What does a NaNoWriMo municipal liaison do?

Edited for readability. Passages from the original recording that are out of date have been left out and are marked in brackets.

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You've come to the right place. I'm Carissa Andrews, international bestselling indie author, and this is the Author Revolution podcast. Well, hello there, and welcome back to the Author Revolution Podcast. I am so happy that you joined me this week.

Oh guys, this week I am so excited. Now today we have Ashley Long coming on. She is a municipal liaison for NaNoWriMo and she is in the Tennessee region. And what's really interesting about this is that Ashley and I connected on LinkedIn, of all places.

Like I post things about the podcast and things that I'm doing out on LinkedIn. She happened to go searching to see if anyone even talks about NaNoWriMo on LinkedIn and came to me. She found me and we started chatting a little bit back and forth through the DM's on LinkedIn, and we found that we had so much in common and so much that we loved about the NaNoWriMo process, that I just couldn't help myself. I had to invite her onto the podcast to be able to talk to you a little bit about what NaNoWriMo Municipal liaisons also called MLs, do for NaNoWriMo and for rebels in general.

So, like, what do they do in order to support the people who are taking on NaNoWriMo, trying to write their novel and getting those 50,000 words in during the month of November? What do they do? And should you even become one? These are all questions that we go over and we talk about in the podcast today.

And I know that you are going to find it just as fascinating to listen to Ashley as I did the first time around, when I was listening to her as well. So without further ado, let's hop into this podcast interview. Welcome, Ashley, to the Author Revolution Podcast. I'm so excited that you're here.

I've spoke a little bit in the introduction about how we met and a little bit about what, like what I know about you, but I would really love for you to tell my audience a little bit more about who you are and your writing experience and what it is you do. Okay, so I don't I'm not a writer by trade yet. I am a former music teacher, so I guess musician is like my first creative background, and it kind of leads itself well to getting into writing, because I did some songwriting and stuff when I was more when I was a teenager, but so I currently I'm working as an instructional designer instead of a teacher, which usually I have to explain what that means to me. So basically I design training courses.

If you've ever taken a training class for a job or anything, it could be online or in person. And the kind of cool thing I found when I started this job was I get to write a little bit as part of my job, so I might have to write like a scenario or a case study for a training course, or take the information someone gives me and turn it into a script for our e-learning modules. So that was kind of a perk. When I got into my first job and I was like, oh wait, I get to write a script.

Okay, so you know, it's not what I necessarily want to be writing, but it's kind of cool that I get to, you know, include that in my job. And occasionally I do get to do some writing. So, as far as writing goes, I've been writing since I was a kid, and I haven't published anything yet. But I do have, you know, manuscripts that are done and need some extensive editing and sometimes rewriting, but with it's hard with, you know, being a master's program and working full time and stuff to find the time to get that done.

So I'm hoping next year is going to be my year to kind of start getting some things out there, because I graduate in December. So, congrats on that. Yeah. So and I'm mostly right.

Like fantasy, urban fantasy, anything. That's not really based in a realistic setting. Same saying. I love it, and I'm starting to kind of branch out to try to do some more, like romance and just regular romance.

We'll see if I can keep the vampires and stuff out of it, but I always feel like I try to start writing something that's not fantasy, and somehow I'm like, oh, I need a vampire in here. All right, I have a shifter. So magic show up or something? Yeah.

So. Oh, I love it that I can so relate. Yeah. That's epic.

Okay, so we need to talk about Nano though, because, you've got, like, this really cool special title that we need to discuss because we're coming up on NaNoWriMo. Yes. What has your NaNoWriMo journey been like? When was the first time that you participated in it?

So I actually think I was listening to one of your Nano podcast, and I think we started maybe the same year. Oh, you I think you said something about, like, you did Nano in your head. Yeah. Do you like, did it but you didn't, like, officially do it?

Yeah. So I think that was in 2010. Yeah. And that's when my first official Nano was.

