Nano, and Everything Else.

It's raining here. Hard rain. Lovely rain. It's the kind of day where you bake cookies and read silly books aloud with the family. Or you could, um, blog.

*coughs loudly*

Where was I? Oh yes. Nano and everything else.

As a rule, I don't announce who I'm interviewing until I have the questions back and a date to announce it on. But I'm making an exception for Lauren Oliver. Her novel, Before I Fall, will be debuting sometime next year.

Lauren has agreed not only to answer some questions here on Headdesk, but supply an ARC for a giveway, as well! Her book has gotten incredible reviews on Goodreads and so I am very excited about the ARC. She even talked about one of my interview questions on her blog in a very flattering shout-out. Thanks Lauren! I'm honored.

When I have the exact for her interview, I'll make sure to announce it.

Now, Lauren's gotten me thinking. I'm probably the millionth person to say that Nanowrimo is coming up. The Twifties over at Teens Writing for Teens did a really good post about Nano in case you're new to it. Nano (or NaNo, or Nanowrimo, or NaNoWriMo) is an incredibly addictive monthlong novel-a-thon. Writers from around the globe try to churn out a 50,000 word novel in the single month of November. It's simple. It's tough. It's so many things, that there's even a book about it.

Three years in a row I have tried, and failed, to Nano. One of the reasons is that I don't write that way. Another reason is, I always seem to have a WIP that needs tending, and when I set it aside, it shrivels. Another reason is that I'm just not strong enough to resist Nano's pull, but I really shouldn't be doing it, and so I finally make myself quit.

This year is different. This year, I am proud/regretful to say, I am not Nanoing. I will revive last year's Nano blog support series about the different stages of Nano, and I'll highlight any cool, current Nano news that I find. But I won't be Nanoing myself. There's no way I could handle college and Nano all at once*. Just ain't happening.

But I kind of feel bad for all those people, who, like me, are not Nanoing. Which brings me back to why Lauren Oliver got me thinking. I was considering doing a blog special, some kind of Non-Nanoing club/support group where we could all get together and talk about our novels or some-such. But now I have a better idea. I'm thinking that instead, I'll simply post one of my interview questions for each week of November, with a little explanation about what the question means to me and why I ask it. I may even link to one of my past interviewees who's answer I loved.

Realize that anyone can answer the questions - unpubbed, self-pubbed, agented, aspiring, Nanoer, non-Nanoer. Anyone. I hope it can be a bit of an encouragement to everyone in any area of the writing experience. Here comes the catch, though. It's hard to tell how much interest this will get. Sounds fun to me, but what do I know? I could be wrong. If nobody responds, well, nobody responds. It's going to be a fun month anyway. Let the Nano Madness Begin!

As a quick reminder, Kristina Springer will be interviewed here on Headdesk this upcoming Tuesday about her debut, The Esspressologist. In February, Teri Hall will come talk about her debut The Line and do an ARC giveaway. And in January, we get to hear from Jen Nadol about her intriguing debut, The Mark.

Truly and always,

-Creative A

*Forgot to mention this sooner, but I'm getting my Associates in Web Design at a local community college, and thus, my life is insane. More on that someday.