Hello friends! (And people who only read my blog out of obligation 👋)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I have written quite a few entries, but they sit unpublished as drafts.

Everything I want to say lately is, for lack of a better word, ‘divisive’.

“Divisive is an understatement!”

-EM VAN MOORE, chronically opinionated

So instead of posting things that may divide my ravenous fan base (all three of you) into “those who agree with me, and are RIGHT” and “those who don’t agree with me but who I will eventually wear down until they DO”, I decided not to blog about those topics at all. I don’t want to divide anyone. I hate mitosis.

I guess I took an accidental on purpose break from blogging…

“WE WERE ON A BREAK!!”

ROSS GELLAR, man who was not on a break

“But were we REALLY on a break????”

EM VAN MOORE, blogger who wasn’t taking a break but you wouldn’t know that from her lack of blogging, which could lead you to believe (rightfully so) that she was, in fact, on a break. Which she wasn’t.

Now that I’ve relegated the divisive topic drafts to the unfinished purgatory of my blog, I’m jumping back in with both feet to talk to you about something that’s actually fun!

But also terrifying.

And exhausting. And exhilarating.

Parenthood?

Nope!

It’s NaNoWriMo!

The National Novel Writers Month is a yearly event where writers challenge themselves to pen 50,000 words in 30 days. Starting November 1st, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world (myself included) will begin the month with the intention of finishing it having ‘won’ NaNo by writing an average of 1,667 words a day, every day.

It’s as daunting as it is inspiring!

Of course I’d been hearing about NaNo for a while, but last year was my first time doing it.

It’s also actually how/why the Motley Writers Guild formed! We joined forces, initiated by our fearless leader A.J. Hanson, and created the Guild during the planning process of NaNo ’21.

Then we kept each other accountable through the month, discussing our daily wordcounts, our successes and setbacks, as well as ongoing encouragement.

I was the only member who ‘won’ by completing my novel in 2021, but we all won something better than NaNo: friendship!

(BARF. But also, it’s true. Shoutout to my amazing friends in the MWG!)

I honestly had no idea how much I would love NaNoWriMo until I did it.

Writing an average of nearly 2800 words every day, I’d achieved the goal of 50,000 words by November 17, 2021.

I went on to complete the first draft of my novel, OH MOON, by November 25 with a word count of 86,366.

It was one of the best writing experiences of my life, and I am stoked to be attempting it again.

Once I’d discovered just how productive I could be when I put my mind (and ALL my spare time) to something, I challenged myself in March 2022 to write another novel; a collaboration with my fellow Guildmate and best writing buddy, A.D. Moseley. I finished the first draft of 70,000 words in 2 weeks.

After feedback and revisions, we produced PEARLESSENCE, a joint effort of blood, sweat, and zero tears because it was truly amazing to be working with someone who I collab so well with.

You can read the first 3 chapters for free on Kindle Vella (only in the USA).

Tahllah lives a double life. As a dragon trying to survive in a human world, she must disguise herself as an elf or risk being hunted for her pearl–a precious jewel that grants immortality to its owner.

A misanthrope at heart, Tahl doesn’t care about anything, or anyone, except the treasures in her hoard and Alanna, her only friend.

When that friend is killed, Tahl must team up with the sexy, but infuriating, detective investigating her murder, and race the clock to bring Alanna back from the dead.

This year for NaNoWriMo I’m collaborating with A.D. Moseley again (yay!) to write a story in the same universe as PEARLESSENCE, but set 5 years earlier. It will be about the elf whose disguise the dragon-girl Tahl wears for many of the events in that novel. Needless to say, I’m stoked!

And that brings me to my big announcement:

I want YOU to join me during NaNoWriMo 2022!

Let’s have fun together, and let’s write together!

I’ll be working on my NaNo novel every night at 0730 PM PST and it will be livestreamed!

Lots of writers find they’re productive when they work at the same time and in the same spaces with another writer (but separately and on their own projects). I’m the same way. So I’m inviting everyone to come remotely write with me in my cozy author nook.

As for other spectators, I’m hoping even casual onlookers will enjoy watching a novel get written in a month, and perhaps even inspire some folks…

Yes.

It CAN be done.

YOU can write too!

So please join me as I livestream my NaNo progress!

I’ll be answering questions and chatting with folks for the first little bit, and then getting right down to writing. Remember: the goal is 1,667 words per day to reach 50k by the end of November.

Tune in every day for:

Encouragement

Comradery

And probably some silliness

(+writing. Don’t forget about the WRITING!)

And have your burning questions answered, such as……..

How is my progress going (am I achieving my daily word count goal?)

Can my carpal tunnel handle the herculean task?

Will I forget the camera is on and start singing the Star Wars theme song under my breath?

Can my senior cat fit on my lap while I write? (Spoiler alert: he can’t, but he will try persistently anyway)

As well as…

Why does Em type like an eight-year-old?

Is she mad at her keyboard?

Why is she doing that to her keyboard?

Will the keyboard survive NaNoWriMo 2022????

So please join my livestream to write with me during NaNoWriMo 2022!

And lets see if I can beat my 2021 NaNo record of 50k words by the 17th! (Though I’ll just be happy to achieve a totally normal and realistic goal of 50k words by the 30th)

Stay tuned for details of how to watch and participate in the livestream.