This thread is for the archived regional emails that the MLs send out.

Hi. My name's Tim. I'm also known asNewMexicoKidand I'm one of four volunteer Municipal Liaisons for theNaperville regionof NaNoWriMo. My colleagues are Sam (samcadams), Jenny (GwenTolios) and Sara (paperlanterns). Feel free to NaNo-mail us with any questions you might have or suggestions on how we can better help you with your NaNoWriMo experience.

We havea full slate of eventsplanned for this NaNo (including the return of the popularLibrary Crawl, courtesy of Sarah (sarahk06)), starting with Anna Gabrielli's preparatory workshop this Saturday (Oct 7, 1-3 pm, Nichols Library in downtown Naperville). Join Anna for this informative workshop on character as intertwined with their world / general worldbuilding for any genre. Bring some paper and something to writewithfor the writing exercises.

For those who haven't yet visitedour regional forum, I encourage you to stop by andintroduce yourself. NaNo just completed their annual wipe of the forums, making everything fresh and clean for us to write upon. Feel free to post to share what you're working on, any questions you might have, or to share preparatory resources. Just remember that our forum is all-ages friendly and that you should contact one of the MLs if you have an interest in self-promotion (we will create a thread for people to use for that).

Don't forget to create your 2017 NaNo novel description online! This is needed by NaNo to enable you to track your wordcount in November.

Happy Novel-Prep!

--Tim

On Saturday (Oct 7), Anna Gabrielliled a group of twenty people through her preparatory workshop on Worldbuilding and Character. The notes and slides are available atnaperwrimo.org/prep.

Coming up Saturday, October 14th (1-4 pm, Glen Ellyn Public Library), Sam McAdams will lead a story wall party preparatory workshop:Do you have a great idea for a novel, but are looking for help on how it should start? Have you created an amazing new world and a long list of interesting characters, but are in desperate need of a plot? Is there a story burning inside you, but youre not sure how to turn it into a novel? Is your story mostly planned, but there are still a few nagging issues you want resolved before you start writing? If you answered yes to any of these questions or are looking for ideas to help complete your novel planning, come out to the Story Wall Party, hosted by Sam McAdams. During this brainstorming event, participants will present their novel plans/ideas and receive advice on anything theyre struggling with. Come prepared with note cards or visuals to quickly describe your novel ideas and explain your trouble spots. Then let the brainstorming begin.

On Sunday, October 15 (1-3 pm, Nichols Library in downtown Naperville), Jenny Johnson will lead a workshop onHow to Write A NovelWhen You Have No Plot (hint: it's not "Just do it.").

In the meantime,come to our regional forumandintroduce yourselfto the others.

--Tim (aka NewMexicoKid), one of four volunteer Municipal Liaisons (my colleagues are Sam (aka samcadams), Jenny (aka GwenTolios) and Sara (aka paperlanterns).

This past weekend, Sam led participants through the Story Wall Party and Jenny led her workshop onStructuring without a Plot.Coming up is the final prep workshop: 1pm, Sat., October 21st, at the Nichols Library in Naperville. Join writer Kira Swanson for a workshop on how to handle emotion in stories. Weve all heard the adage to show not tell in our writing, but author Donald Maass says its an old paradigm. Whats truly critical is that the reader feel emotion when reading your work. Learn techniques to help your reader experience your story in a visceral way.

Missing previous preparatory workshops? You can find notes and slides at naperwrimo.org/prep.For those who wanted this year's hipster PDA but weren't able to make it to a prep workshop, you can print out your own from hipsterpda.naperwrimo.org

Please do stop by our regional forumand introduce yourself to everyone. While you're there, please do RSVP for our fantastically fun potluck lunch Kick-off Party from 11:45 pm-2:45 pm, Saturday, October 28th in Naperville. There will be games, door prizes, great food and great camaraderie.

We have a full slate of 18 libraries participating in the Library Crawl this year; and Sara V. is designing a colorful slate of Crawl cards for folks to collect (and use to redeem raffle tickets for the Library Crawl prizes at the TGIO Party December 9th) when they go to the Library Crawl write-ins.

