So I figured it was time to write a novel…

A good friend has been pestering me for months now about this bizarre “NaNoWriMo” event, and I have always had great reasons to tune her out. I AM writing, I tell her. And I am. I’ve been having a wonderful time working with the people at Publishing Syndicate since March, and finally have a non-fiction short story published in the first book of their new series: Not Your Mother’s Book…On Being a Woman. My story is called “Battle-Dressed Breasts,” and I think it’s rather funny.

I will also have my name on the cover of Not Your Mother’s Book…On Being a Stupid Kid which I co-created, and that book is filled with wonderful stories, too! So while I was thinking that it was time to get back to my V-Mail to e-mail book, my pester-friend challenged me with the funny word again…and something “took” in my psyche.

As my husband points out to me (time and time again), I need a specific challenge to fire my engines, and while I was finishing up Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five in bed last night, I felt a spark (but Mike was already asleep!).

Having never written fiction, I wondered what my novel could be about. “Write what you know”–the advice of published sages throughout history–rang through my noggin after I turned out the light. And then the light turned on! Teaching. I know about teaching. And oh, by the way, I journaled almost every day of my very first year of teaching.

So here’s the plan: I will complete my first novel during the month of November. I must write at least 50,000 words in order to be successful at this challenge (according to the rules). Here’s the link to the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) site: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/about

Wish me luck!