Happy All Hallows Eve!

Happy Halloween one and all!

Big Chimp and I had a great time at the London MCM Expo yesterday. It's a comic convention that has the same feel as San Diego Comic-Con, but on a much smaller scale. The event focuses on comics, manga, films, games, and Japanese pop culture. There were lots of artists and writers doing signings; lots of merchandise for sale; cool costumes; game demonstrations; Japanese drummers; origami lessons; and, inexplicably, there were these British wrestlers throwing each other around in a ring in the corner:

I bought a stack of books to add to my growing to-read pile:

[Yes, these books are stories of ancient Roman history told through the voices of anthropomorphic cats. Cool, right?]

And, best of all, this hat:

The reference, for all you non-Sudio Ghibli people (seriously, you don't know what you're missing!), is Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro.

The Wooky Book

I'm pleased to announce that, after twenty-two months of under/unemployment (which, when feeling pessimistic, I thought of it as "Recession Purgatory," when optimistic, "funemployment!"), I've managed to land two promising, literature-related jobs. Three days a week I shall be known as Little Bonobo, Library Assistant, and for the other two I shall assume the identity of Little Bonobo, Bookseller [Extraordinaire]!

I'm sure my experiences in these institutions will provide plenty of book-related fodder for this blog, so, watch this space!

(For example, here is a rough transcription of a bookstore conversation from earlier this week:

ME: Can I help you find anything, ma'am?
CUSTOMER: Yes, I'm looking for the Wooky Book.
[Pause.]
ME: The Wooky Book?
[Image in my head: My Life with Han Solo: Chewbacca's tell-all memoir]
CUSTOMER: Yes, by Russell Brand.
ME: Oh, do you mean Booky Wook 2?
CUSTOMER: Yes, that's the one! ::smiles sheepishly::)

NaNoWriMo writing madness

So, it's that time of year again—NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is fast approaching! Is anyone participating this year? I haven't participated before, but I think it's such a great idea. Sometimes we get so hung up on editing and following writing rules that it's hard to just GET THE WORDS OUT. Which is really what a first draft should be about—locking away your inner editor and just letting the words flow. And that's what's great about NaNoWriMo: 50,000 words in one month leaves no time for editing, fixing, or tweaking. It's a chance to let the creative right hemisphere of your brain to rule unhindered for 30 days. Then in the months following, you can edit to your heart's content.

For young writers (under 17), there is even a special Young Writers Program, where you can set your own word-count goal.

I seriously considered taking part this year, but I'm so close to the end of my draft of Water Magic that I think I'll use the month of November to just finish the book. I've got about 20,000 words to go, so it should be doable.

Have any of you participated in NaNoWriMo in past years? What was the experience like? Or, are any of you brave souls considering taking part for the first time this year?