Welcome to the start of The Frog Blog’s NaNoWriMo Rallying! This is a series of blog posts hosted by yours truly to bring exposure, motivation, and fun to the crazy novel-writing month that is November. From here on, we will have a series of short interviews, updates on everyone’s progress on NaNo, and maybe a few glasses of wine along the way. Fancy joining? We’re always open. Check out the post here and drop me an e-mail!
Let’s start by meeting the participants who are doing this crazy task of 50k words in one month!
Janet Gershen-Siegel
Name: Janet Gershen-Siegel (Jespah)
Writing experience: I’m being published. As an amateur I’ve been writing for a good 4 1/2 decades but didn’t really get into it until about 4 years ago. I now write every single day although a lot of those days it’s schoolwork or blogging. I’ve had the jespah nickname online for over 14 years and own it as a domain.
Numbers of books published, if any: 1 (upcoming)
Genre(s) in which you usually write: I write nearly everything with a science fiction backdrop
NaNo novel genre: Sci-fi
3 interesting facts:
1) I’m a retired lawyer; I practiced in the 1980s.
2) I love Boston Terriers but I’ve never actually owned one. The last dog I had was a retired greyhound racer, in 1998.
3) I volunteer as a social media manager for a Star Trek podcast. This involves communicating not only with the fans, but with some of the professionals, too, including a New York Times best-selling tie-in author. No, I haven’t asked him to read any of my work.
Jennifer Phan
Name: Jennifer Phan (DaAwesomeMee)
Writing experience: Hobbyist (although I treat writing more like a lifestyle)
Numbers of books published, if any: none (yet)
Genre(s) in which you usually write: Sci-fi or Fantasy
NaNo novel genre: YA/Sci-fi
3 interesting facts:
- I’ve been obsessed with Pokemon for 10+ years.
– I have 22 cousins
– I’m better at Calculus than at writing
Imogen Isles
Name: Imogen Isles (ImogenaryThings)
Writing Experience: serious hobbyist
Numbers of books published, if any:None
Genre(s) in which you usually write: Paranormal, Romance, YA, NA
NaNo novel genre: YA/Werewolf/Paranormal
3 interesting facts:
- I’m from the Inland Northwest
– I love glitter
– I have a fake front tooth.
Elise Noble
Name: Elise Noble (EliseNoble)
Writing experience: Just a hobby
Numbers of books published, if any: No books published, I just post some things that fall out of my head up on Wattpad.
Genre(s) in which you usually write: I tend to write romance, but with a bit of thriller/suspense and some humour in there too.
NaNo novel genre: Romance
3 interesting facts:
- I am a qualified scuba diver, but I still hate getting my face wet.
– I have a horse who eats everything, even if it isn’t supposed to be eaten.
– In my spare time (what little I have!) I am a motor race marshal.
Wendy
Name: Wendy (Wendythestoryteller)
Writing Experience: It’s just a hobby. I’ve had some of my poetry published, but they were minor publications for children. Perhaps one day I will self-publish, but for now it’s mainly for fun. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I’m ready yet for anything major. I still have to work at it, perfect it, before I put anything out there that’s serious.
Numbers of books published, if any: None
Genre(s) in which you usually write: Science Fiction is my personal preference, but on Wattpad it’s either Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adult Contemporary or Comedy.
NaNo novel genre: Horror/Humour
3 interesting facts:
- I’m Persian.
– I’ve swam with dolphins.
– I do background acting in movies/television shows that are filmed in Toronto, Canada.
Maja Diana
Name: Maja Diana
Writing experience: Hobby writer, writing for therapeutic measures.
Numbers of books published, if any: None
Genre(s) in which you usually write: Fantasy, Teen Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Adventure, Fan Fiction.
NaNo novel genre:
3 interesting facts:
– I’m a Wattpad Volunteer.
– I’m clinically insane.
– I work as a translator.
Jessica Fry
Name: Jessica (J.M. Butler/Jessica B. Fry)
Writing experience: attorney and freelance writer; I’ve been writing for over twenty years now, and I’ve had a number of short stories, essays, and other pieces published.
Numbers of books published, if any: none as of yet, but that changes in November
Genre(s) in which you usually write: typically fantasy and romance but also science fiction, historical, and vampire.
NaNo novel genre: Fantasy/Romance
3 interesting facts:
- I love fusion of all sorts, which is incorporated within both Tue-Rah and Ragnarok
– My personality type is INTJ and yet I tend to be fairly good at interpreting and responding to emotions
– My husband and I run our law firm together, and it’s a small rural firm that covers everything from copyright infringement to wills to criminal defense.
Chem/Tiara
Name: Chem/Tiara (Chemical_Insanity)
Writing experience: Well, I’ve been writing for six years so…
Numbers of books published, if any: One. A poetry book.
Genre(s) in which you usually write: Fantasy
NaNo novel genre: Sci-Fi/Paranormal/Anime
3 interesting facts about yourself:
– I have a black belt in Taekwondo.
– When I was in kindergarten, I was tested to see if I would move grades. My results came back and I was at an upper-second grade level. I don’t know what that means to other countries, but basically I could’ve moved two grade levels had I so desired.
– I was homeschooled for about five years.
Katrin Hollister
Name: Katrin Hollister (KatrinHollister)
Writing experience: hobby writer, hopefully published one day! I’ve been writing since I was 11.
Number of books published: 0
Genre(s): mainly fantasy, mixing with action, horror, and adventure
NaNo novel genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
3 interesting facts about myself:
- I own a menagerie of exotic animals. At the moment of writing, I have 1 Argentinian black and white Tegu lizard, 4 leopard geckos, 5 snakes, 3 frogs, 5 tortoises, and 3 turtles.
– I am the creator of The Frog Blog. The frog in the picture is my Wintermelon
– When I’m not writing, I like to draw/sketch/paint. My favourite medium is probably acrylic when I’m in a messy mood and graphite pencils when I’m feeling neat(er). I drew my profile picture.
Other participants: Emily Keys (EmilyLK)
Saturday 1st November marks the start of NaNoWriMo! All of the participants are busy plotting and/or preparing their novels. Want to root them on? Be sure to keep checking this blog. To kick off NaNoWriMo, the participants will reveal details about their projects, including book titles, covers, and blurbs.
Be sure to let friends and family know about this rally!