It was a horrible year. We'll just, you know, I didn't know it isn't way great year. They got it technically the year I signed up on and, and, kind of got involved and I think I wrote, like, 2,000 words or something, you know, I just I didn't really get it. I wasn't I didn't really lean on the local group and everything didn't get involved.

So I didn't even know local groups were a thing. Like, I literally just got my little sticky pad out and every day wrote down how many numbers of words I got in my way towards 50K. Yeah, so that's how I did it. I didn't even do it on their website or.

Yeah, yeah, like I knew there was a group. I was in Columbia, South Carolina at the time, and I knew there was a group and I was a member of their region on the website. But I got the emails. I just never I'm very shy, so I didn't want to show up at one of the events or anything.

And so funny story. That April I had started hula hooping, which is a completely different, story. I love it, but there was a hoop group in Columbia and I went and, you know, started meeting people, and we were giving out like email addresses and stuff to start like, you know, a little newsletter and everything. And one of the ladies there gave her email address and I was like, why does that name sound really familiar?

And we got to talking. And it turns out she was the ML for Columbia. And I had been getting emails from her, you know, all the last November about that. It's you funny.

Okay, so before you go much further, what does ML stand for? For those of the people who are listening, it's short for a municipal liaison, which is basically a fancy term for volunteer community organizer. Nice. That would be much easier to say because I trip over municipal liaison every single time I say, yeah, it's just a fancy term.

This is why everyone says ML just yeah, yeah, I yeah. So of course I met her and she dragged me to events that next November. It I had my, in my, you know, kind of person who was in charge was like, come on, come with us, come to this thing. And I knew people because, you know, I get really like awkward about social situations.

So and as writers almost and that year I get my 50K. So I felt like going to, you know, groups really helps motivate you during the month when it's such a crazy, crazy thing. And I've been doing Nano ever since, and it's some years I don't do quite as much, especially the few years in between where I wasn't leading a group. But, you know, I try my best to hit 50K every so.

So if you've done, Nano on and off since 2010, but you haven't published yet, what is stopping you? Like, I know this. I'm like, what are you doing? Nothing, I did nothing, I don't I love the thrill of, like, writing it the first time, but, you know, and I can edit other people's stuff all day long.

You're like, send it to me, let me read it. Let me, you know, especially, like line edits and stuff. But when I have to get to my own stuff, I'm just like, I do a lot of editing in my head. And some of the nano drafts need some serious work, like my very first one, I the complete rewrite plan for it, which is one I'm hoping to start on in January.

Because I'm actually taking it from a non fantasy spy thriller to a sci fi spy thriller, night night. So like, most of the stuff needs a lot of work and I just haven't had the time or, you know, brainpower with everything else to put into actually editing things. So I feel, yeah, I get that's my that's my big, hold up right now, but I have some stuff that, I think I can get out in the near future, and I want to work on a romance series for next year to kind of start putting some stuff out there while I work on the bigger, more in-depth, world building fantasy stuff. Gotcha.

I completely understand that, too. I've. I've gotten to the point with all of my fantasy books that I'm like, you know, I want to try something new. And I've had this series in my head that it's kind of popped in a couple of years and ago, and I'm like, I am not a I'm not a romance author.

What's happening with my brain? What's going on here? But it hasn't left me alone until finally I'm like, you know what? Why not?

I'm just going to try it and see what happens. Well, right. I'll do it in the background of whatever else I'm actually doing. And why not?

Sure. So we'll see what happens next year. I'll be starting that in January as well, but it'll be under a different pen name. I won't be using Carissa Andrews and I'll see how it goes.

Yeah, I definitely separate it off for, like my Twitter with my pen names. I have one that I separate it off for the romance stuff to kind of keep the fantasy of romance separate. So and it's so smart because with Amazon and the way that the, the algorithms work, if you start to mash those two together, it gets a little confused. And so you get romance readers coming to your fantasy stuff and going through that.