Have questions? Feel free to send NaNo-mail to me (NewMexicoKid), Sam (samcadams), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) or Sara (paperlanterns). We're your volunteer co-Municipal Liaisons for this region of Napervillethat serves the cities and suburbs west of Chicago.

--Tim

LastSaturday, Kira led our final Prep Workshops, Writing Emotion. Kira's workshop was inspired by author Donald Maass, who says that show vs tell is an old paradigm. Whats truly critical is that the reader feel emotion when reading your work. Kira led the group through a number of exercises, including developing a good rant and planning the emotion in your novel opening. This presentation and past Nano Prep Workshops are available atnaperwrimo.org/prep.

The Naperville NaNoWriMo potluck Kick-off Partyis this Saturday, October 28th from 11:45 pm-2:45 pm, at theNaperville Municipal Center(400 S Eagle St, Naperville). Join the fun and get psyched for the upcoming Nano season. There will be great food, door prizes, games, and Nano camaraderie. Please RSVP at the Kick-off Party forum thread.

We have a full slate of events planned for November, including 18 libraries participating in theLibrary Crawlthis year. Sara V. is designing a colorful slate of Crawl cards for folks to collect (and use to redeem raffle tickets for the Library Crawl prizes at the TGIO Party December 9th) when they go to the Library Crawlwrite-ins. We have a few other events planned as well, including Dueling Trains on Saturday, November 4th, where we'll answer the question I missed on 8th grade Algebra final:

1. If one train leaves Downers Grove (Fairview Ave) station at 10:47am with X number of Nano writers aboard and a second train leaves the Glen Ellyn station at 11:00am with Y number of Nano writers, which train will have the most words written by the time they reach the Chicago?

Please RSVP at theDueling Trainsforum thread and lets us know which train you plan to take.

If you haven't already, there's still time to stop byour regional forumandintroduce yourselfto everyone. Also, if you wanted this year's hipster PDA but weren't able to make it to a prep workshop, you can print out your own fromhipsterpda.naperwrimo.org

Have questions? Feel free to send NaNo-mail to me, Sam (samcadams), Tim (NewMexicoKid), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) or Sara (paperlanterns). We're your volunteer co-Municipal Liaisons for this region ofNapervillethat serves the cities and suburbs west of Chicago.

Hi! I'm Tim Yao (aka NewMexicoKid), one of four volunteer Municipal Liaisons for our region ofNapervillethat serves the cities and suburbs west of Chicago. My co-ML colleagues are Sam McAdams (samcadams), Jenny Johnson (GwenTolios) and Sara Vallejo (paperlanterns). We welcome everyone to the impending kick-off for National Novel Writing Month!

Please doRSVP for the pot-luck lunch Kick-off Party Oct 28, 11:45 AM-2:45 PM; but if you are reading this just before starting time, feel free to come on out (bringadish to share if you're able).Don't forget to bring your stuffed animal for the group photo (you can optionally dress your stuffed animal as a superhero or supervillain).

Note: if folks have any technical questions or need help with the site, bring your laptop and we can try to help you.

Dointroduce yourselfto the region and considerjoining our community wordcount graph.

Did you miss our four preparatory workshops in October? Never fear,slides and notes are availablefor most of these.

November 1st is the start of NaNoWriMo and the beginning of our slate of ourLibrary Crawl write-ins. Seeour events calendarfor logistics for these and other events (like theDueling Trains Write-In November 4thand our All Day Write-In November 18th).

Have any questions? Just post in our forum or send NaNoMail to me, Sam, Jenny or Sara.

Also, please do consider donating to the National Novel Writing Month organization!

Nano is almost here!! Who's ready to start writing at midnight?

Well, actually, I'm not. I plan to go to bed early and be well rested to co-host the Helen Plum Library write-in with Dawn Weeks, one of 5Library Crawl write-insscheduled for tomorrow. The others are Downers Grove, Plainfield, Thomas Ford (Western Springs), and Joilet Junior College. Visitour events calendarfor logistics for these and all our November events.

