HELP OUT: NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program Doubles Donations THIS Tuesday 6/17

Here at ChiIL Mama we're huge fans of Nanowrimo and The Young Writers Program. The kids and I have written novels with them in November for years!  National Novel Writers Month is a creative, inspiring frenzy and they get kids and adults stoked to write!  We can vouch for these guys personally. They're the real deal.

Check out their Stories of Tomorrow campaign and help out if you can. They're trying to raise $50,000 by June 23 to rebuild their Young Writers Program website, and to support the future of creative writing for all of us.

As of this writing, they’re at about $14,000—more than a quarter of the way to their goal. To get even closer, they’re planning a fully charged, all-hands-on-deck 24 hours of donation madness.

Here's the scoop right from 

Chris Angotti, Director of Programs:

Epic. Giving. Day. (Please imagine the name read by a booming voice from the skies.)

This Tuesday, June 17, we challenge you to help us raise $10,000 more. Here’s why we have to make it happen:

Author Scott Westerfeld is offering his own $10,000 as a matching donation for the campaign. He’s currently prepping for the release of his NaNo-themed novel Afterworlds, and he pledged this amazing support specifically to our young writers.

So, any dollar you donate is instantly doubled:

• Got $50? Think of it as $100.
• Got $25? Think of it as $50.
• Got $10? Think of it as $20.
• (Note: This isn't allowed for your November word count.)

Plus, donating on Epic Giving Day gets you another bonus. In addition to your usual thank-you gifts, we’ll give away prizes—like a Kindle Fire; signed NaNo-novels; and writing software from Scrivener, Storyist, and Aeon Timeline—all day on Twitter. (See the full list of prizes on the campaign page.) And to be eligible, all you have to do is give.

Why contribute? We'll let über-donor Scott Westerfeld tell you:

We all want to see the novel flourish in the future, right? We want young people to understand the form, to embrace its history and its future, and to continue the mad practice of creating these absurdly long, imperfect strings of text.

We all want this.

So click here to read more about the YWP and to donate. Then tell your friends to do the same.

Please support us on Epic Giving Day. It’s only 24 hours, but it means the world to our future.

P.S. If you can’t donate monetarily, consider giving some epic energy toward plugging the campaign on social media. That helps, too!

#NaBloPoMo VS. #NaNoWriMo 1/3 Of The Way

"Mom, is there really such a thing as noblahpomo... nanoblogmo... nablomomoh?"  my son had the audacity to ask.   "I think you made it up so you can keep on writing on your blog every day instead of doing NaNoWriMo and writing another novel with us!"

photo credit BlogHer.com

I reassured him, NaBloPoMo is indeed a thing.  And I'm doin' it.   I showed him the logo and everything.   









That said, I'm quite proud my kids are now in their 5th year of NaNoWriMo Young Writers.   They've been rockin' out on their new novel collaboration and are aiming for an impressive goal of writing 13,333 words this month! 









They've got numerous cool logos for Young Writers Program, tee shirts, buttons, stickers and a rockin' support site.   They even get cool on line pep talks from sweet authors.   My son's just been reading The Candymakers, so he was extra jazzed to see a pep talk by author Wendy Mass.

NaBloPoMo

Despite a busy busy month, and a vicious bout of the flu that had my daughter throwing up TEN times last night and today....we're all making daily writing a reality.   

NaBloPoMo gives optional but pretty cool writing prompts.   Check 'em out.   I'm doing photo and video filled features on a daily basis, but  

I answered all the questions through Monday 11/5 here, too.

Here's the next round of questions and my answers:

Tuesday, November 6, 2012
If you were President of the United States, what would be your first act in office?

I'd make it mandatory for everyone who wants to serve in a political office to have to take one month of "enlightenment training" before they could start.   This would involve community service, living on the wages (or lack thereof) of the poorest of their constituents, and spending time sharing meals with families of all races, income levels, sexual orientations and demographics they would be representing. 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Talk about the last compliment you received.

"You're the best mom ever." my daughter said this afternoon while she lay in my lap after throwing up all night and most of the day.  I would have given anything to spare her the pain, but it was so sweet and gratifying to be able to just slow down and hold her for so many hours....without a schedule or agenda.    We built a fire in the wood stove, watched movies and cuddled.   

Sure, missing a night's sleep, dumping bowls of puke and washing load after load of sheets from where she overshot the "pukey bowl" is one of the less glamourous, least fun sides of motherhood....but I'll treasure and remember those sweet words in a few short years, when she's a snarky teenager.

Thursday, November 8, 2012
If you could have any job (and instantly have the training and qualifications to do it), which job would you want?