What the why that and vice versa. So yeah, so it makes sense to keep them separate. Although I do know many authors who have been established, in fantasy for a while and then switch to romance and they do fine. So, I don't know.

Well, I'm not going to do that well, but we'll see what happens. Okay. So you joined quite a while ago and you have works that you need to start publishing, FYI. Get them out there.

You don't know what you don't know till you do it. Come on. Right. I'll be your cheerleader.

Okay? Okay. So what? Obviously got you to the point then, because now you're a municipal liaison.

What happened there? How did that get that whole thing happen? Well, I moved out of Columbia to the Florence, South Carolina region, which is like a smaller area about two hours away. And they had a region, but it was super small.

And the ML there was kind of had kind of, I guess I don't really know what happened, but he kind of took a step back. He was still technically the ML, but basically that year I was like, hey, you need help. So I kind of ran the region that year. He basically pass the baton to me.

So unofficially, I was the ML. And like, I think it was 2013. And then in 2014, I officially took over the spot for that group and, started kind of building that region up because it's a super small region, especially compared to Columbia, which is like the capital of the state and everything. So, you know, I started to get into a group of core nano members, and we started meeting outside of nano months and started a thing called Pee Dee Writers, which, the area is called the Pee Dee region because it's near the Pee Dee River.

So we, you know, started doing a lot of other things. I started up a website and, you know, featured the authors who have books published and they would do blog posts. And we even did some local festivals where they got together and split the cost of a booth to like, vend their books and everything. So it was really great.

So it was kind of something that started as me being the ML for the nano thing, and it took off and something more, but unfortunately, I had to leave South Carolina in, 2018 because I had some stuff change in my life. And so I ended up back in my hometown in East Tennessee. So I had a few years in there where I wasn't an ML for a region. And there's not a region where I live now because, again, it's a small town.

Sure. But I met a couple years after I've been back the ML for what's called the Elsewhere region, which is pretty much everyone in a state or geographic area that doesn't have their own little other than elsewhere as well. Yeah. So, you know, I didn't know.

So one of those ML stepped down and I was like, hey, y'all need another ML? So, I got back on as being a leader for the Elsewhere region here. And this year I'm like the lead ML because the other two MLs had to step down for various region reasons. And we, I kind of put feelers out was like, hey, does anyone want to jump in and help?

So a nice, so we have another new ML, which is awesome. But yeah, it's been kind of like ups and downs and ebbs and flows, but I just I love being an ML. I always a little weird because it's a virtual region mostly, which has been fine the last two years because we've not been able to do in-person events due to Covid. Yeah.

So this year we finally get to plan some in-person events. But, you know, elsewhere, since we're so spread out, it's mostly about virtual events, and we have a few pockets of remote and certain places that we're going to try to host a couple things. And some organizations are what they call Come Write In locations. We have a library that does that.

Yeah, yeah. So we're going to try to do some more stuff with them this year since we can officially host events again. Nice. So okay, so you're going to have to for me, and the way that I've described it often on the podcast is, is the online version of it, because to me, that's that's pretty much all I really have the option to do for the most part.

Like I said, I've had a friend who, I think we were talking before the podcast started who was an ML, and she did, like a little local thing here, but it was in a small town, like five of us showed up, so it was really tiny. But, can you describe what is it that the MLs do and like explain these like in-person events? Right. So basically we have just a very few because it is a volunteer position.

There are very, just very few actual requirements. As far as physically hosting events, just because, you know, it's volunteer. So we mostly have to host some sort of kickoff party to kind of get people going. And then we have at the end, TGIO, thank God it's over, parties.

And I know that feeling at the end of November. That's yeah, it's like 1201 on December. Right over. So we send out weekly, emails that you've probably gotten before from your regional email to, you know, cheer people on, let people know what's going on, because, of course, Nano is a nonprofit.

