"Happy Crappy Draft Day!"

The Natural Habitat of 'The Mamzo' (that's me!)

On this Sunday November 28th, I have officially won something. This is unusual for me, as I don't play the lottery or team sports, as a rule. But I do write, and according to The Office of Letters and Light, anyone who writes 50,000 or more words of a novel in the month of November is a winner.

This is the first year I've accepted the challenge and I am indeed a Nanowrimo winner- yippee!

I couldn't have done it without support from home. The minute I put down my pen and uttered the words, "I won," my husband cranked up "Paperback Writer" on the iPod and the four of us danced around together like Peanuts characters. Then my children lavished me with home made cards of congratulation. My daughter drew the above picture of my natural habitat, complete with couch, table, composition notebook and reading glasses. Here's her message of encouragement:

I DO feel like a 'real writer' now!

My son drew a picture of my yet-unpublished work, bound with an aquamarine cover:

Again, he hits home with that fundamental message:

And my husband made me a flourless chocolate ganache cake for the post-50K party! I am a lucky writer, indeed. Happy Crappy Draft Day, folks! Writers: what kinds of encouragement have you received from your 'fan base' of loved ones? Please share them with me.