On Friday, November 3rd, Sarah (sarahk06) will be hosting an After-Hours Write-in at the Carol Stream library. See theWrite in the Library After Hours!forum post for details and RSVP athttp://www.cslibrary.org/attend/nanowrimo-after-hours-write.

Join us on the Metra trains on Saturday, November 4th for Dueling Trains. The train line with the most words written by the time they get to Chicago will hoist the trophy. Please RSVP for this event atDueling Trains Write-In - Nov 4th - RSVP,so we will know to look for you at either the Downers Grove/Fairview Ave (10:47) or Glen Ellyn (11:00) train stations.

If you haven't done so already, pleaseintroduce yourselfto the region and considerjoining our community wordcount graph.

Did you miss our four preparatory workshops in October? Never fear,slides and notes are availablefor most of these.

Have any questions? Just post in our forum or send NaNoMail to me, Sam (samcadams), Tim (NewMexicoKid), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) or Sara (paperlanterns).

Finally, please considerdonatingto the National Novel Writing Month organization!

Happy writing everyone

Sam

Hey NaperWrio!

Congrats on staring NaNoWriMo 2017 with a bang! Our first night of write-ins, you successfully took out a Level One Plot Bunny. Now, can you beat the Inner Editor? Remember, only write-in words count!

Speaking of write-ins, now's the time to start planning your weekend. Friday night Carol-Stream has an after-hours write-in, complete with pizza dinner. Saturday, there are 5 libraries hosting write-ins. Check outour events calendarto seelocations and times.

Plus, Saturday is alsoDueling Trains. The train line with the most words written by the time they get to Chicago will hoist the trophy. Please RSVP for this event in the threadDueling Trains Write-In - Nov 4th - RSVP,so we will know to look for you at either the Downers Grove/Fairview Ave (10:47) or Glen Ellyn (11:00) train stations. And if you're not on either train line, you're still welcome to join us downtown for lunch and outlets at the Harold Washington Library.

And if that wasn't enough, Sunday also has four library crawl write-ins schedules. Again, see theevents calendarfor the logistics.

Don't forget - if you want to host a write-in someplace else because what's scheduled doesn't work for you, let an ML know and we'll put it on the calendar. Alternatively, we have a few libraries that are looking for hosts.Please sign up if you're interested! Plus, check out our hosting guide.

Also, please considerdonatingto the National Novel Writing Month organization! Sat. Nov 4th is Double Donation day. What does this mean? It means if you donate $25, you'll get $50 doner prizes ^_~

Never hesitate to reach out to me or one of the other MLs if you have questions.

Writerly yours,

Jenny (Gwen Tolios)

&

Sam (samcadams), Tim (NewMexicoKid),& Sara (paperlanterns)

Hello NaNoWriMoers,

The region is off to a great start withover 400 writers writing over 2.6M words and donating nearly $2,000. We have successfully taken out a Level One Plot Bunny, the Inner Editor, a Level Two Plot Bunny, The Professor, a Level Three Plot Bunny and are currently working on defeating Writers Block. Each villain defeated activates a new activity at the TIGO party on Dec 8th. Remember, only write-in words count!

If your word count is down, no worries. The month is still young and we've got several write-ins planned for this weekend to boost that word count.

• On Friday the 10th, we'll be writing in the cafe at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora.
• On Sunday the 12th, you can write all day and half the night at theDowners Grove Cafe and Pub Write-in Crawl.
• See the regional forum posts for more details and to RSVP to these two events.
• TheLibrary Crawlis in full swing, with write-ins scheduled at area libraries nearly every day, include 3 on Sunday the 12th, highlighted by the Nichols Library Write-in in Naperville, hosted by Tim (NewMexicoKid).
• Check outour events calendarfor a full list of all of the region's events.
• If you want to host a write-in someplace else because what's scheduled doesn't work for you, let an ML know and we'll put it on the calendar.