So they do, you know, donation days and, you know, initiatives like that. So we we like to let people know about those things going on. So some people might not know about that. And basically just, you know, get to cheer people on, help people out.

And every email kind of runs their region a little differently. And it kind of depends on your, your group and who you have. You know, if you're in like New York City, obviously it's going to be way different than a small, you know, rural area. So one of the things that I find myself doing a lot is when we are doing a write-in, whether it be virtual or online, is helping people work through things if they get stuck, you know?

And so I feel like MLs also kind of have to have a good grasp on how to write, you know, certain genres and everything, and at least, you know, know how to what kind of questions to ask to help people get through their, their roadblocks. So, you know, kind of guide them through. So and that's one of the things that I love about it is getting to help writers kind of brainstorm while they're trying to write, if they get stuck or, you know, cheering people on, motivating people. And as far as in-person write-ins go, they are a lot of fun.

Usually we just plan a couple hours. It could be I have hosted at someone's house before in a small rural area when we all kind of knew each other and stuff, but typically we shy away from that and try to do public spaces, of course. So spend a lot of time at Panera Bread, a lot of time at Barnes and Noble. Now you must be in a bigger, smaller town than I am because I don't have either one of those.

The nearest Panera and, Barnes and Noble is an hour and a half south of me. Yeah. So that was that was when I was in South Carolina. Okay, I think here.

No, that was that was in South Carolina. But we also, you know, do coffee shops, libraries, really anywhere that will let people come in and sit for a long time and, and right. And typically when you get together with other writers, it's kind of like, well, that seems weird. What are you just going to do, sit there together at the same place on your computers, you know, like just come and do the other?

Yeah. So but really it's more like, you know, you get to talk to people about stuff if you get stuck, like I was just talking about, you can be like, hey, guys, what do you think about this? You know, or click I need a name for something, you know, Scrivener, for. Come on.

It has like, a whole name calculator thing. I don't even know what they call. So, And then we'll run. We call them word wars.

Where in the first region I was in. But, like, word sprints, basically. Okay, if you want to do it, like, more competitively and see who had the most words at the end of the sprint, that's cool. You can and that's what why would we call them word wars?

And I'd always have a bag of candy or something. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, and we'd if we got way off track, be like, okay, guys, it's time for a word for 15 minutes. Start writing.

Now. Go stop talking. Just fall down. We've completely blown.

Like having this right inside. Yeah. You know, and it's just a way to really connect with other writers. Other people who, like, really get you.

I. I'm sure you understand, but unless you're in a room with a bunch of other writers like you, just kind of you don't know what you're missing until you get there and you're like, oh, hey, these people are cool to talk with about things that the NSA probably is looking at my start to see, you know, you know, that the NSA won't know if I ask this person. Yeah. Like I went to a panel at a con about like that a mortician did about how to, like, dispose of dead bodies for, you know, wider purposes.

So. Yeah. Oh, these are my people. Like.

Well, we can turn that on. Just make sure. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's funny.

One of the write-ins that I went to, it was so fun because it was, you know, like food and stuff. So as you're in the right and you just got food and drinks or whatever, but Nano also, now let me know if this is still going on for you guys. But they gave like little swag, things like little stickers and pins and whatever stuff. So yeah.

Is that still a part of it? It is. And I don't have my Nano stickers with me. I actually just got my ML kit in the mail I think, two days ago, and I was super excited.

So I was like, yeah, stickers. So, the last two years I've actually, since we're virtual done, sign up form for people who wanted a sticker. And I've actually mailed stickers out. Wow.

So which I got a dedication, response. And I was expecting, honestly, but I'm totally fine with it because I would make when I was in an in-person place, I would do goodie bags for like the kickoff and, you know, like a pencil and some post-it notes or some sort of thing in there with the sticker and depending on the theme, I think one year it was like a superhero theme, and I got these little superhero things and put in there. But we were a small group. It was maybe for like ten people that would show up.

