Chris Baty signing and Veterans Day

[nanonano]

So I headed over to Murky Coffee for a write-in, passing several men setting up a Veterans Day ceremony at the Clarendon war monument with a wreaths from the American Legion branches. I could see the people gathered from the upstairs window at the coffee shop, including a wide range of military uniforms. Since my book is just post WWII, I opted to use whytcrow daily suggestion as a scene, learning that my gambler did indeed serve. I made him serving in Africa, so he saw a lot of sand and desert. It actually amazes me that he wanted to go back to Las Vegas after that. I learned some useful bits about Vegas and Veterans Day history to write that scene, some of which may or may make it. Then writer_rivki showed up and we wrote some more before we headed over to the DC for Chris Baty signing at the Barnes & Noble after dinner with other CVS people.

I was surprised the signing was held in the cafe. The B&N had apparently scheduled a second writer to sign at the exact same time. At any rate, it was a fair size crowd, drawing from both DC & Northern Virginia regions. Most of the people were already participating in Nano. Every tech toy imaginable was on display from laptops to Danas to notebook and pen. The DC ML handed out little random plot bits to include in the novel. At least I picked something halfway doable.


The person across from me was on her fifth year with Nano, which made my three years seem paltry. Chris Baty was tall. I didn't realize how tall he was until we took a group photo with the rest of CVS and he towered over everyone, even our tallest member. He spoke briefly focusing on explaining some of the history of Nano. November was an accident of planning. The first one was held in July, but the participants were busy then the next year. He also talked about the great aspects of doing the novel. He answered some questions, mostly the "What do I do if I'm stuck?" He tossed around the discussion to hear everyone else's ideas and techniques. Then he had the signing for his book. As usual, I had a very hard time thinking what to say, but I did explain my three years running. So he signed my book that I was in line for a three-peat. I hope he hasn't jinxed me.

Off to finish my 2K for the day, so whytcrow can't catch me. Mwa-hah-hahhh-haaah. Ahem.

Comments

[tntoxfox.livejournal.com]

November seems like an odd month to hold an event like Nano with the madness of the holidays coming up. Then again, Nano could serve as a healthy distraction for the madness of the holidays!

Summer would be a good time for me to do it, since I'm not on the road for one meeting or another and I generally take vacation time, time that could possibly turn into quality writing time. Ah well. Must say that Nano makes the sudden cold weather suddenly seem bearable. :)