Random Thoughts - NaNoWriMo Edition

Less than 4 days until NaNoWriMo starts!

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This is our family's 5th year participating.

We've won the past 4 years.

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I'm our area's municipal liaison again!

Headquarters sent me a VERY bright Neon Yellow-Green shirt 

to commemorate the occasion.

I shall don it proudly.

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Nothing gets me jazzed for NaNo like a great author event.

This one was absolutely top notch!

(We attended the one discussed near the bottom of the post - 

the one with the awesome-looking cupcakes

to match the book cover).

Whoever was behind that deserves serious praise.

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Fine.

 Lazy.

I'll show you the pictures I took of the cupcakes:

Aren't indie bookstores the best?!?

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A.S. King is an extremely dynamic, engaging, captivating speaker.

I had read so much about her on her website 

that I knew we were in for a treat.

And even then, she exceeded my expectations.

Support this author! Buy her books!

Amy does a reading

And receives an award

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 While there, we met one of the students that she mentors.

Joe McGee was so kind to talk to us while we waited in line

(a second time, mind you - 

she was so awesome, we waited in line TWICE:

we got several books signed the first time

and the second time we took pictures with her).

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Also? Amy was gifted a first edition copy of
To Kill a Mockingbird.
My jaw met the floor.
What a great gift!

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Sooooo, Joe.

He was ridiculously nice

 and super sweet and encouraging about writing 

and he shared so much great information with us.

He is a writing professor as well as an author himself.

I love to meet people who are passionate about what they do!

We've been in email and blog contact ever since.

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Now I wish we'd gotten a picture with Joe, too.

We'll have to do that when he does signings for his book! :)

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Joe's book comes out next fall - watch for it!

It's called "Peanut Butter and Brains"

and it's a children's illustrated book about a zombie

who wants to eat a PBJ rather than brains.

How cute is that?!?

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And get this.

Today, he posted a beautiful post on his blog

 that mentioned us all, particularly Kate.

I'm not going to lie - I got misty-eyed.

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Great, great author event.

I am PUMPED for NaNoWriMo.

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 We've got a ton of write-ins set up for the entire month

and we are all really, REALLY excited.

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Mark and I are writing 2 books together this time.

We had so much fun writing one together in 2011

that we want to do it again.

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The kids are, as usual, voraciously devouring their YWP manuals

in preparation for writing a TON of words.

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My TBR (to be read) pile keeps growing - 

bad timing when I'm trying to concentrate on writing a novel.

It includes:

Everyone Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Reality Boy by A.S. King

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

One of my daughter's books (Fantasya)

Hoot by Carl Hiassen

Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

and many, many more.

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My Top 3 favorite books so far this year include:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I also love The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

(The film adaptation did not disappoint)

and I just read The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier 

for our book club book this month.

All excellent reads.

Highly recommend!

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Enough procrastinating.

Back to my list of "Things To Do Before NaNoWriMo" -

one of my goals includes not laughing when I look at the list.

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Writing this post was not on the list.

Ahem.

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