If you can't make it out to the write-ins, you can always join the fun via Slack.

Don't forget tostop by the Naperville forums to introduce yourself in theintro thread andsign up for the community word count graph.

We are still looking for a few volunteers to hosta few of the Library Crawl write-ins.Sign up at Write-in Hosts. We are looking for hosts for Glenside, Plainfield and LaGrange Park libraries To learn more about hosting a write-incheck out ourhosting guide.

If you haven't already, please considerdonatingto the National Novel Writing Month organization!

If you have any questions, never hesitate to reach out to me or one of the other MLs

Happy Writing:

Sam (samcadams)

&

Jenny (Gwen Tolios) , Tim (NewMexicoKid),& Sara (paperlanterns)

Are you like me and in need of ahugeboost in your wordcount? RSVP and come to theAll Day Write-In(hosted by Sam B.), Saturday, Nov 18th, 8 AM-3 PM at the Naperville Municipal Center. Soon after, you can go to theMid-Month Meet-up, watching Thor Ragnarok (the 4:40 pm show at the Seven Bridges Cinemax in Woodridge) and then feasting on pizza at Aurelios (Jennyhosting) next door.

Before that, though, there's the write-in at Woodridge Public Library this Friday (Nov 17) evening 6-9 PM,Catherinehosting (she of the funny hats and fun, productive word wars).

Saturday also features write-ins 1-4 pm at the Warrenville Public Library (free hot drinks and fun hosting bySara V) and 1-3 pm at Fountaindale Public Library (hosted by the library staff).

On Sunday (Nov 19), there are three write-in events:

• Come Write In event 1:30-4:30 pm at the White Oak Library Lockport Branch, 121 E. 8th Street, Lockport, IL 60441.
• Come Write In event 1:30-4 pm at the White Oak Library Crest Hill Branch, 20670 Len Kubinski Drive, Crest Hill, IL 60403.
• andmy write-in at the Nichols Library, 1:30-4:30 pm, with custom buttons designed by my daughter.

If you haven't already done so, do considerjoining our community wordcount graph.

You can also check our region's progress againstthe NaNo monster and its fiendish minions(courtesy of Jenny).

Keep on writing! And do considerdonatingto help keep NaNoWriMo operational (thanks to everyone who has donated from our region, contributing to raise $1930 for NaNo).

I'm Tim (akaNewMexicoKid), one of four volunteer co-Municipal Liaisons who are here to help you.Sam (samcadams), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) and Sara (paperlanterns) are my colleagues.

Here we are at the end of Day 24; under the "1667 words per day" plan, you should finish today with40008 words to be at "par." Are you behind? Don't worry:

• we still have a weekend ahead of us, filled with productive write-in opportunities!
• whatever you write, this is all to the good (of course, finishing your novel and crossing the 50K finish line are what we all strive for, but everyone should take some pride in what they've written thus far).

That being said, if you find yourself in need of some additional motivation,take the 18K challenge. Average 3000 words per day for the final six days of NaNo and win one of these beauties:

I'll even decorate it for you with my handy-dandy sharpie (if you let me know what you want on there). Make yourself a story generator cube or come up with other creative uses for this blank die.

See all of the remaining write-ins--there are at least a couple every day through the end of the season. Seeour calendar for logistics.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we havefour: Plainfield (9 am-noon), Carol Stream with Sarah Kovacs and donuts (9:30 am-12:30 pm), Blue Box Cafe in Elgin with Sam M (1-5 pm), and Java Plus (Aurora) with Bonnie (4-8 pm). Sunday is the last of my hosted write-ins at Nichols for this season (1:30-4:30 pm, Naperville)--with the rest of the custom button magnets with my daughter's designs (saved the best for last!) plus write-ins in La Grange Park (1-4:30 pm),White Oak Library Lockport Branch (1:30-4:30 pm), andWhite Oak Library Crest Hill Branch (1:30-4 pm). Monday through Thursday there are other write-ins.