So it wasn't a huge investment. But I know some of the MLs in some of the bigger regions, they do like fundraisers and stuff with their emos, and they go all out and do all this really cool swag and have their own, like, stickers for their own region and all kinds of things. So gosh, yeah, you want to be in a bigger city? Yeah.

Sometimes I'm like, because I'm probably moving sometime in the next couple of years. So I'm kind of scanning out places. And one of the things I'm looking at is their Nano region. What do they have going?

Sorry. You're two small. Yeah. Like is this a good region I love it.

That's that's a pretty cool reason to move or to that particular place. Yeah, that cracks me up. So if people are online though like if they whether they're Covid conscious still or if they're just, more introverted and they want to do the online versions, how did they get participating in some of those events that are more virtual right now? So it kind of depends on, you know, the region.

For us, we use discord and we do. We have like, there's a bunch of sprint bots and stuff you can add to discord channels where people can run their own sprints and, we'll say, hey, we're all going to be in the discord from this time to this time, and you can join us. Do they find out about that through the nano site first? So yes, we at least that's the way we do it.

We have a link to the discord and like our Facebook group. And I think that's all this region has. But anything that you have you can link from the nano nano website. So we do mainly use discord.

We have some participation like on the Facebook group, but it's kind of hard to run sprints and stuff really in a Facebook. Absolutely. Maybe like five years ago you might have been able to, but yeah. And there's a lot of writers now doing things on Twitch, the streaming service.

And in 2020, a bunch of MLs got together and started a writing weekend, 100 hours of writing. We call oh, how. And so every year since things it's been really popular. We get on and do 100 consecutive hours of writing streams on Twitch.

And, that's usually, I think this year it's the second weekend of November, so people can join in that way. And then a lot of those MLs also host other streams throughout the month. And usually people are fine, like, oh, you're not in my region. It's okay.

Come on. If you're right. So there's a lot of writers here. Come on.

Yeah, there's a lot of opportunities now virtually, for people who either can't go to write ins because of geographic restrictions or they are Covid conscious or, you know, what, have you. So yeah, that's really cool. I know when I first started, well, when we first started there, it didn't feel like there was as much of that for me. It was more Twitter.

So like I learned about Nano through Twitter and so I would talk and communicate other people who are doing sprints through Twitter and that was, that was maybe operated. So yeah, so interesting to see the way that it's evolved over the years. Yeah. There was a nano chat.

I don't know if you ever use the nano chat. That was through the actual Nano. I didn't know it was kind of like an old school chat room. And there was a bot in there named Timmy, and he would say random stuff.

We love it. Yeah, I was really fond of that chat room for a long time, but it kind of the last few years, a lot of people moved more towards Discord and Slack and and things like that, because so many of us are using it in our daily lives. For other thing. Yeah.

Yep, I use both. I use slack for my, my like teams for my VAs, and then I use, discord to be able to connect with my son because that's like the literally the only place you will actually respond to me is discord. Oh goodness, children, you gotta love teenagers. So if people want to become a municipal liaison, how do they go about doing that?

Then how did you get signed up? Well, mine was kind of just I went to that new region and the, you know, the guy was kind of stepping down. So in, if you are in a region and you know someone's going to be stepping down or, you know, even if you're in a region and they don't know any other ML, MLs are always happy to have minions. Yes, especially if it's a geographically like very large geographic area and you want to host something in your area.

As long as you know you clear it with your ML, they can put it on the calendar and everything for you. And then that way the next year, if there is, you know, kind of an opening available as an ML, you'd be like, hey, maybe one of my minions will be interested in doing this because they've already been kind of, sort of emailing already. So usually around May, Nano puts out a sign up sheet, basically an application. And it's to gauge how many MLs are returning, how many are resigning, and, you know, get the application for people who are interested in becoming a new ML.

