I thought of NaNoWriMo when I saw this at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles a few days ago. May all of our novels flow from our minds to our fingers to the page in a similar fashion.

Are you ready for NaNoWriMo?

There are as many ways to get ready as there are future novelists. Everyone I’ve talked to does something different.

Until this year, I did nothing besides decide on a place, and a main character. From those meager preparations I have written three novels during NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo. One is published. One is nearly so and the third is ready for my critique group.

This time, I decided to go a different route.

I was ready with my character, a widowed innkeeper. I had my time period (you need that for historical fiction),  the end of the summer season in 1895. And I knew the place had to be Ocean City, Md., when it was a far different place from its 2017 self.

This time my character comes from my own family tree. I am paying tribute to one of the Petticoat Regime, a group of ladies determined to turn a little town at the edge of the ocean from a rough and tumble fishing village into a resort worthy of families.

My curiosity got to me early once I learned of my long-gone relative. I soon found myself in the library at the Maryland Historical Society, looking up pictures of Rosalie and her hotel. She’s quite an inspiration — and that’s good. I don’t intend to write her biography. I want to create a whole new persona with qualities all her own, but similar to Rosalie’s. (I’ll keep it all to myself for right now.)

Armed with a little history and a lot of enthusiasm for this project, I’m looking forward to being swallowed up by Ocean City in 1895 for the whole month of November.

Are you ready?