Validating

The validation tool is up and running, so as you cross 50,000 words, be sure to validate to qualify for certain sponsor prizes and to get your PDF certificate and other goodies.

TGIO (Thank Goodness It's Over!) Party

The RSVP thread isn't up yet, but it is coming soon. Keep an eye out for it inour regional forum. December 9th, 11:45 AM-2:45 PM, our traditional and fun pot-luck lunch at the Naperville Municipal Center. Plan to bring your friends and families. You don't need to reach 50K to join in the festivities and fun; the party is for everyone who loves NaNo. And don't forget to bring the cards you've picked up at the Library Crawl write-ins, so you can exchange them for chances at wonderful prizes.

Donate

For those of you who have experienced the joys of NaNo, please considergiving back to this non-profit--your donations are what enables NaNoWriMo to be held and for these forums to exist.

You can also check our region's progress againstthe NaNo monster and its fiendish minions(courtesy of Jenny).Keep on writing!

I'm Tim (akaNewMexicoKid), one of four volunteer co-Municipal Liaisons who are here to help you.Sam (samcadams), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) and Sara (paperlanterns) are my wonderful colleagues.

First: Congratulations to those folks on the NaperWriMo community wordcount graph who have passed the 50K words mark: Aralynne, TRRDEDEAN, cjpowers7, Todd Bogenrief, thosedarnyetihijinks, KadenPeregrine, DJRM, OddSoul, tireddadx3, Atomspliter, samcadams, midwestraised, epeedoug, NewMexicoKid, Lady Gao, Midwest Michele. Nice job! Don't forget to validate your win (you'll see your green wordcount bar turn to purple on NaNo). Congratulations also to others not on the graph who have achieved 50K in the month!

Second: Please RSVP to attend our December 9th pot-luck lunch Thank-Goodness-It's-Over (TGIO) celebration (11:45 AM-2:45 PM, Saturday, Dec 9th). You don't need to have 50K words to attend and have fun; we celebrate everyone's efforts as well as those who have achieved the purple. Do remember to bring your Library Crawl cards gathered from the write-ins you attended so that you can get chances at the prizes! And bring along your stuffed animal buddy (in superhero costume if you like) for the group photo!

Third: Join (or re-join) the Writing Journey, our region's writing community. You'll get hooked into year-round (but low volume) announcements of writing-related activities, helpful workshops, our in-person critique group, a regular group dedicated to editing, and many social activity opportunities. Like to write short stories or poetry? There is always an anthology every year. Current Journey members also should re-apply.

Fourth: Please take a moment to thank the hard working NaNo staff for all their great efforts inhosting NaNoWriMo! Just head over toStaff and Mod Appreciation Dayand post!

Fifth: Forall of you still writing, keep up the great work! There are still four more write-ins left (see our event calendar for logistics). You can do it!

Donate

For those of you who have experienced the joys of NaNo, please considergiving back to this non-profit--your donations are what enables NaNoWriMo to be held and for these forums to exist.

You can also check our region's progress againstthe NaNo monster and its fiendish minions(courtesy of Jenny).Keep on writing!

I'm Tim (akaNewMexicoKid), one of four volunteer co-Municipal Liaisons who are here to help you.Sam (samcadams), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) and Sara (paperlanterns) are my wonderful colleagues.

