come on out to our 4 NaNo Prep workshops in October and I look forward to seeing everyone in November.

If you've got any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me or one of the other MLs.

Sam

samcadams wrote:Hello everybody I'm Sam McAdams, one of your MLs, along with Tim and Jenny. I'm excited for another NaNo season. We have a full slate of write-ins planned, including the Library Crawl, Dueling Trains, Two Brothers Roundhouse, and the All Day Write-in. I've been writing during NaNo since 2006 and have happily server as your ML since 2015. This year I continue to write/edit my BarnYard Heroes series, a humorous/sci-fi/superhero set of novels, with a splash of horror mixed in. Come on out to our 4 NaNo Prep workshops in October and I look forward to seeing everyone in November. If you've got any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me or one of the other MLs. Sam

I'm really excited to participate this year. Doing a little pre-work outlining, some research, and setting goals all though October. Cannot wait to see how everyone does this year.

I am a huge music fan so I'm already thinking about the soundtrack that will put me in the writing mood and get me through the tough parts. Plus I love to organize, so I've already got my desk ready to go complete with some resource materials and a coaster for my coffee mug. Let's caffeinate!

I've already added the novel to my dashboard too. This is a story that's been simmering (I write romance, so get it?) in the back of my mind for some time now.

Good luck to all!

Happy writing!

Hello! I'm Stephanie (Hey, Kelly! *waves*). My first Nano was 2010, I skipped a year, and then have been going strong ever since. My last year's Nano has been revised and is about to go out on submission to young adult publishers! I pubbed my first YA book December 2016 through a traditional publisher and then self-pubbed a contemporary romance in April of this year (my 2016Nano project!). My idea for this year's Nano is another YA. I'd hoped to have started it by now, but it's probably better that I use this time to prep.

I'm part of Windy City Romance Writers and I'm super excited to have a little crossover with NaperWrimo this year - we have two members teaching prep workshops (Allie Pleiter this Sat 10/6 - her Chunky Method time management strategy seriously changed how I write) and J. Leigh Bailey 10/20 about character development and voice (I think - going off memory). A few of us are hosting writing sprints too. I've only done one other write-in with the NaperWrimos in the past so I'm really looking forward to this collaboration. And the potluck!

The Bowl of Doom Mystery challenge will absolutely be back again in 2018 with a whole new set of prompts.

Hi everyone. I'm Elaine Fisher (fishmama) Looking forward to attending some workshops, but will be missing the Kick-off Party because I'll be having hip replacement surgery on Oct. 29. The right hip this time. Year and a half ago I had surgery on my left hip. It's a bummer, I know, but I'm glad to have the distraction of planning & writing my novel, because I have a great idea!!!

My last 3 nano novels were YA- historical fantasy-- two teenage girls exchanging places, one from present time, one from the Old West. Lots of fun researching & writing! This year will also be YA but a ghost story connecting the present to the past.. I'll be exploring the Roaring 20's--flappers, prohibition, gangsters!!! I'll have to pull myself away from my laptop to go to physical therapy. Boo hoo!

This will be my 6th nano and I'm hoping for another win and to seeing everyone at the TGIO Party!

Hi, everyone! I'm Catherine, sometimes also known as Cee-Bee (per my online NaNo handle). I've been participating in National Novel Writing Month (and this region) since 2010. No reason to stop now!

I plan to attend the first workshop onOctober 6.We'll have to see about the later ones.

I don't yet know what I'll be writing in November, so that will be interesting. But I'll be hosting a couple of Friday night write-ins at the Woodridge Public Library (November 2 and 16) and I'm sure I'll have a plan by then.

I'm really looking forward to the Dueling Trains write-in, andhope to make the one at Two Brothers.

Yay! Novel writing!

Hello, Tim and all others,

I am Elaina aka LaneyJWrites; I am that person who has registered for NaNoWriMo for the past few years and have neglected to get started. I a, at a place in my life where I am trying to kick fear in its face. I hope with the support from the group I will be able to participate this year successfully.

