Write What You NaNo guest blogger: Claudie A.

It's official: we've gone international! I'd like to welcome Claudie A, representing North Minnesota Canada on the blog (fans clap wildly). Along with hosting a pretty amazing Olympics, Canada also has Claudie, a fellow spec fiction writer and NaNoer. But Claudie has something the rest of us don't.... the title of Municipal Liaison!

The Truth About Municipal Liaisons
Municipal Liaisons are vampires. All they do is sit on their asses and tell their region "hey, let's meet there at six". Once they show up, they leech all their enthusiasm and creativity, and fuel their own writing with it. Why do you think I overachieve every year since I'm a ML? That's why.

Wait, what's that you're saying? It isn't Halloween yet? Oh, my mistake.

Please, don't be scared of your MLs. A Municipal Liaison's relationship isn't a host-parasite one. It's more along the lines of mutualism. You see, regions need MLs to thrive, but we MLs also need awesome Wrimos to survive. Without a region to support us, we'd sit alone at a café with a blinding yellow shirt and a sign for others.

A ML's job is half cheerleading, half cat-herding. While we put a lot of time and energy into organising the meets, the Kick Off and the Thank God it's Over Party, I don't think that's where a ML shows his true worth. You could organise all these things and still kinda suck. Because there is one very essential thing to remember as a ML, and if you forget it, you miss the point.

The cheerleading part. A Municipal Liaison's job is to be upbeat, positive and optimist. Yes there are rough parts. Yes, people fall behind. Yes, you could fail NaNo. But you won't. Every Wrimo has the strength, the imagination and the determination required to reach the 50,000. This isn't about people being better or faster than others. This is about you, and the truth is? You have it in you.

I'm here to make you see it. Every trick in the book is allowed. Shiny stickers, forced word wars, sit-ins at your house to make sure you aren't procrastinating over the internet – everything. But as long as I'm around, three things will happen.

NaNoWriMo will be crazy fun. NaNoWriMo will be a community adventure. NaNoWriMo will be possible.

That's why I ML. I believe in my Wrimos, and I believe in this challenge.

Three days left!

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Claudie A is a proud 3^rd year ML (now co-ML) for Quebec City and has won NaNoWriMo every year since 2008 (when she started). Out of November, Claudie is a sci-fi and fantasy writer and a biochemist. She posts weekly experiments at The Novel Experiment and posts every Tuesday at Wicked & Tricksy, a collective blog for spec fic writers.