Time for chocolate, chili, homemade bread and 50,000 words

By Margi Washburn

Well, boys and girls, it's that time of year again. Time to buy bags of chocolate candy, haul out the baking pans and large cooking pots, and begin the outline for your novel. Don't tell me you forgot?

First, the candy. Last year hubby reminded me to get several bags of what he likes to call the "good candy." We may only get a dozen trick-or-treaters every year, but someone wants to make sure they get the good stuff. He can't eat candy, so that leaves a big ol' bowlful for me, and while that should make me ecstatic, it doesn't. This time, I'm bringing the stuff to work and letting others share the goodies.

Last year, the two of us were in the dentist's office on Halloween night. Sarah the pup had head-butted hubby a few nights before and knocked a tooth loose. By the time we got home from the dentist, hubby had one less tooth and the dog had wrapped a blanket around her head, neck and one paw and was probably a heartbeat away from joining our other furry friends in doggy heaven. We rescued her, and she was fine but her master wasn't. I fixed soft foods, gave hubby a pain pill and off he went to bed for the night. We missed every single trick-or-treater and I had six bucks' worth of candy all to myself.

Second, this is the season for homemade bread, chili, vegetable soup and other comfort foods. I bought some hot chocolate mix with marshmallows a while back, so I'm ready for some serious cool weather. I've tried to make the healthy type of chili with turkey meat, but hubby turns up his nose at the appearance of pale meat floating among the beans and onions. That leaves fresh-baked bread, and I have a lot of family members who love seeing me show up at their house with a loaf of the stuff. They tell me it's usually gone in less than two days.

Finally, it's time once again for you writers out there to sharpen your pencils. Beginning at one minute after midnight on November 1st, we'll be joining tens of thousands of other budding novelists in our quest to reach 50,000 words by November 30. Scared? Feeling completely inadequate as a novelist? Well, join the club; we all get the jitters at the mere thought, but trust me, it can be done.

We've got young people right here in Kewanee who are making plans to put their dreams on paper. Some have formed a group, have a glimmer of an idea, and know where and when they'll meet. This is a fantastic development; we have kids who not only love to read, but they're excited about writing a book of their own.

Those of us who are readying ourselves for National Novel Writing Month have registered at their website: http://www.nanowrimo.org and there is a link there especially for young writers. There you will find three different age-relevant sets of worksheets to download and print out to help you along. It's OK for grownups to do this; we can all use the help. A word of caution: each of the three sets is at least 50 pages long, so make sure you have plenty of ink in your printer.

This time around, most of us will create our own little worlds inside our own homes, but some will find their way to local eateries just to have a change of scenery. Others will write in bookstores, the library and, if weather permits, outdoors. If any other story-inspiring locations arise, I'll let you all know.

So, stock up on candy, make a pot of hearty soup, and come up with a winning story idea. After all, it isn't all that long until we enter the season of miracles, so let's get a head start.