Congratulations to all the folks in the region who won: writergirlmel, Aralynne, KimberJoy96, TRRDEDEAN, isabelle_lila, WhimsicalSnowflake, grnhrnyrnspnnr, Artanyus, eLPy, Contemplative Cat, ZeffLister, Knyghtraven, JayMontville, CindysNovel623, Anastasia007, crispycannibal, lazym, Todd Bogenrief, punahougirl84, b-writer, cjpowers7, samcadams, Odakota-Rose, thosedarnyetihijinks, tireddadx3, Spellguns, doconnor, A.Catherine.Noon, tanyahfz, CD0189, KatherineWriting, linusandlucy, Niassa, Towel Dispenser, KadenPeregrine, Ms.Chievous, BenWahrman, mlywag, PBJ63010, OddSoul, WillowSanders, CrankyBolt, Renkluaf, Cee-Bee, DJRM, hunterblake94, fishmama, kenzie.writes, ajkimbers, Me - n - Jesus, johnthetech, Breanna Wiskari, nikkistewart, AriaDear, Steampoweredstrawberry, AwnnaMarie, MaryK171, winter_rose, Purplesage1859, laddybug3, Tom Tolios, Goddess_Astra, sydneybort, Atomspliter, khokis, ehut24, j9vaughn, czarnoff, Evenchaos146, stephsco, Falconlore, alexismroark, tregina12000, Fay Voss, Kwajgal, BetsyD, MullozziInPrint, GwenTolios, Schmabsagail, MelShakespeare, WadeBalsamo, vaderofborg, KayTi, L. Evans, JBaci_112358, Vanilla_Lion, DrakeWarrior, EmilyErica3, SMattimiro, Kimberly Christianson Kennedy, mdwst1811, Mazkeraide, Tokaara, midwestraised, epeedoug, cozycatastrophe, dmurtagh17, NewMexicoKid, rubyliveshere, dudewithak, writertodd07, CKMY, indecisive fandomaniac, jschalk, sam_can_do_it, Lady Gao, AmyAlessio, pritchma, Rosa Blanca, alkamy, Midwest Michele, aprilkitty, abbytheatre08, dohenyster, horatio, eBirdie, sorakazeno, jules11, Sara Tricia, Horizon77, Florana, creativedrea, Jayaych, jtotheb, kidYellow, bookmonkey44, PJ Raymond, YeungJeans, Icy Story Sorceress, Kiela Starcatcher, Michael Phillip Daly, Samantha243, Mayroseljm, and ShiroXIX.

And congratulations to everyone who wrote some or all of their novel this November. NaNoWriMo is about motivating you to do just that; and everything you write will be useful, if only for letting you know more about the story you want to create.

Note: If you achieved more than 50K words but did not validate (i.e., your bar hasn't turned purple), you should post in this thread for help.

TGIO Party Time!

Please RSVP to attend our December 9th pot-luck lunch Thank-Goodness-It's-Over (TGIO) celebration (11:45 AM-2:45 PM, Saturday, Dec 9th). You don't need to have 50K words to attend and have fun; we celebrate everyone's efforts as well as those who have achieved the purple. Do remember to bring your Library Crawl cards gathered from the write-ins you attended so that you can get chances at the prizes! And bring along your stuffed animal buddy (in superhero costume if you like) for the group photo!

After NaNo

Join (or re-join) the Writing Journey, our region's writing community. You'll get hooked into year-round (but low volume) announcements of writing-related activities, helpful workshops, our in-person critique group, a regular group dedicated to editing, and many social activity opportunities. Like to write short stories or poetry? There is always an anthology every year. Current Journey members also should re-apply.

NaperWriMo community graph

Congratulations to everyone on our community wordcount graph who achieved 50K wins: Aralynne, TRRDEDEAN, Artanyus, Todd Bogenrief, cjpowers7, samcadams, thosedarnyetihijinks, tireddadx3, Towel Dispenser, KadenPeregrine, PBJ63010, OddSoul, DJRM, fishmama, Me - n - Jesus, johnthetech, AriaDear, MaryK171, Goddess_Astra, Atomspliter, czarnoff, stephsco, Falconlore, tregina12000, GwenTolios, Schmabsagail, WadeBalsamo, L. Evans, Vanilla_Lion, Kimberly Christianson Kennedy, mdwst1811, midwestraised, epeedoug, NewMexicoKid, dmurtagh17, writertodd07, jschalk, Lady Gao, alkamy, Midwest Michele, aprilkitty, horatio, PJ Raymond, Kiela Starcatcher, Michael Phillip Daly.

Donate

For those of you who have experienced the joys of NaNo, please considergiving back to this non-profit--your donations are what enables NaNoWriMo to be held and for these forums to exist.

