Friday Five 10/21/11

1. Ella brought you a raccoon.

2) On Monday, I'll be hosting a Halloween spooktacular contest with Natalie Lakosil, an agent at the Bradford Literary Agency, as the judge. Start thinking of a spooky story or an excerpt of 500 bone-chilling words or less, and you could win a critique of your query and first ten pages!

3) Next week I'll be off to San Diego for World Fantasy Con! This is my first time, and I'm really excited... although my initial impression that it would be "a smaller fantasy-themed Comic Con" may prove to be incorrect. We'll see. Either way, NEIL GAIMAN!!!

4) The weekend after WFC is Comikaze! This is a new comics convention, so I have no idea what it will be like, but I'll definitely be there at least one of the days. If you live near Los Angeles, check it out - tickets are only $12, so it's hard to go wrong.

5) November is almost here, and that means NaNoWriMo! I wrote a couple posts last year with tips, which you might find helpful whether this is your first time or your fifth.

• Benefits of NaNoWriMo - in case you're on the fence about participating
• NaNoWriMo Survival Tips - a few things I've learned after 4 years of doing NaNo that might help you
• NaNoWriMo Last Minute Tricks - for when you're at the end of the month and need to squeeze out a few more words

Are you doing NaNo this year? Let me know!