Madison, Wi NaNoWriMo Survival Group

Hola amigos -- been a while since I rapped at ya. (Oh, and it's not actually November.)

No matter!

Writers -- and proud Badgers! -- Ann Voss Peterson and Len Shapiro will join an audience of UW-Madison students and friends on Monday, March 28 for two tapings of Wisconsin Reflections, airing on the Big Ten Network. Come to one or both!

Tapings take place in the Wisconsin Public Television studios, 2nd floor, Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. The time commitment for each taping will be roughly 90 minutes, including a question-and-answer period.

Romance novelist Ann Voss Peterson's taping begins at 3:45 p.m.

When people ask, “What do you do with a BA in English?” Ann Voss Peterson has the answer: sell over 3 million books. The writer of nearly 30 romantic thrillers for Harlequin’s Intrigue line, she has also taken the plunge into e-publishing with both novel-length and short story offerings. Her novels have won multiple awards including the "Daphne du Maurier Award" for excellence in mystery and suspense writing. With unique publishing models and rapid changes in the industry, this discussion of genre fiction – and Ann’s mastery of it – will excite anyone interested in creating, selling or marketing, their own writing.

Sportswriter Len Shapiro's taping begins at 7:15 p.m.

Shapiro, a graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is serving as an adjunct professor this semester after ending a 41-year career with the Washington Post. On a beat including the NFL and professional golf, he has covered all but the first seven Super Bowls and all of the major championships won by Tiger Woods. He also served as sports editor for ten years before returning to his first love - writing and reporting.

If you would like to be a part of the audience for either show, send an e-mail to audience@uc.wisc.edu. Space is limited.

It's National Novel Writing Month
Are you in!?

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/246963

Hello?

*taps on screen*

Hey there! I know we've got a coupla threads on the NaNo site, but wanted to wave and say hello in this forum, remind people who haven't been to the NaNo Forums that we're meeting on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Escape Java House on Williamson Street at 3pm.

Bring a friend! Bring ideas! Drink coffee! Meet great people!

See you then!

Steph

Hi everyone, hostageofmymuse checking in here. Since livejournal is less likely to sputter horribly, I'm going to repost my info about the Early Birds get together.

*ahems*

Join me, hostageofmymuse, at 7am Fridays mornings at a local Perkins (location varies by week) for a bit of early morning word count craziness. I'm going to show up right after I finish work, and stay until my body demands sleep, or until I die from Orange juice overload.

This week, November 3rd, I will be at the Perkins on University Avenue, near Whitney Way.

I can't make guarantees that I'll be able to find a table near an outlet, so make sure your batteries are charged if you are a laptop user. I'll try my best though.

Hope to see a few of you there!

In the flurry of HI THERE posts, I realized that I'd forgotten to make the post I'd meant to make last night.

These are some online resources that I've found useful for one reason or another. See, during NaNoWriMo the internet CAN be used for good, not just evil!

--www.HollyLisle.com is a great site by a published, self-supporting author (I think she's mostly sort of fantasy suspense, though I'm not totally sure). Her advice is applicable to any genre. She's got entire sections on breaking into the business, characterization, plotting, etc. The most useful to NaNoers, however, could be the Fast Plotting exercise. Basically, you start with some index cards and an idea of your MCs and how long it should be (50k, anyone?) and off you go.

--ThinkFree.com is the site I was talking about last night. The sharing process is a little convoluted, but it should be easier once we have things to, y'know, share. Advantages of ThinkFree.com again: 1) accessible from any computer with Web access, so you can avoid continually sending it to yourself or bringing a thumb drive around, 2) FREE with many features, 3) a good backup option that won't be as susceptible to crashes, 4) helps you share stuff with selected friends, 5) online word processing.

--eHarlequin.com (yes, the romance people) is a comprehensive site that includes not only the guidelines for submissions to all of their lines but writing tips, a monthly newsletter (archived, too), forums and a critiquing service. I found the guidelines to be really useful in helping me focus on particular aspects of the story to move it along, and the tips would be helpful for even non-romance writers. Especially of note: writing love scenes and keeping up the sexual tension, which could be applicable to any genre.

If I think of any others, I'll post 'em. Anyone else have other favorite sites of note?

Good luck tomorrow!

*waves* Like teresa_c, I heard about this at the Escape thingamabobber last night ... just a few more hours!

Who's excited!?

*bounce*

Heard about this comm tonight at the kickoff at Escape. ::waves::

Good luck to us all!

Teresa