I'm Tim (akaNewMexicoKid), one of four volunteer co-Municipal Liaisons who are here to help you.Sam (samcadams), Jenny (Gwen Tolios) and Sara (paperlanterns) are my wonderful colleagues.

That's it--NaNoWriMo 2017 is in the books and fully over for this year. In our region, 443 novelists wrote 8,667,345 words with an 19,565 average wordcount. 134 of the 443 novelists made it to the 50,000 word mark (an amazing 30%!). For those participating in our NaNo Faces community wordcount graph, 57% completed their 50,000 word novels. And you've been generous too, donating $2,065.00 to National Novel Writing Month, which is a 501c3 non-profit organization (if you haven't yet done this and are able to, please consider it).

Of course, you don't need to have made it to 50,000 words to be a winner; every single word you wrote in November is something that helps you progress with your novel. And we know that even those who made it to 50,000 words still have a lot of work yet to do. NaNoWriMo is a first step, a first draft to where you want to go.

Join the Journey

For making progress after NaNo, you might consider joining the Writing Journey (direct link to the form to fill out). Just like our regional activities, the Journey is absolutely free. We're an open, family-friendly community of writers who create, participate in and have fun with several Paths. A Path can be as simple as a simple lunch outing or as complex as a short story anthology. Existing Paths include: a short story anthology (seeking ideas for the theme; you can see our past anthologies), an Editing Path, an in-person Critique Group, Shakespeare Reader's Theatre, monthly general meetings with useful workshops, and others.

Thank you!

The joy of National Novel Writing Month is something that benefits from the many helpful donations of time, energy and goodies from many people. Institutionally, we really appreciate our primary Library sponsors: Carol Stream Public Library, Naperville Public Library, Woodridge Public Library and the Glen Ellyn Public Library; and our other Library partners in the Library Crawl: Batavia, Downers Grove, Elmhurst Library, Fountaindale Public Library (Bolingbrook), Geneva, Glenside Public Library (Glendale Heights), Helen Plum Library (Lombard), Joliet Junior College, LaGrange Park, North Riverside, Plainfield, Thomas Ford (Western Springs), Warrenville, and Wheaton. They provided not only the spaces in their nice facilities but also the Crawl Cards and even the prizes.

Thanks to Sarah Kovac for running the Crawl (which she created some years ago) and to Sara V. for designing the colorful, superhero-themed Crawl Cards.

Thanks very much to our Library Crawl write-in hosts: Tim, Sam M., Jenny, Sara V., Sarah K., Catherine, Molly, and Kira.

And to our non-Crawl write-in hosts: Sam M (Dueling Trains, Roundhouse, Blue Box), Bonnie (Java Plus), Tanja (Aurora Library), and Sam B (the fantastic All Day Write-In--thanks so much for all your hard work and creativity!) and a shout out to Ed for the two pizzas he brought).

Thanks to all of you, for your hard work on your novels, for coming out to the preparatory workshops and write-ins and parties, and to many of you who brought treats to share or word war prizes (John--love those creative USB sticks; and Brian, great superhero-themed stuff!). Thanks to Katherine for her Squid challenge and to Tanja for her endless encouragement and many wonderful posts in our regional forum.

Thanks to all those who donated prizes for the TGIO: Susan (AriaDear), John (JohntheTech), Kat (Kats Meow), Catherine (Cee-Bee), Tanja (Goddess_Astra), Jennifer (dohenyster), Dave (TRRDEDEAN), Sam (samcadams), Jenny (GwenTolios)

Last, but not least, thanks to my wonderful co-MLs: Sam, who not only hosted Library Crawl write-ins but also organized and hosted several very memorable non-Crawl ones as well; Jenny, who introduced the NaNo Monster campaign that culminated with a very neat pinata at the TGIO; and Sara, who made our Library Crawl memorable with her Crawl card designs and also subbed for me when I had to travel out of town.

Happy Holidays!

--Tim