And usually I think there's a link on the website where you can go ahead and sign up to be notified when that happens, if it's something you're interested in and they put out, like if they know someone stepping down and there's not going to be an ML, they will put out a thing for that region that says, hey, your region needs an ML. If you're interested, please apply here. So for me, with my other two Co stepping down this year, I kind of sent out feelers to people who'd been pretty active in the discord and throughout the the website the last couple years, and luckily one of them decided to jump on board. And she's got some amazing ideas and there's an awesome addition to the team.

So I'm super excited to have her helping out this year. That's So yeah, so there's a bunch of different ways to to sign up. Well, there's only one way to actually sign up, but there's a bunch of different ways to get involved. And if even see if it's something you're interested in by helping out in the current ML, because they usually need help or will take help.

Oh yeah, I know very few MLs are going to be like, no, you can't do it. You know, unless it's just something that's completely out of our, you know, code of conduct or something. Right? Right.

So do MLs also work for Camp Nano or is it just like the main event, the main events? The biggest thing, but we technically is an all year sort of position. And I do Camp stuff. Some MLs do more camp stuff than others.

I like to try to at least send out an email and say, hey guys, camp's coming up. If you're, interested in participating, we're going to be, you know, hanging around the discord and just drop in and say, hey, so some emails are more like November heavy, and some also are super into camp. And it's not our rules are changing a little bit as far as how much we need to be involved the rest of the year, because they're looking at adding another like position called a regional steward. That's kind of over like a group of MLs.

It were supposed to happen this year, but some things, it's just been crazy. Right? So it really it just really depends on the ML. So some years my camp participation is like, yes, I'm doing camp and we're going to do this.

And other years I'm like, camp what? Wait a minute. If you already work. Yeah.

Or whatever in this world. April and July, April and July. Yeah. I miss the old Camp cabin website.

That was so, you know, just getting a random cabin with a bunch of people that aren't in your region. I kind of miss that whole layout. But yeah, I still like to do camp to kind of work on edit. Sorry if I'm trying to run with something because it gives me a reason to write during a month, that's not November, because I feel like I just hyperfocus in November and the rest of the year I'm like, oh, I'm a writer.

Do I write? You know, I have this whole like, writing thing going on, you know? So I completely understand that. That's kind of what happens to me if I shift my focus, my, my positions on on me to be like, like, why aren't you writing right now?

Like I'm creating a course. Okay. Right. I'm got course.

And it's like when you're focus on something else for a little bit, it's like, oh yeah, it's trying to get a book together. Yeah, I gotta finish that thing. Oh, no. Yeah.

And I've been so ingrained in like academic papers the last few years that it's just kind of like I don't have the mental energy to put it to much other writing. So then it's like November. I can really say, okay, you know, I know I have to write something for class too, but I'm going to work on this fantasy novel this month. Yes, it's my escape for November.

Okay. Yeah. Let's have a writer. Yeah.

Oh, me.

[Out-of-date detail removed.]

So wonderful. Well that's amazing. Is there anything else that you would like to tell my audience about Nano or anything that we haven't discussed it?

I think I've pretty much covered everything. You know, I guess I always tell my Wrimos when I get stuck or having a hard time, like, you know, just get the words on the page. That's kind of what November is about because it's put away the editing, you know, shut up that inner editor. Yeah.

You know, just write something because, you know, you can't edit a blank page. So if you don't put something on the page, you're never going to get anywhere. So that's kind of like my mantra for November, you know, and just go for it. If you don't have 50,000 words, that's okay.

At least you wrote something, anything that's better than zero. So absolutely any words is better than zero. And keep in mind too, that, done is still better than perfect. So keep moving forward and, you know, practice.

You got to practice. I think that's the thing. I was talking to a friend. My friend that was the municipal is on that dragged me into all this, from like, you know, like 12 years ago.

