Those of you who are observant will have seen a new button on the right side of my blog. How could you miss it? It’s bright yellow!! That is to indicate my participation in this year’s National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo as it’s affectionately called. The idea is to write a novel in a month, as the title suggests, beginning on Nov. 1st and endng on the 30th. We must submit pages every so often (not sure yet how often) and the words are counted. A running tally of what we write will be kept on our own personal site for all the world to see - to marvel over, or to laugh at, as the case may be… It’s not meant that we finish a “polished” novel, ready for publication, in only 30 days, but it does give us that push we all so desperately need to get words down in computer and finally write out that first draft of a story idea that’s been nagging to be written. As I have several novel plots (all in my head), I will have to make a decision as to which one I want to pursue at this time. By the end of a month, if we have completed a novel-length manuscript (according to their word-count stipulation) then we have “won.” There are no actual prizes, just the satisfaction of finishing a novel.

I have two buddies in this - quilldriver and Mennogirl. I came up with the highly original nickname of S. M. Toy, so that’s the name I’m writing under. (How was I to know we could be funny or interesting with a name choice?) You can click here after Nov. 1st to watch my progress throughout the month. And cheer me on to victory? I hope so… If anyone else out there is crazy enough to join me and my buddies you’re most welcome to go to the site and sign up. Misery, after all, does love company…