Chicago, NaNoWriMo, and write-ins -- oh my!

Last week, my husband and I went to Chicago.  It was a mix of both vacation and research for my novels, as I was beginning to feel that I shouldn't be writing about a city that I've never actually been to.  We were there for three nights (with an 18-hour train ride on either end, making it a week-long trip).  We did a few of the typical touristy things, such as riding the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier and going to the Field Museum, but quite a bit of what we did -- riding the el, walking around the city, taking a tour, and visiting several former speakeasies from the 20s -- were planned with my novels in mind.

The trip fueled not only my research efforts, but also my motivation, and while we were there I worked a bit on researching and outlining the second half of the second novel.  We came home Saturday, which was excellent timing, since NaNoWriMo starts tonight.  I've had a mild case of post-vacation laziness since we got back, helped along by the fact that I'm fighting off a cold and feeling somewhat under the weather as a result, but I have hope that the start of NaNoWriMo will reenergize me.

I am getting slightly more involved in NaNoWriMo this year than I have in the past.  I had actually thought of acting as an ML (municipal liaison, one of the official organizers for local events), but I didn't get my application in on time.  That's just as well, since I have been so busy, but I am still planning on being involved.  My biggest contribution is that I have organized a weekly Friday night write-in at a local Perkins restaurant.  It will be the first write-in that I've ever organized myself, so I am excited!  I'll be looking for other ways to help out, too, and if all goes well, perhaps next year I will join the ML team.

Who else is participating in NaNoWriMo this year?