I was talking to her yesterday, and I'd been looking through my old draft that I wrote in 2011, 12 versus the thing I've been working on the last couple of years, and I'm like, wow, my writing is completely different. And so, you know, just practice and stick with it. And that's, you know, kind of what I, what I tell my Wrimos and try to instill in them every November, you know, just go for it. Don't worry so much about the 50, okay?

It's great if you win, but just show up and write something. Yeah, yeah. I think that's an interesting point that you made too. But how your writing changes, it's also, I think, why it's so important to like kind of line in the sand and say, okay, I'm done with this.

Now I'm moving on to the next project because you could sit in like perpetuum forever editing the same single book over and over and over again. And it would always be evolving because you are always evolving, right? That's good to just cut it loose, to move on to the next thing and continue to create all the beautiful new words that are going to come out. It's so much fun.

There's trust me, I there are so many times where I've looked at my very first novel from 2010 gone. I really should redo that. No, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not going to do that.

Just leave it alone. Yes, my husband would give me the side I if I started to bring the pen down once again, he'd be like, what are you doing? Nothing. Nothing, dear.

Like only by. Well, thank you so much for being here. Actually. I so appreciate it and I'm so glad that we connected on LinkedIn.

It's such a cool experience. So. And then. Thanks for having me.

I was excited when you were like, hey, you want to talk about Nano on my podcast? And like, I will talk about Nano all day long. Me to finally enough. You do.

Well, thank you for being here. Thank you. Well guys, I hope you are as excited about NaNoWriMo and the idea or prospect of getting involved with some of the more local or even online events that NaNoWriMo does. All thanks to those municipal liaisons or volunteers who are helping to coordinate events for NaNoWriMo.

It's just it's one more way of authors being able to connect with other people who are like minded, who are in their tribe, who are doing the thing they're doing and can help to to support one another. Look, we're writers, and writers are often very solo people. We like to kind of hurt ourselves into like little spaces and, and get into our big worlds in our heads, rather than dealing with a lot of people in the outward world. But when you have that opportunity to really connect with people who are doing the same thing you're doing, there's just this magic that happens because all of a sudden it's like, oh my gosh, people who understand me, people understand the struggles that I'm going through when it comes to being a writer or trying to publish and trying to get my books, you know, more seen and more visible or trying to earn more money, all of these things start to become more acceptable.

You start to see more pieces of the puzzle where you're going, oh, you're struggling with that same part of this too. Okay, maybe I'm not so weird. And now all of a sudden you have things that maybe were holding you back or making you feel bad, and instead you can start to feel like this whole process is doable because it is this whole entire process of writing and publishing, and even earning a living from your books is entirely doable, and it all just can stem sometimes from that little hand being held out by a municipal liaison or someone that is in your local community who is helping you to understand things in just a slightly different way. So hopefully you will head over to NaNoWriMo site to be able to, number one, sign up or get your region figured out.

Because having that region figured out, it's going to be super helpful for you. Like Ashley was talking about, they're active on the nano site, but they're also active in other places like Discord or Slack or Twitch. So you can do a little bit of digging and find your people. Find your people who are next to you, who are near you, who are capable of speaking your language because you will be amazed at how much further you can get this nano as it get started.

Now look guys, we have less than a week before NaNoWriMo starts and now's the time to start digging around. Start finding your tribe so that you can get the people on your side who are going to be there to support you and for you to support them. This, my friend, is just such an incredible opportunity and one that I hope that you don't miss out on this year.

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Okay, well, my friend, hopefully this has convinced you that NaNoWriMo is a really, really amazing opportunity for us writers.

If you haven't already done it. If you haven't already joined it, what are you waiting for? Honestly? Get involved.

Become part of this process. You're going to enjoy it and love it as much as I do. Trust me and my friend, that's all I have for you. This week we will talk more about NaNoWriMo, I'm sure next week, because next week it's going to be week one and it's kicking off.

So in the meantime, I want you to go forth and start your author revolution.

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