Hello All,

I'm John--aka, John_csy. I'm a 48 year old lawyer, who works in Wheaton. I first dipped my toe into the Nanowrimo waters in 2012. Happily, I won and had a blast in the process. This year will be only my fourth attempt since then. I've finished twice.

I am the dad of two little goblins. A son who's 8 and a daughter who's 5. My 8 year old and I have been kicking around an sci fi idea, so I am going to try a new genre this year--middle grade science fiction. I'm stoked! Look forward to writing with you all!

Hello, all! My name is Mary, and I lived in the Chicagoland area my whole life up until last June, when I moved to New York. Though I live in a new city, I've kept Naperville as my home region on the site because I like being a part of this group. In reallife, I'm a project editor for a textbook publisher, and I spend a lot of time reading on the subway to and from work.

I've actually been writing a lot more this year than I normally do! At the start of the year, I continued working on 2017's NaNo novel for a while. Then I spent about four months writing 75k words of Harry Potter fanfiction for an online challenge. That was really enjoyable, and it has helped to keep my writing muscles more agile. Though I'm now writing two more fanfics for two more challenges, I'm starting to get excited about NaNo 2018. I have some ideas percolating that center on WWII, a magical book, and other realms. Nothing concrete yet!

Hooray to another year!

I'm so excited to participate in NaNoWriMo 2018, I'm already outlining! Rare for this pantser but it's gotta be done. I look forward to catching up with everyone, if anyone is looking for someone to sprint with, my goal is to be locked down after 8pm on weekdays and early mornings on the weekends.

Good luck to all you rookie writers and NaNo-professionals.

*Kelly

Hi, I'm Shanna

I'm really excited for this year's NaNo because I like my characters (so far) and the ideas I've come up with. I write children's books and have published one book via traditional publisher called "Payton is Afraid of Dirt" and two books via self-publishing. I enjoy walking my 12-year-old collie and watching baseball.

Nice to meet you!

Hey there! My name is Christa and I am a professional NANOWRIMO troll... every year Im like... I want to do this! And then I dont. But this year, its different. Im kind of new to the Chicago area, I moved here last summer for my job. (Im responsible for intellectual property at New York Life.) I lived in Louisiana for two years prior, and Im kind of from New Mexico. (I was a military brat. Thats where I graduated high school and started adulting. Back in 1996 before they added selfie to the dictionary.) I also went to high school in Naples, Italy for three years and *fun fact* was born in the Philippines.

I have characters in my head that have always wanted out... and beyond that, I have no idea whats going to happen to me in November.

Im the proud mom of a fifteen-year-old artist, a nineteen-year-old entrepreneur and two silly big black Great Danes.

Hello all!
I'm Paige. This is my 6th year doing NaNo and I'm a rebel again this year. I've always always slacked off between Novembers and barely touch anything I write so this year I am bound and determined to finally reach "the end" on a novel I've already started.

I work from home and actually have some major projects I'll be working on in November this year, and I'm a mom of 2 (8 and 2.5) so they keep me pretty busy especially since my son is home with me all day every day. But honestly I just find an excuse not to work on my book and I need to knock that crap off.

Good luck this year everyone!

I am in the same boat where I really don't touch my novels in between Novembers. And I haven't finished any of them either and like you said I am also determined to actually reach the end of a novel during November.

Goddess_Astra wrote:

writergirlmel wrote:Hey, everyone! I'm Melanie. This will be my fifth(I think) year with the Naperville group, but judging from Tanya's reaction when we bumped into each other in another group, I'm probably mostly known as that line that keeps going up and up and up on the word count chart.

I still can't believe the smallness of this world (but not really) LOL! As soon as you said "i write 300k words for nano" something clicked in my mind...then my jaw hit the floor! LOL!

as a SAHM myself...you are the inspiration for ME to write as many words (since i only work ONE day a week)...but then...my writing goes down the drain when my toddler...once again...strips naked...giving me yet...another headache lol! Maybe it's time i duct tape her into her clothes haha.

You flatter me! And it could be worse! Come talk to me when she's 5 and running out of the bathroom just to dance around and sing, "Ooo! I'm naked! I'm naked! Shake my buuutt!" And the pizza delivery guy is at the door. And the bathroom door is in full view of the front door.

