Friday Fricassee

Is it really Friday again? Already? Whew!

I appreciate all the response on the First Chapter idea. Seems like there's been a bit of confusion and certainly a fair amount of scatteredness on my part (nothing unusual there). So here's the low-down, and hopefully I haven't missed anything:

1. Our RallyStorm "First Chapter" group exists as a holding place for the names of all members who have first chapters that they wouldn't mind having publicly critiqued on Miss Snark's First Victim.

2. The "First Chapter" group will include two separate boards: One board is "locked," and serves as a list of member names of those who wish their chapters to be included (at some point). The second board is a regular bulletin board for whenever you're feeling chatty, have a question, or I'm ready to draw a name.

3. The main 250-word format of our regular in-house crits and Secret Agent contests WILL NOT CHANGE. The "First Chapter" is an extra goody I'm throwing in the bag for the occasional, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-do-a-whole-chapter thing.

4. Whenever I'm planning a "First Chapter" critique for the blog, I will draw a name AT RANDOM from the "First Chapter" board on RallyStorm. If your name is on that list at the time of the drawing, you're in the pot. If your name is not on that list, your chapter will not be eligible for that particular drawing.

5. In order to "get your name on the list" (i.e., become a member of the RallyStorm group), please SEND ME AN EMAIL TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: authoressmail(at)gmail.com. Include your SCREEN NAME (the one you use here) and the email address you'd like me to mail your invitation to.

6. I'm going to repeat the email address again, because it's not the same one I use for the crits, contests, and basic blog communication: AUTHORESSMAIL(at)GMAIL.COM.

7. Members' first chapters WILL NOT BE POSTED on the RallyStorm group. In fact, if your name is drawn, you can at that time decide which "first chapter" you would like to have critiqued on Miss Snark's First Victim. (Yes, it needs to be a FIRST chapter, please.)

8. You can also, of course, decline. Then I'll have another drawing and choose a different chapter.

9. We're going to have our first "First Chapter" critique in December, in lieu of a Secret Agent contest (but never fear -- we've already got an SA lined up for January!).

10. Have I missed anything? Please let me know in the comments box.

And in case you're a non-twitter and missed my little tweet yesterday afternoon -- I wrote 1000 words yesterday in about 90 minutes. The reason I'm announcing this (with much glee and a touch of self-awe) is because I believe my success yesterday was a direct result of the wonderful comments left by all you NaNo-ers on Wednesday.

Seriously! So thank you very much. And may you have ultra-productive weekends. Unless, of course, you've decided to take some time off and actually relax, play, and enjoy dedicated non-writing time.

As if.