BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES.

Yes, that's right, I'm regressing back to Middle English in order to make a point that there is a storm a-brewing around here. And for those of us on the East Coast, we all know exactly what I'm talking about - Hurricane Sandy.

Granted, I live in Ohio, so I probably won't get any of the enormous waves (otherwise we're all in big trouble), but we are expected to get high winds, heavy rains, and maybe even snow. SNOW. On Trick-Or-Treat night, of all times!

And immediately, it made me wonder: What about those little kids? Are they going to be blown away for the innocent desire of wanting to go house to house and take candy from strangers? It was one of my favorite parts of Halloween as a kid, running around in some ridiculous costume and getting  free candy. But what about the kids this year? What if this was your first Trick-Or-Treat? We're supposed to have high winds, maybe even snow, definitely some rain. Small children will be blowing all over my neighborhood.

Imagine being a toddle-y six-year-old dressed as a ghost, minding your own business and having a nice time as you're bundled up by your mom and dad and you're all set to get as much candy as you can. Then the second you step out into the main drag of the neighborhood you're in, WHOOSH, you're knocked over backwards and pushed down the sidewalk as gusts take your sixty-pound self down the street like a piece of newspaper.

Would some children develop a phobia of Trick-or-Treat Night, I wonder?

So to everyone on the East Coast, please stay safe as Sandy approaches, I already know some people who have lost power. Stay safe and stay warm!

Hurricane winds and driving rains,

Brie

Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Well, I guess it's not really wicked. It's just one of a writer's longest and craziest holidays of the year. It's like an enormous Holiday party with all of your favorite people with all of their favorite characters. There's dancing, drinking, general partying, and the always-amazing after party.

I, of course, am referring to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, which comes in ten days. I'm quaking with excitement just by typing this. Or maybe it's the caffeine.

NaNoWriMo isn't really a party, in fact most of it is spent with you and your laptop. But there is drinking and dancing, by which I mean fingers dancing over keys as you strive to make your 1,667 word benchmark every day and drinking a blur of caffeine-laced sodas, coffees, and nameless energy drinks to keep yourself awake to continue writing until your fingers go numb. The aforementioned parties come on the first of December, where you celebrate the word count you finish with, 50,000 or not, and the after party of meeting up again with your real-life author friends and talking about your crazy month-long writefest.

Not to mention a great prize: Those who complete 50,000 words receive five free copies of their books published, just like real manuscripts. I've already started a list of who my five copies go to. I can't wait.

But for those of you who don't write, NaNo isn't a straight month of being cooped up in the house writing by yourself in the dead of night. It really is a great time. I have a bunch of friends doing it: Hannah, Frankie, Meg, and a bunch of others. There are write-ins where NaNo authors come to a place and write together, like in Paneras and my 'writing home', Thurber House, the house of author and cartoonist James Thurber. It's an old Victorian home full of old pianos, even older couches, and a resident ghost. It's a writer's paradise.

So if you see people hurrying around with bags under their eyes, their fingers twitching as they clamp a Starbucks cup, know that those are probably some of my fellow authors who are working to accomplish a full-length novel manuscript in a month. Give them a nod, or even a cup of coffee if you're feeling generous. Who knows, they might be in the process of creating the next big thing.

Falling leaves and black cats,
Brie