Does that make me cRaZy?

In short, yes.

It's that time of the year, yet again, friends and family.  November is just around the corner...as in...it starts tomorrow.  And with november comes National Novel Writing Month and my participation in a little thing called NaNoWriMo, affectionately called around here "Insanity Epitomized."  I will be attempting (and hopefully succeeding) in writing a 50,000 word novel in one month, between midnight on November 1 and 11:59 on November 30.

I did this last year, as some might recall, and I "won" (meaning I reached the 50K goal within the time limit...there's not like a limited number of winners or anything).  It was an exhilarating month, and I am really excited to do it again...even though I don't really have a rock solid idea for what I'm going to write about.

In preparation, I've been reading this book.

It gives a lot of tips on what to do to make sure that the novel actually gets written, and that I don't chicken out and back away from my goal.  One of those tips is straight up gambling.  I'm not usually the betting woman; I think it's a good way to waste money fast.

But NaNoWriMo stands for a lot of things that are important to me, including global literacy (through their book drives for BetterWorldBooks.com) and exciting writing programs for both children and adults through schools and libraries around the world.  Because of this, I'm ready and willing to waste good money fast, as long as it's on their behalf.  And they've given me a great way to do that!

This links to my personal donation page for NaNoWriMo.  Here's how this is going to go.

Certainly anyone is allowed to donate free of nefarious connotations: just go to the page and donate and I'll be happy, and you'll be happy, and writers around the country and world will be happy, too.  Everyone wins.

But if you're of a more competitive spirit, or you don't think I can do what I say I'm going to do, or if you want to keep me honest, then let's set up a little wager, shall we?

There are many benchmarks for NaNoWriMo that we could put some money on.  There's the obvious one, 50K by the end of the month.  There're also the challenges of getting 1,667 words/day, or 11,669 words/week, or staying above someone else's daily word count, i.e. Chris Baty (the head of NaNoWriMo.org).  The wagers set thereon would work as follows:

You bet, say $50, that I don't make the 50K by the end of the month.  If I do, then you donate that $50 to NaNoWriMo.  If I don't, then I donate it to an organization of your choosing.  Any organization: NaNoWriMo, the NRA, Scientology, or even your own checking account.

The same goes for any benchmark.  I'm going to ask that there be a $1 maximum wager made for every 1,000 words expected for the benchmark, because I'm not made of money, and I'm sure you're not either.

If you accept any of these wagers, or if you want to donate just for the good of the cause, let me know in a comment below, or an email, or a text, or via facebook, or any other of the numerous ways people can reach me these days...

Happy Halloween!  And Happy National Novel Writing Month!

<3 spadeALLcross