Okay, so it’s grey and, in the UK at least, incessantly wet but there are still great things happening – prepping for NaNoWriMo, for instance. For the uninitiated, although it began as a national initiative, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is now an international community that provides friendship and support for writers around the world. The pinnacle of its year is November when writers can join in the challenge to write a novel in a month – or at least 50,000 words of it. October is the big planning phase. Think of it as the writer’s equivalent to the build up to Christmas – not the bit when you have to do all the hard work but the nice bit, before the frenzy sets in.
Last year I took the NaNoWriMo pledge and actually managed the first 60,000 words of my debut novel, The Netta Project. But last year I wasn’t quite ready to announce to the world my intention to be a proper writer, so I did it in secret. One year later, I am definitely ready to stand up and be counted, unapologetically, as a writer and poet. So, I’ve made my pledge public both here and on the official NaNoWriMo site. I’m aiming for at least the first 50,000 words of my sequel novel, The Edie Project.
Are you taking the challenge too? If so, good luck and if you’d like a NaNoWriMo buddy, look me up. https://nanowrimo.org/
The other fantastically fab thing this month is the launch of the Birmingham Writers’ Group’s second anthology, City of Hope (pictured). I’m hugely excited about it – not just because I’ve contributed a short story but also because it’s a great anthology and what’s more, we have a book launch on Wednesday 30th October at Bacchus Bar in Birmingham. It starts at 7.00 pm if you’re in the area. Even if you can’t make it, you can buy the book from Amazon.
