NaNoWriMo Gets Spooky

If you're a writer, you've probably heard of National Novel Writing Month. Maybe you've even participated -- posted on the forums, gone to local write-ins, and written an entire 50,000-word book in thirty days.

I love NaNoWriMo. Why? Without it, Spookygirl might not exist. Spookygirl was my 2008 NaNo project. Or was it 2007? Yep, just checked my records. I've been giving out the wrong year all this time. When you've NaNo'd as many times as I have, sometimes the years get a little fuzzy. I wrote my first NaNo novel in 2003, and I've participated every November since then. I even have my very own mascot -- remind me to post a pic of NaNoMonKey sometime. The only year I didn't reach my goal was 2010, and that's only because I landed in the hospital for a week with appendicitis. Yeah, yeah. Excuses.

NaNoWriMo is a fantastic program, especially if you have a story in your head but lack the compulsive determination to get it down on paper. Check out the site for all the details -- and if you haven't given it a try in the past, consider joining in the fun this November. Hey, if I can finish 50K words while also keeping up with the monsters during one of the busiest months of the retail year, so can you! I already have this year's story brewing in my brain...