Mary Frances Gualandri wrote:Honestly, pretty much all of the music I run on is music that was popular 3+ decades ago, so I can totally relate to that. It makes my writing playlists unique, to say the least.

I'm pretty sure all my friends stopped following me on Spotify because of "too much synthesizer and hairspray"

dudewithak wrote:This year, I've had to lower myself to writing a romance novel for my mom.

I think you'll find that writing good romance is a heck of a lot harder than you might think.We're not just the literary riff-raff, you know.

john_csy wrote:Hello All, I'm John--aka, John_csy. I'm a 48 year old lawyer, who works in Wheaton. I first dipped my toe into the Nanowrimo waters in 2012. Happily, I won and had a blast in the process. This year will be only my fourth attempt since then. I've finished twice. I am the dad of two little goblins. A son who's 8 and a daughter who's 5. My 8 year old and I have been kicking around an sci fi idea, so I am going to try a new genre this year--middle grade science fiction. I'm stoked! Look forward to writing with you all!

Love that you're writing with your son! I'm also working on a project with my 9-year-old, autistic son. Young reader is so much harder than I anticipated!

PBJ63010 wrote:Hello all!
But honestly I just find an excuse not to work on my book and I need to knock that crap off.

Preach! Right there with you!

Toni G. here excited to get a story that's been in the back of my mind for years out on paper. I've written professional - only non-fiction - for years as the Community Columnist for Bolingbrook (12 year run courtesy of the Chicago Sun Times News Group) as well as freelancing for clients too numerous to list. Regardless, I am a fiction virgin - so this should be interesting...

Hello fellow WriMos!

I'm Lisa, and I'm thrilled to be starting another November with you all. I'm just...not sure yet what I'll be writing. It had been my plan to write the third in the YA sci-fi series I've been working on the past two years, but I'm tempted to be a rebel and tear apart my novel from last year and work on that some more.

Either way, I'm looking forward to participating in the write-ins and other fun.

Happy noveling!

Lisa

My name is Deb. I am kind-hearted, funny, smart, anxious, depressed and messed up. Is anyone NOT two sides of a spectrum? This is what makes people great writers, the ups and downs of life. I'm pretty sure I'll do NaNoWriMo again this year. It's my fourth attempt. I have two children involved in everything at school and with sports, a husband who travels for work and a Marmaduke or willfull, crazy dog. I need to exercise more, eat better, clean, write, spend more quality time with my children and not watch so much television. Again, this is life. And the real truth of it all: everthing is an excuse. You can frind time to write if you really want to.

Everyone has either the fear of failure or fear of success with writing. The only time I sent something in was when I went to a writing seminar and showed the first few pages of an uncompleted novel (I know, complete your novel first!) to an agent and he said, "What is the motive?It's a good start, but you need to work on it." It stopped me cold.Yet,I will be published in six anthologies. I had a column in a newspaper. I've had interviews published. I am working on serial fiction that will be published in the newspaper starting in November. My goal is to finish a novel, get it professionally edited and send it to agents. To somehow, push myself to climb one step higher on the ladder.

In any case, enough about me. One thing I know for sure, if you are considering doing NaNoWriMo, you really have nothing to lose. The group here is fantastic. I really mean it. For that support alone, you should join this NaNoWriMo group AND join The Journey writing group which meets once a month after NaNoWriMo is over.

OMG I WAS BORN IN THE PHILIPPINES TOO! Moved stateside when I was 3. back in 1987

