This month we’ve been following the progress of three participants in National Novel Writing Month, and I am happy to report that the first of them has made it across the 50,000-word goal line. Despite having a busy life and a full-time job, Brenda Mantz reported today that she finished with 50,043 words and a draft that she is ready to begin editing. EJ James and Celine Nguyen are not far behind and we will continue to report on their progress.

The best part of following these three? Observing their email and twitter communications to each other over the month, sharing cheers and support and commiseration. My hat is off to all three. We will be excerpting portions of their NaNoWriMo novels in an upcoming issue of Shelf Unbound. I can’t wait to start reading!