I'd love to be a well paid photographer/ videographer.   As much as I love writing, I reeeeally dig shooting shows and interviewing people.   The visual aspects appeal to me and sometimes, cliche as it is....a picture IS worth a thousand words. 

Friday, November 9, 2012
If you could change one thing about your life right now, what would it be?

I'd like to master the art of cloning so I could be with my kids and husband, cover all the simultaneous events in Chicago I'd love to be at, blog/write/edit more hours in the day and still get plenty of sleep/yoga/massage & hot tub time!!

Want to plan ahead or play along?   Here are the rest of November's prompts:

Monday, November 12, 2012

Where is your favourite place to blog?

Tuesday, November 13, 2012
What is the bravest thing you've ever done?

Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tell us about the best meal you ever cooked.

Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tell us about your favourite pet.

Friday, November 16, 2012
Would you buy your dream house if the price was right BUT you also were told it was inhabited by ghosts?

Monday, November 19, 2012
If you had to get locked in some place (book store, amusement park, etc) overnight alone, where would you choose to be locked in?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Talk about the opening of your favourite book.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Where is your favourite place to read?

Thursday, November 22, 2012
When was the last time that you cried?  Why?

Friday, November 23, 2012
What is the hardest word for you to say?

Monday, November 26, 2012
Do you speak more than one language?  How did you learn the additional languages?

Tuesday, November 27, 2012
If you could instantly know any language in the world, which one would it be?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Tell us about the worst trip you ever took.

Thursday, November 29, 2012
Tell us about three new blogs you found this year.

Friday, November 30, 2012
What has been the hardest part about blogging daily?

NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo That Is The Question

Hello--It's NaBloPoMo number #1103 here, AKA:   ChiIL Mama.   I'm still on a quest to find as many worthy reasons to get outta laundry and dishes duty as possible!   Blog much?   Are there chirping crickets in your corner of the blogosphere?  Get in the soup.   November's a great month to jump start your writing and make it a habit to write a least something daily.

After a little bit of waffling, I'm in. I've done NaNoWriMo --National Novel Writers month, in November for 4 years and managed to successfully write a 50,000+ novel from start to finish during the 30 days of November!!! 

That said, it's crazy HARD to do with a family, freelance career and loads of blog work. This year I'm still toying with the idea of doing it again, but my blogging has become a full time job and 50,000 word in 30 days is a crazy lotta writing.

My 9 & 11 year old kids are still teaming up to do the youth version of NaNoWriMo--Young Writers Program again this year.  This will be Sagezilla's 3rd year and Du-Jay's 4th.  It's not too late to catch that train.   If you or your kids are up for a creative, crazy fun challenge this month, check it out here.  They don't have to climb that 50,000 word mountain to win.   There's an age appropriate word count guide range right on the site.   As a mom, I LOVE to see my kids excited about writing and the stories they've collaborated on have been hilarious and super creative.

Sooooo, for now I'm going for BlogHer's NaBloPoMo, so I don't have to quit cold turkey. I pretty muchly blog daily as it is, between my main blogs at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows and my other two at Dugsound.com and ChiIL Travel Kids. I'll commit to post every day at ChiIL Mama. So check in like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often. Soups on!!

NaBloPoMo BlogHer Prompts

If you're participating in NaBloPoMo in November -- or even if you're not! -- here are some prompts to get you going. Writing prompts are posted at the beginning of the month so you can plan ahead, Monday to Friday (weekends are for free-writing!)

Thursday, November 1, 2012
Tell us your favourite quotation and why.

I have a ton of favorite quotations from theatre greats, women, feminists, and humor writers.   Still, here's my fav if I had to pick just one.   

"Prevent perfection, prefer a perceptive perspective."   

I hope it doesn't sound too arrogant that it's one I wrote, but it sums up my parenting and life philosophy, it's catchy, and really sinks in the more you think about it.    So much stress, anger and craziness result from people trying to be perfect, expecting perfection from others, and beating themselves up for falling short.   Human beings are messy, complex, creative beings who learn more from our mistakes than our successes.   If you live life from a perceptive perspective, considering intent along with action, factoring in compassion, and using your mind, heart and intuition versus rigid rules set in stone, you'll be healthier and happier.

Friday, November 2, 2012
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Chicago is my kind of town, without a shadow of a doubt.

Monday, November 5, 2012
What are your thoughts about tomorrow's election in the United States?

Frankly, I'm a bit freaked out at the racist, misogynistic, backward, hateful,  right wing talk that seems to be completely socially acceptable.   I always expect more intelligence and compassion from Americans and am surprised and disappointed at the selfishness and hypocrisy.  This has been the nastiest presidential race I can remember, with the candidates radically different on so many levels.