debko wrote:My name is Deb. I am kind-hearted, funny, smart, anxious, depressed and messed up. Is anyone NOT two sides of a spectrum? This is what makes people great writers, the ups and downs of life. I'm pretty sure I'll do NaNoWriMo again this year. It's my fourth attempt. I have two children involved in everything at school and with sports, a husband who travels for work and a Marmaduke or willfull, crazy dog. I need to exercise more, eat better, clean, write, spend more quality time with my children and not watch so much television. Again, this is life. And the real truth of it all: everthing is an excuse. You can frind time to write if you really want to. Everyone has either the fear of failure or fear of success with writing. The only time I sent something in was when I went to a writing seminar and showed the first few pages of an uncompleted novel (I know, complete your novel first!) to an agent and he said, "What is the motive?It's a good start, but you need to work on it." It stopped me cold.Yet,I will be published in six anthologies. I had a column in a newspaper. I've had interviews published. I am working on serial fiction that will be published in the newspaper starting in November. My goal is to finish a novel, get it professionally edited and send it to agents. To somehow, push myself to climb one step higher on the ladder. In any case, enough about me. One thing I know for sure, if you are considering doing NaNoWriMo, you really have nothing to lose. The group here is fantastic. I really mean it. For that support alone, you should join this NaNoWriMo group AND join The Journey writing group which meets once a month after NaNoWriMo is over.

Yay, Stephanieis in da House!

Hello, all!

I'm going to try a non-traditional plan this year. I'm in the first term of my PhD program and can barely keep up with my coursework, let alone spend time on anything creative.

So I'm going to take a lesson from my experiences with camp NaNo, and instead of 50,000 words my goal will be 50 hours of academic research writing. I think going to some write-ins and being among other focused people will help give me the right "vibe," and if I'm going to do that, might as well sign up for this year and make it official!

We'll see how it goes. I'll definitely be ready to celebrate the conclusion of this term on Dec. 1st! (^_^)

Happy writing to all!!

(P.S. - I still have last year's slayed dragon's head proudly displayed in the back window of my car!)

LaneyJWrites wrote:Hello, Tim and all others, I am Elaina aka LaneyJWrites; I am that person who has registered for NaNoWriMo for the past few years and have neglected to get started. I a, at a place in my life where I am trying to kick fear in its face. I hope with the support from the group I will be able to participate this year successfully.

You can do it!

Cheers to that, writergirlmel!

*fan of romance*

*writes romance*

*spends a lot of time defending romance*

Part of why I love Nano is we write in all different genres and can still call ourselves a community :)

Hello, everyone! My name is Ellis, and I'm a college student in the western suburbs.

I've tried NaNo before, but never participated in the forums before, or signed up online for it (at least as far as I can remember--it's been a few years). I've also never won before... or even gotten close. But hey, there's a first time for everything, right? And this time I've gotten together an outline, which is also something new to me, so hopefully that preparation will pay off.

I'll see if I can attend some of the local write-ins, but that will depend on a few different factors--luckily, I think my school schedule shouldn't betoohectic this November, which helps.

Anyway, I wish all of you good luck on completing this year's NaNoWriMo! We can do it!

The Harry Potter fanfiction sounds interesting. What challenge was it for?

This is only the second year that I have done an outline. Last year I didn't really follow it but this year I plan on following it better. I am also in the same boat ofattending some of the write-ins depending on the different factors involved (if that makes any sense).

I've been diligently working on an outline - as much as I outline - and now I have A SHINY NEW STORY IDEA! Usually, that doesn't happen until I'm at least a week into Nano, knee-deep in a draft. I'm thinking the shiny new idea might be a great fit for Nano and I can save my other idea for a less fast-paced draft.

Hi Ellis! Same boat, here, I've tried to a few years and never even gotten close to the word count. I also spent time creating an outline (for the first time) this year, and I'm hoping it makes it easier to stick with the writing.

Good luck to both of us!

It was for a Wolfstar (Remus/Sirius) Big Bang, in which authors and artists paired up. It was so fun!

Hi friends! Ellie here. I'll be attempting NaNo once again this year. I've quasi-participated for the last four years, but my only win was 2014 (my first real attempt, and right after I movedto IL from Los Angeles).

I write general market adult thrillers with speculative elements, as well as YA SF (which is what my 2018 NaNo project will be!). I review MG/YA SFF for Booklist, and I work full-time as an assistant to a literary agent.

