Hello blogging world. It's almost 11 on Wednesday night, and you know what that means: the countdown to NaNoWriMo 2006 is officially in full swing. Less than a week people, can you feel the excitement? Well, you probably can't, because you probably aren't all that excited.

But I am. In fact, I'm ecstatic. I remember sitting back at my desk right before the clock struck midnight on December 1, 2005. It was a joyful yet mournful moment -- I had such an unhealthy, not-all-that-sane amount of fun during NaNo 2005, and I didn't want to let that go. My 2005 nano (I will heretoforth not capitalize it, because the tricky combination of the shift and N keys is quite a workout for my little digits) novel, Incendiary, was for the most part worthy of a life of toilet paper. Alright, so that may not be entirely true -- parts of it did surprise me. I loved discovering that I had a subplot or two, and some descriptions/dialogue rather pleased me. It would have been nice to have actually concluded my novel; even after hitting 50k, I neglected to give my characters a proper goodbye.

I'm really excited for this month for a couple of reasons. First, Meg will be my companion in crazy. While hers will fall more on the fictionalized autobiographical side, mine will be pure, sadistic (well, I hope not, but you never know what my twisted mind might think of at 2am after a late night run to Taco Bell...) piece of fiction. But it will be so much fun to have a fellow nano-er at my side. We're turning my dorm room into nano headquarters -- it'll be the purtiest room this side a' Terrace 3. And we've got so many fun things planned: among them, scoping out local cafes (if we're daring, we may even head over to Magical Cult Coffeeville) and staying up til the sun rises (oooh boy).

I know that the month will simply fly by. Waiting for 12am on 11/1, however, is the hard part. Well, that and thinking of the next great American novel. But I'm working on it. In the meantime, we have a calendar to make, a room to transform, and carrots to buy. I would also like to reread No Plot No Problem (every nano-er's guide) and even take a peak at my nano 2005 book to jog my memory of the insanity. All in all, it should be a good time.

We'll keep you posted with our progress, our craziness, and our darling little creative masterminds, so remember this site. Favorite it. Bookmark it. Tell it to your friends. Love it. Need it.

- Jackie (and yes, as you can tell from the previous entry, I have an insatiable desire to tell people what my name is, in all capitals, more often that could be conceivably normal)