I have been giving Na No Wri Mo some thought lately. Not last year's Na No Wri Mo novel, however, which is still unfinished and will have an excerpt published this summer. Let me not blow by that, because it is really exciting of course to have anything published. And of course it is important to put the finishing touches on the novel that I started last November. I was planning on knocking that out in January . . . whoops! Now that it is April and I have added very little to it, I know that it is probably way way way way too early to start thinking about next years' Na No Wri Mo event. I completely lucked into being prepared for last years', I must admit, by having a novel already outlined. So I was pretty ready to get that one written. That was very exciting, I have to admit. So I was incredibly fortunate in finding the link and having a book ready. I am a spiritual person, and the coincidences of Last November are enough to make me think that something was going on there beyond the natural. how that works and what exactly that owuld have been I of course have no idea. I am just saying that I was prepared for last year, and the key is that I am not prepared for next year. One of the things I like about the Na No Wri Mo group here that I have gotten to get to know, is that we are going to keep our focus on the Na No Wri Mo event. That is when we will open our ranks up to new members. Not until then, because we are not JUST a writing group, we are a writing group with a shared experience of trying to write fifty thousand words of a novel in one month. Incredible, is it not? I can hardly believe that I accomplished the feat that I just referenced. Of course I did not finish the book that I wrote, but I am fifty thousand words closer (okay, okay, it is closer to fifty three thousand words) to finishing Soul Mates than I was six months ago. Anyway, we have a shared experience, and are not losing focus on that as next November continues to loom out there. anyway, we are planning to spend our Sept and Oct meeting in preparation for the Nov Na No Wri Mo event of 2003. Not writing of course, but plotting and planning, character development issues, descriptions, back stories, and the like. So anyway, I want to get some idea of what I am going to srite before that, so I can really focus on writing in November. I liked being prepared in Nov 2002, and hope to be as prepared . . . or maybe even more prepared . . . or maybe even less prepared . . . in 2003. We will have to see.

Anywho, I thnk I have come up with or found a novel topic for next year. I was listening to the very intriguing NPR program "This American Life," hosted by Ira Glass, a few weeks ago, when they did an episode (that is not the right word . . . how about issue? I gues I am looking for the word program) . . . a program . . . about super heroes and super powers. A trio of stories that were connected only in that they were in some way about super heroes or super powers. The one that struck me was the segment about the two fundamental human desires in terms of superheroes, invisibility and the ability to fly. Humans fantasy about a lot of things, certainly, super strength, x-ray vision, super speed, etc . . . but the ones that seem to be most closely to being universal in fantasy and stories across generations and civilizations are the ability to fly and the ability to turn invisible. The interviewer in this segment asked people across the country which of these super powers they would prefer. And they got serious answers. This is what I like about the show, it takes all of its topics seriously. There is no sense of humor, of irony, of looking down on the subjects. So this producer asked a variety of people which of these they would prefer, and got a range of answers, and then dug into those answers with intellignet follow ups and insightful replies. As I was listening to this, it struck me how fundamental this question was and how many different attitudes there would be about the choice. So it struck me that a novel about this choice and the implications of the choice (both the one you take and the one you reject) could be really really really interesting. My own knowledge of comic books could certainly add depth to the topic. So I think that that is the type of novel I am thinkg about. Of course all I have now is an idea, I don't even really have characters, except that there will be a character who is given this choice. I envision this being a first person story, where the person who has made the choice and lived with the consequences is spinning the tale of the choice and its consequences. This character has no meat on his skinny bones, and there are no supporting characters, and certainly no events or issues. All I know is the choice he will make. So I need to think more about this, and I am hoping that the group in Sep and Oct will help me with this. First things, of course, is that I have to find the web site for "This American Life" and re-listen to that super hero episode, to do my research. I suppose I will have to credit them when the book gets published, right? Maybe just a mention in the acknowledgements. I think that would be a good idea. But I don't need to share the royalties, do I?