I've been on and off involved with the Writing Journey and NaperWriMo, and every year I want to jump back in! Looking forward to reconnecting with many of you, as well as meeting new faces.

eleanor.roth wrote:Hi friends! Ellie here. I'll be attempting NaNo once again this year. I've quasi-participated for the last four years, but my only win was 2014 (my first real attempt, and right after I movedto IL from Los Angeles). I write general market adult thrillers with speculative elements, as well as YA SF (which is what my 2018 NaNo project will be!). I review MG/YA SFF for Booklist, and I work full-time as an assistant to a literary agent. I've been on and off involved with the Writing Journey and NaperWriMo, and every year I want to jump back in! Looking forward to reconnecting with many of you, as well as meeting new faces.

Welcome back, Ellie!

I confess, I had to look up the MG acronym. My first thought was: multi-generational ;-)

--Tim

Hi, I'm Sue E. Typically, I write nonfiction such as blog posts and magazine articles.I've also had a few poems published and one flash fiction piece. I lovebooks and am thevolunteer librarian for my church. Mostly I read mysteries, soI'm going to try againto write a mystery novel this November. Happy to be here with all of you.

MaryK171 wrote:Hello, all! My name is Mary, and I lived in the Chicagoland area my whole life up until last June, when I moved to New York. Though I live in a new city, I've kept Naperville as my home region on the site because I like being a part of this group. In reallife, I'm a project editor for a textbook publisher, and I spend a lot of time reading on the subway to and from work.

Welcome back, Mary (at least virtually :-) ). Reading on the subway sounds idyllic, assuming that you're not having to read textbooks ;-).

MaryK171 wrote:I've actually been writing a lot more this year than I normally do! At the start of the year, I continued working on 2017's NaNo novel for a while. Then I spent about four months writing 75k words of Harry Potter fanfiction for an online challenge. That was really enjoyable, and it has helped to keep my writing muscles more agile. Though I'm now writing two more fanfics for two more challenges, I'm starting to get excited about NaNo 2018. I have some ideas percolating that center on WWII, a magical book, and other realms. Nothing concrete yet!

Sounds cool!

--Tim

Hi All

I am Karen Stumm Limbrick my handle is Zora5128. I didn't think I would be doing NANO this year because I'm traveling around the Aegean and Mediterranean with my husband (celebrating our 31 anniversary) for MOST of November....

and then it hit me.. I'm going to write a very detailed travel journal as my NANO project. (loud cheers and much excitement on my part here)

THE DOWNSIDE - Unfortunately, traveling means I will NOT be attending the write-ins or library crawls this year, so my presence willbe virtual for most of it. I will be at the potluck and the TGIV party, however.

So cheers to another fabulous event, managed by our fabulous team! Thank you in advance Tim, Jenny, & Sam and everyoneelse.

Hi All Ya'll,

I'm Suzanne Reeves, misplaced Texan living in Naperville. I am a published author with a non-fiction book, Christian Chick's Guide To Surviving Divorce:What Your Girlfriends Would Tell You if They Knew What to Say with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (on Amazon if you're interested.) But my passion is fiction. Been wanting to do NaNoWriMo for several years, and I think this is finally the year it will happen! Very excited to see my story come to life, and get out of my head! I have an extensive background in theater and also do lots of misc writing as well as am working on getting my humor blog up and running.

Don't know if anyone has time during the day, but I'd love to do some informal meet ups during the day at any Naperville library if anyone is interested. I'm one of the few extroverted writers on the planet, and I go batty if I'm stuck at my desk by myself all day long for weeks on end.

And do we have a local FB group? :) Looking forward to meeting folks! Let's get this pawty started!!

Hi, everyone! Long-time listener, first-time caller :) Enjoyed reading all the introductions and perusing profiles.

I have been aware of and dipped my toes into NaNo off and on for years. The idea tickles me, but sitting at a computer (more than I already do) does not. I have tried writing by hand, dictating into my phone, standing whilst typing, you name it, but can never stay still long enough to make it happen - yet! I also get really stuck on editing instead of free-flowing, which keeps the word count at a standstill.

I am thrilled to be making a commitment to the community of writers in my area this year. I see I already missed events, but am committed to attending write-ins (they are in my calendar!) and attending the kick-off event.

Looking forward to taking this journey with you!

