Come and talk about your NaNoWriMo experiences at the Linthicum Library.

Welcome to National Novel Writing Month.

For me, it has made all the difference. Without NaNoWriMo, there would be DIVIDED LOYALTIES, no Maureen, no Joe, no Eliza, no man with the gun.

I wouldn’t have spent a month deeply engaged in the places the Battle of Antietam touched.I would never have even known about a battlefield hospital called Smoketown.

Most importantly, I would never have sat in front of an empty screen and begun writing a novel. My first in 2015. My second in 2016. One during Camp NaNoWriMo. And now my fourth begins.

I’ve learned about drive, goal-setting, persistence and consistency. Then I learned about character, conflict, rising action, blurbs and query letters.

I am grateful to this organization — and to my daughter who pointed me toward life as a Wrimo.

And so I’ve become a sort of cheerleader, urging on newbies and peeling people with writer’s block off the ceiling.

I will speak about my experiences and cheer for the team twice in November.

• Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Linthicum Library at 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 18, at Old Fox Books in Annapolis at 12 noon, after a two-hour write-in.

Plenty of people have great advice to offer. I intend to lend a hand, lead a cheer, and announce to all who want to know:

You can do it.