It’s that time of year again when writers all over the world slink away from social media and can be seen scratching their heads, weeping over their laptops and consuming copious quantities of coffee.

Yes it’s NaNoWriMo – that’s National Novel Writing Month to the uninitiated. It’s a writing challenge. All you have to do is write 50,000 words in 30 days and you win! It’s as simple as that.

The name is a misnomer as it’s actually an International affair now. Last year 351,489 people signed up from countries all over the world. Only 42,423 actually finished with their 50,000 words in the bag by 30th November.

I have entered NaNoWriMo twice and have completed the full word count both times, although there was a week or so in the middle last time when I thought I might have to give up for lack of inspiration.  It’s exciting and frustrating and exhausting all at the same time with a vibrant and very supportive community who are all there to help (and/or distract) you with your novel.

The only trouble is that back in September, I decided that I wasn’t going to do NaNo this year and promptly stopped thinking about my plot. Then today, October 31st and the day before it starts, I changed my mind. So now I am having to think very fast…..

Anyway, I’ll keep you up to date with how it’s going and in the meantime, I can show you the cover that I’ve quickly made. I was going to call it “The Girl in the Lighthouse” to follow current trends but there wasn’t room for all those words.

Wish me luck. I’m going in!