The local Nano facebook group is NaperWriMo

Sam

Sounds like a plan to me! Shoot me a message on facebook (or I'll message you soon, when I get myself in order) and we can find some evenings to do write-ins at Two Brothers or some place similar??)

I'll bring my roommate, since we're planning on writing a comic together this year, so we can have a mix of artistry happening haha

Hi everyone! Todd here and back for another go at this! Last year's novel has turned into a game setting that I should be publishing soon. I have two big writing projects I need to work on in November, but hey what's a third project? :

Got a few ideas and not sure which direction to go, but its a fun process and it is nice to be able to turn my internal editor off for a little while. Can't wait to hear what everyone is working on and enjoying those many sleepless nights in November :)

Thanks, Tim! Luckily, I don't have to read any textbooks in my spare time. The subway is so great for getting through books -- there's no internet distractions when you're underground!

Hello, I'm Becca C. or bellilaugh. This is all new to me so I'm just "kicking the tires" at this point. A new employee of mine from a different region mentioned it and I think it's time for me to get my act together. This group is the catalyst for getting me going!

Also--sorry I will not be attending the potluck Saturday. We're celebrating my daughter's birthday.

Count me in too. I usually start with one simple idea and it flows. This year all I have is a woman raised in the south, always dreamed of a white Christmas and takes off on a road trip north to wherever it takes her. Yikes. We'll see how this story turns out. It's worked in the past, so we shall see on November 30th what it will be. Can you tell I'm a panster? I can't plot for the life of me.

Very cool! I write YA too.

Hi Cindy! Good luck with your idea. I love road trip stories :)

Hello everyone!

I'm Bella and this is my first NaNoWriMo! I've been aware NaNo for quite a few years but have never signed up or participated. I've written stories my entire life. When I went to college I majored in creative writing but ran out of money before I completed the program. I had some wake up calls in some of those classes though. It wasn't that I was necessarily writing poorly but I also wasn't writing well and because of that, my peers were unkind and didn't believe I belonged in the program. After that I shut down and assumed I'd never be a writer like I'd always dreamed. I stopped writing for quite some time. My story ideas kept flowing though and I'd take notes and keep them in a folder but I just couldn't bring myself to write thousands of words just to be told my passion was misplaced.

Once the calendar turned to 2018 I made a promise to myself that this was my year to learn story crafting and spend time building my writing muscles. I've been reading and writing all year. I learned the secret to outlining. I came up with a stellar idea. Now, I'm here at NaNoWriMo to write a book. Honestly, I'm mildly fearful but mostly stoked! I have a bit more character building to do but beyond that I'm ready to write and share this story with the world. I'm excited for write-ins and hope to make some friends. NaNo vets, what are write-ins like? I'm a little anxious about going. I love the Slack platform as a chatroom so you'll probably find me hanging out there a lot.

My story is a wildly inaccurate YA historical fiction. The MC is a 15 year old girl named Ettie who finds herself able to go back and forth through time to the 1500's. She lands in the royal palace of a country I made up that sits in the Alps between modern day France, Italy, and Switzerland. She makes friends with the royal children who want her to stay in the 1500's with them. She causes a commotion and learns some lessons.

That's enough about me. See ya!

bellacro wrote:Hello everyone! I'm Bella and this is my first NaNoWriMo! ...NaNo vets, what are write-ins like? I'm a little anxious about going. I love the Slack platform as a chatroom so you'll probably find me hanging out there a lot.

Hi, Bella,

Welcome to the NaperWriMo region! I'm glad that you've joined in and I'm sure you will make plenty of friends here--we're a friendly bunch.

I'm just about to write about what to expect about write-ins, so keep watch for that upcoming post. In general, there are many flavors of write-ins, but most involve some informal games and activities like "word wars" that are timed writing sprints (I prefer 13 or 17 minutes) where people try to write as much as they can during that timespan, sometimes for small prizes like little magnet buttons, stickers or candy. Depending on the venue and the host, there can be some quiet chit-chat during the write-in (e.g., between word wars). Note that we have a mid-month meet-up the evening of the 17th where there will be some more socializing; and there are plenty of events outside NaNo as part of the Writing Journey, our year-round writing community.

