Hello! So Rebecca and I are trying to think out the details of Berkeley's kick-off party as early as possible, mostly because we know that our moth will be crazy and would like to stay on top of things.
I personally have this grand vision of a kick-off Halloween night where we all come dressed as characters from our novels-to-be and hype up on discount candy until we begin to novel at midnight. Unfortunately, I don't own a large public space in which to make this happen! Rebecca, acting in her role as voice of wisdom, has also suggested that people may already have plans for Halloween.
If anyone has suggestions about when we should throw this or where there is space in Berkeley to hold a group of crazed writers, this is the place to talk about that! If we make any decisions, Rebecca or I will be sure to post them here.
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Candace Cunard
Office of Letters & Light // Editorial Intern & Press Liaison
Co-ML, East Bay CA // 3-time participant & winner
4,491 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2008 - 19 55
How about a morning brunch or lunch kick-off on a Sat. or Sun. morning. How many? Vik's or Bacheeso's? If people could be asked to pay a fee to cover the cost of the rent, you might look into Knit One One on Adeline. It leases it's studio space for events and I think the rate is reasonable.
40,052 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2008 - 20 40
I think it'd be really cool to have a midnight write, especially seeing as it falls on Friday night. But, yeah, I don't know of anywhere that's open, uh, all night. And, yeah, people (not me) probably have Halloween plans. So, I'm totally no help. But I'd be up for anything, late night or brunch or something.
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my unhappy webcomic
10,642 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2008 - 20 49
A kick off on Sunday afternoon would suit me better personally.
51,922 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2008 - 21 04
What would you think of a kick-off Friday night followed by an inaugural write-in sometime Saturday? The only problem with Sunday is that your co-MLs happen to be going to the Jason Mraz concert and are therefore busy... :) Of course, we encourage people to host write-ins without us -- just please let everyone know if you're planning to do so. Hopefully we can work out a kick-off schedule that allows most people to attend at least one event in the first days of the month.
SlowlyWeTurn, I've never heard of Vik's or Bacheeso's -- where/what are they?
Also: in general, I think we were hoping to find a way to make the kick-off work without renting a room -- NaNoWriMo should be free! -- but thanks for the suggestions in case that just doesn't work out.
----------Candace Cunard
Office of Letters & Light // Editorial Intern & Press Liaison
Co-ML, East Bay CA // 3-time participant & winner
28,153 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2008 - 10 44
Ooh! Midnight write. I like it. Au Coquelet on University Ave in Berkeley is open until 1 or 2am on Friday and Saturday, I think...
7,365 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2008 - 19 07
I am really hoping to be doing Halloween-esque things on Halloween and I already know what I want for my costume. Not that I have actual plans yet. :P So while your Halloween idea is a great one, I can't commit to it.
Wish I had more ideas to offer!
27,933 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2008 - 11 22
Though I have to be up early Saturday morning for a meeting, ifwe could find a safe place to do it, I think counting down to midnight and starting together would be fun! Especially since I'm planning on writing a mystery this year, gearing up on Halloween evening sounds fun.
If there are enough people over in Contra Costa County, I could probably arrange to use the fellowship hall of my church in Martinez - if people didn't want to go to Berkeley at night. Might be able to use it for East CoCoCo write-ins several times, though not around election time when it's used as a polling place.
Jill
51,922 / 50,000
Oct 12, 2008 - 16 34
Exciting news -- we have official details for the Berkeley Kick-Off!
It will be held Saturday October 25th from 2-5pm in Cafe Milano on Bancroft between Telegraph and Bowditch. Since we can't write until November, we'll be playing games and participating in activities to help us get to know our stories, our characters, and--oh yeah!--our fellow writers better. Come prepared to have ridiculous amounts of fun and win cool prizes (prizes!) for participation.
We are still working on pulling together a midnight write to start off November. It looks like it will happen, we're just not sure where. Please, all suggestions of places open past midnight are welcome!
----------Candace Cunard
Office of Letters & Light // Editorial Intern & Press Liaison
Co-ML, East Bay CA // 3-time participant & winner
0 / 50,000
Oct 13, 2008 - 12 49
Hello!
I'm all for a Halloween kickoff. I'd love to do a write-in Saturday or Sunday early-afternoon-ish. I have a house near the Ashby BART station which is amenable to hosting if it's needful.
I champ at the bit. I rear to go. Rawr.
-Scratch.
57,291 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2008 - 16 16
The beauty of it is that to dress as my main character, I'd just have to put on a nice, all-black suit.
And you will NOT get me to dress up as a goth girl, Halloween or not!
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Oct 15, 2008 - 16 18
Note to self: Read whole thread before replying.
But I'm in for this regardless. :)
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Oct 25, 2008 - 20 29
Hey, thanks to our MLs Candace and Rebecca for an awesome and really well attended kickoff get-together.
It was great to meet everyone, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about your collective progress in the near future!
John
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