Current Listening: Seeing A Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters
Current Reading: The Devil's Cup by Stewart Lee Allen
Recipe of the Day: Ghormeh Sabzi, Makaroni, Cocada, Brigadeiros, Beijinho De Coco, Passionfruit Mousse, Pav Bhaji, Peruvian Chicken Soup (Recipes from my ESOL students)

Dear Novelist,

It is our supreme pleasure to inform you that our internationally renowned team of word-counting robots have completed their judicious assessment of your manuscript, and have passed on this final, binding decision:

Winner.

Wow. You've really done it this time, writer. Where the vast majority of National Novel Writing Month participants abandoned ship at some point in the journey, you bravely persevered, continuing your literary quest in the face of ridiculously long odds.

In one month, you have written more fiction than most people create in a lifetime. You have dared to dream big, to throw long, to say: "Enough of the self-critical crap, and the hemming and hawing. This time I'm going for it."

And you pulled it off with aplomb. In just four weeks, you built vast worlds and set them in motion. You created characters; quirky, interesting, passionate souls with lives and loves and ambitions as great as yours.

And most admirably, you managed to find time to do it all while juggling the demands of work, school, friends and family. Most people barely have the strength to make it through dinner at the end of a tough day. You dug deep, and found the energy and resolve to make wild, deliciously imperfect art in the midst of a horribly hectic life.

It's an amazing accomplishment, and we're proud of you for seeing it through.

Before we let you head off to your celebration (or nap, as the case may be), we have some NaNoWriMo Winners' booty to share with you.

The first is a small winner's icon, meant to be posted on a website or blog. It was designed this year by artist Claire Robertson. You can find the icon, and instructions for downloading it here.

Since many people don't have a website to call their own, we also commissioned an official NaNoWriMo 2003 winner's certificate, which you can download and print out. It was drawn by illustrator Lindy Groening, and can be downloaded here.

And that's about it. It's been an unforgettable month, and we've been very glad to have you with us.

With warm regards (and much applause and whistling),

Chris Baty

Director, NaNoWriMo

I did it!!!! No, I am not finished yet - I am only on March, but the end is in sight. I also have an idea for another novel. I took notes on it this morning before working on this one! For those of you who haven't looked at it, my novel, A Year in Angers is still up. I don't know how long I will keep it up. Next year, the sequel: A Year in Poitiers! ;-) After I figure out how to print out the afore-mentioned certificate, I am going to see a movie!