We All Did It!!!

An amazing NaNo year for all of us. Geoff Smith, the come-from-behind-boy (notice now that I am willing to hyphenate!) is worthy of being the subject of someone's NaNo novel 2008.

Kirk and Jeanne got sick and finished anyway. Fionna's character was on a journey to the center of the earth when she, Fionna, got bored and had to blow the character out of a volcano and land her in the south of England where she got a job as a librarian and went on a bus tour where Miss Marple, yes, that Miss Marple, was a member of the tour. Geoff's meat-stealing characters get involved with a Used Meat Store and eventually an "Onion Restaurant". Not to mentioed being threatend by hyenas and other scary things.

First timer, Rose Cheyette may eventually reveal the fate of the psychotic mailman.

Joe Stohlman, another first timer plowed through to the finish line with style.

Suzanne McLeod came in in spite of also getting sick and finding out the her mother was being forcibly removed to a nursing home. Amazing work, Suzanne.

I loaded Jim's words on the site last night. So he's in too.(will we ever find out who really murdered Trixie?)

My online NaNo buddy, a high school senior from New Jersey, came in a glorious winner this time.

I haven't heard from Dave Bufano about the fate of the infamous Vin and Baby.

Tom's friend Blig Blug also finished his novel. You will be seeing pictures of Blig Blug writing his novel at http://www.bligblug.net/ next week.

For all the fabulous people who wrote along with us, congratulations. I'm guessing that you have never written that many words in one month before. Dont envy those of us who got to 50,000. I'll bet your stuff stinks way less than ours.

I cheated and dredged up an article from the New York Times about authorities not being able to protect witnesses to mob crimes. This is a dilemma that my character has to face in the beginning of the book. My character suddenly notices that the cop on duty in her hospital room (she's been shot by the mob) has conveniently left a copy of the Times near her bed. She reads a whole bunch of this article and--Voila! I am a winner too.

Thank you to everyone who followed our progress with great interest, real or feigned. We love you.

Psyched Out by NaNo Bar/Great Write-In

Daunted. That's what I am. After preening my feathers all morning over my 7,282 words I accidently let my cursor glide over the bar on my profile page. Who knew? Up popped the number of words left....42, something something...I couldn't see as my eyes glazed over and my spirit flagged. Help! I need to reset my living-in-the-now button.

But



We had a major word-producing write-in(and a cartooning about writing) yesterday.

(See Olivetti Dave)

It's All NaNo All of November

It began last night at midnight. Here's an excerpt from my NaNo novel 2007. 2,150 words and counting.

It was my second to last night at the Coyote Club in Grafton Arizona when the thing happened that changed everything. The Coyote was a tacky town bar. It took at least two drinks to make the place glitter. It was decorated as if it were in another part of the country trying to look like it was in Arizona. This always cracked me up. When I mentioned it to Georgia one time she had no idea what I was talking about.
“But it is in Arizona, don’t you see” I explained.
“Right”, she said. “So that’s why it looks like Arizona”
“No, because it is in Arizona, it doesn’t have to try so hard to look like it is”.
The conversation went around for a while before I gave up.
On this particular night, two drinks down and a third on the table, I was enjoying the lit up plastic cacti along the bar and the neon coyote in the front window. I was leaving, getting out, and life was good. The Coyote owner, Joey Soucie, bought us a farewell round, though it was only me leaving. Life was very good. I didn’t much like it when the two creeps burst in from the street and shot Joey dead behind the bar. It was almost closing time. The three of us were the only ones in the place. Ray and Georgia were facing the bar and I was facing the creeps. I got a good look at them. Too bad for me. The tall one turned, aimed at me and fired. I went down like a clay duck at the amusement park.

People: Help me out here. I don't think the ducks at the amusement park are made of clay. What are they made of?