So no need for anxiety--write-ins are part of what makes NaNo a supportive and fun event. I strongly recommend them.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. Sam, Jenny and I are here to help folks out.

--Tim

Hi everyone! I'm Julie. I've done several NaNos, though I've only won a few. I'll be working on a sequel to a young adult science fiction novel I wrote in a previous NaNoWriMo.

I loved the write-ins last year, and I'm hoping to get to several this year as well. I think I'm finally almost over this cold that I've had the past couple of weeks, so hopefully I will be nice and healthy and ready to write November 1.

Hi everyone, Im Shirley, a NaNoWriMo wannabe. Four years ago, I attempted to write a YA Fantasy novel. Now, Im revisiting it and hopefully will finish this time.

My three children have flown the coop, Ive retired my interior decorating business, and Im ready to live my next chapter.

I'm excited to be joining you in reaching our goals.

Hi all you lovely people!

I'm thelaramin, an engineer by trade but I have a massive creative/artistic side. I've been out of school for a couple years and in desperate need of a creative outlet, so I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year for the first time! I think I'm writing a book about a girl and her dad and learning to accept the world as it is, but I'm not 100% sure... I guess I'll see where the words take me!

I'd really like to go to a few write-ins, my creative juices flow best when I change where I'm working frequently. I'm excited to meet some other people who decided to commit to getting something awesome done this month!

Im Peggy and trying this for the first time. Actually Im not counting last year when I signed up but only wrote three different first sentences for three different stories. End of story and end of my 2017 writing career! I have no plot and no characters and way too many ideas. Ill see what happens at midnight. Or 5:00 am. Hope to catch up with some of you sometime next month.

Greetings Everyone. I'm Tim and I'm a Civil Engineer by day and a Father to a 10th grade boy and triplet 6th grade girls by night... and day.

Looking forward to another year and hoping scheduling allows me to get to some write-ins this year, it has been a few years since I attended one. Besides winning NaNoWriMo my big goal for this year is to establish a sustainable writing habit that I can carry on with throughout the year and finally finish editing one of my NaNo novels.

Good Luck to everyone!

Welcome. Good luck with your first NanoWriMo. Hope to see you at the write-ins.

Hey everyone! It's my first time doing NaNo and I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm super excited to start my writing adventure tomorrow!

Hi everyone, my name is Rachel and I decided to join NaNoWriMo hours ago! This is not typical for me (I am a big planner) but my friend who lives out of state texted me today to tell me she was participating, and I signed up to be her accountability partner! I've always wanted to write but have started to drift from it in the last few years,so I'm excited to have this push to see if it is still something that I enjoy/want to pursue. I'm going to be working on a very loose concept that I have, which may turn into nothing.

I am a new librarian who also enjoys needlecrafts of all types (knitting, crochet, cross stitch), reading, and listening to music.

I'm also very new to this area! I just moved to Wheaton two weeks ago; I'm originally from the very northeast corner of Illinois. I work evenings and weekends so I won't be able to make the majority of the write-ins, but it's excited just to discover that there is a writing community in this area. I hope to get to meet some of you eventually!

Crochet.Missy wrote: I am a new librarian who also enjoys needlecrafts of all types (knitting, crochet, cross stitch), reading, and listening to music.

KNIIIIIIITTING! omg AND CROSS STITCH?! You won my vote!

Hi I'm Frank from Palos Hills. I'm looking forward to this being the year we EXCEED our goals and word counts from past years!

I tried this in 2015, but life happened. Here I am in 2018 and I'm determined to do this.

It's 11:18 AM on Nov. 1 and all I've written so far is my to do list.

But I'm here.

Haha yes! If you have any recs for shops or groups for either let me know!

Hi,

I'm Cheryl, and this is my first year of participating in NaNoWriMo. I've been working on a fiction book for months now, and can't seem to get past chapter one, so decided that perhaps putting myself to task to write 50,000 words in November might get the job done! I work part-time as a marketing/advancement director for a Catholic school in the western suburbs, and also do freelance marketing consulting. Excited to participate in the 2018 NaNoWriMo!