So while writers are getting geared up, flexing their fingers, making a mad dash through their outlines, notes, and whatever method of preparation they use to help get them through the month, agents and editors are furiously working on getting through their current submissions so they can put up their “Closed to Submissions” sign in January to help stave off the onslaught of submissions which are the result of NaNoWriMo. Let’s face it, while there will be a few commercial products born out of this frenzy of writing, the vast majority will require significant work (much more time than the month of December can provide) to turn into a publishable product. So January submissions are something to be feared. Because the actual purpose of NaNoWriMo is NOT to write great words with much consideration and thought, it is simply to help writers write through blocks and to put works on the page. And it is the time of year when this button could end up being true as writers reach to fill the pages.

Last year I experienced NaNoWriMo through Twitter and there was a wonderful sense of camaraderie as authors communicated about their progress, had online writing sessions, and helped one another through the blocks to keep the words flowing. While I didn’t participate directly in NaNoWriMo, I gained quite a few of my very best online friends during that time. I was hard at work as well in the process of editing two novels I wanted to have revisions complete by the end of November, so we all worked well into the night together. One of my favorite hashes on Twitter was born at that time: #amwritingparty which is where I met so many of my now good friends.

Best of luck to all of the participants this year. I will once again be rooting for everyone from the sidelines as I am once again working on two books, one in the creation phase and the other in the editing phase…so I guess that makes me a NaNo Rebel, and something which will always be the case. For one thing, I am internally driven and put enough pressure on myself to get things done, and I tend to stall with word count pressure. If I simply approach my work and write, without being concerned with how many words I’ve written or revised, I am much happier. BUT for those who like the challenge of the word count pressure, and find themselves stalling on their work in progress, you might want to give Write Or Die a try.

Whether you outline, cluster, or are simply a panster, I wish you the best luck for the month of November, lots of words and hope no one OD’s on too much coffee, twizzlers, or whatever else fuels the writing fires.

Happy Writing!

Anyway, we were first directed to the children’s section, but then re-directed to the young adult librarian, Padmini. When we first arrived at the desk, Alfonso was the only one working the desk, but he told us that Padmini would be returning shortly, which gave us an opportunity to wander around a little bit more. Mind you, if I had actually started looking at the books themselves, we’d have been sunk. It would have taken a crow bar and a crane to get me out.

As we were wandering around, Alfonso actually came to look for us to let us know that Padmini had returned. Both Mary Ellen and I thought that was extra especially nice of him. I let Mary Ellen take the lead with the talking. . .it’s not that I don’t know how to talk in public, in actual fact, public speaking doesn’t bother me much, but I do get tongue twisted when trying to find the words to ask people to look at my book. Hence, my spokesperson, Mary Ellen. She and Padmini hit it off right away and developed a rapport as Padmini explained how difficult it was to have events for the young adult age group and have a reasonable turn out.

Padmini did take a copy of Misfit McCabe and is going to review and then get back to us. She is thinking about having a group of several independently published authors down to the library to give a talk (about 15 minutes per author), which I would love to take part in. One thing was clear, was that we will need to come up with an idea where I can partner with the library and come up with some scheme to get some behinds in the chairs. So, if anyone has any ideas on how to target the young adult age group so that they attend a function at a library, please send them on in.

The library has an acquarium that is going to be installed as well, so Mary Ellen and I will definitely be going back to see that.
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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

My main concern was with the forum as I could switch the hosting of the blog back to blogger until I had a chance to work with the blog. But the forum had to be completely dismantled before I could begin the upgrade to the hosting site, so I wanted to get that back up and running as quickly as possible.

So far, I like working with WordPress for the blog, but still need to do some quick studying as far as all of the bells and whistles that it has.  But, as usual, I won’t be able to leave well enough alone and will have to see what I can do as far as changing the templates to suit my personality.  At least I can now relax just a bit and focus on some other things so that I continue to move forward with my goals.

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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.