"It's (Near) That Time Again..."

Autumn is finally here. Stores are inundated with all things pumpkin spice. Canadian Thanksgiving is less than a week away. (And, for the first time in my life, I will not be in my former "home and native land" to celebrate it.) And, the start of the National Hockey League regular season is not far away. However, for some writers, like me, we are deep in the throws of plotting and planning for the annual month of insanity is upon us. That's right, gang, NaNoWriMo is nigh.

For those unfamiliar with the term, or a complete newbie to my blog, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every year since 1999, participants have taken on the wild-and-wacky creative writing challenge where they are tasked to write a 50,000-word novel within a month. Interesting factoid: when it started that first year, the event was held in July. However, *sings* "in the Year 2000", the event was shifted to the traditional November time frame, and it hasn't looked back since.

Annually, 300,000 people from around the globe embark on this literary journey to create their magical worlds whether it be in the realms of fantasy, sci-fi, romance,or any other genre of fiction. I, myself, have participated in the challenge every year since 2009, with the exception of 2013 when I was adjusting to a new job I had obtained a couple months before. This year, I will attempt to tackle the task again, but with the added responsibilities of married life and my current "day job." My mission -- which I'm choosing to accept -- is to write the first draft to the first book in my Phil Bennett spin-off series.

It should be an interesting November, and those who are interested in getting in on the insanity themselves, you can sign up at http://www.nanowrimo.org