Give or take a few hours, NaNoWriMo kicks off in a week! I’m definitely nervous–I don’t have copious amounts of time, and my ideas are sketchy at best–but there’s something about this writing community that makes me want to be a part of it regardless.

The plan this year is to crank out 50,000 worth of short stories. I’d say, “as many as possible,” but that logic train goes the direction of 500 100-word drabbles, when I’d rather have a mix of longer and shorter stories.

Beyond that, not too much to share. Class is kicking into high gear. I’ve got about 40 pages left to read in Light in August (Faulkner: pretty cool guy. Glad we’re reading him), one other book for next week, and then I get to swing into two translations of Madame Bovary in preparation for the final translation project. I’m slowing down on fiction to save lots of ideas for NaNo, and getting ready to throw a Halloween bash at the church on Sunday. I even had time to make an artichoke tortilla, which came out golden and beautiful. Life’s good, autumn is great, and as soon as I get a chance I’ll post properly about NaNo prep or the amazing stuff I’m reading or interior design or something, but for the moment I’m going to head outside and take a moment to breathe.