Sign up TODAY for National Novel Writing Month

Today is THE DAY to sign-up for National Novel Writing Month 2006.

Actually, you can't sign up as of right at this moment (4:40 PM EST)...but the sign-ups will DEFINITELY start sometime today. From NaNoWriMo Director Chris Baty:

"Our exact re-launch time will depend on several things, including the speed with which Russ eats his birthday cake (happy birthday, Russ!), the number of last-minute changes we need to make, and the supply of Kade's coffee in our bean hopper. We will tell you this, however: It will happen sometime before 11:59 PM, Pacific Time, on October 1."

I am SO psyched for this. In fact, I'm am so looking forward to this year's writing mania and creative mayhem that there are not a sufficient enough number of exclamation marks to put at the end of my sentences to even express how excited I am. Thus, I am putting none.

Does that make any sense?

It's like being a little kid and wanting a pony. You dream of the pony, you draw pictures of the pony, you pretend to ride around all day on the pony (which happens to be light purple, by the way). Your pony sits next to you on a chair at dinner. You give the pony a bath while you're getting a bath. You kiss the pony good-night before you go to sleep and make sure it is securely covered with its blanket before you drift off to pony dreamland.

And then one day, you're riding the bus home from school and you see your home off in the distance. You think you see something big and purple on your front lawn. As the bus gets closer, your mouth drops open. Your heart stops, then starts up again really fast. All the kids on the bus stop talking and singing and screaming and throwing paper wads. They all rush to the windows on the right side of the bus, yet you sit frozen in your seat. The bus is completely silent.

The bus stops in front of your house, and your tiny little feet have turned to lead and you can't move. Someone shouts, "Hey! It's your stop! Is that your pony?!?!?!"

You somehow begin to breathe again because you realize that someone else sees it, too, and that your six-year-old eyes are still fully functional. You stand up and all the kids watch you as you walk slowly towards the bus stairs.

And as you descend the stairs, you come face-to-face with your Dream Pony. Its lavender mane blows gently in the wind as it smiles at you, as only ponies can do, and winks. The kids on the bus erupt in cheers.

How excited would you feel?

Stay tuned!

Addendum: Today is only the FIRST day for sign-ups. You can still sign up during the entire month of October. The competition starts November 1st.