Letter to Wrimo Radio

Wrimo Radio has begun! I loved their podcasts last year, so I'm looking forward to the silliness and seriousness and utter inspiration that will ensue from this year's episodes. I was reading Chris Baty's news column about it and saw that they were looking for stories for Wrimo Radio. I sent them an email with my story about being an "almost quitter."

The Almost-Quitter: Stories of people who almost dropped out, then didn't, and what it meant for their life.

On day 8 of NaNoWriMo 2005, my first attempt at the challenge, I got the the news that the 6-year old daughter of a dear friend of mine died suddenly. There was no warning or notice, she just died of a rare medical condition no one knew she had. I'd been a part of her life since she was four months old, so the tragedy understandably put me into utter shock. Here's an excerpt from my NaNo blog two days after it happened:

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The thought of quitting NaNo crossed my mind a few times today as I have been grieving through the loss of my friend's child, and grieving for her loss as well. But a fellow NaNo writer, NarniaPrincess, and a friend in real life, encouraged me to try to stick out. She said that perhaps writing would be the one thing that kept me grounded and helped me though this. She was right. Writing this evening helped a lot.

My story involves angels, and though my head said, no don't even think it, my heart said, YES, just do it! So I wrote Savannah into the story. She appeared behind a receptionist in a white dress with a fluffy white tutu. She carried a magic wand with a star on the end and was as happy as she could be. That's how I see her--as happy as can be.

It did help to write about her. I don't know why. Maybe there's some therapeutic nature to writing for me. Well, yes, I know there is. But who'd have thought it would come out in my NaNo novel?
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Doing NaNoWriMo that month helped me get through my grief over the loss of that little girl. I'll always remember her whenever I do NaNoWriMo. It's something I can't possibly forget. The contest is forever tagged with its incredible ability to heal my heart last November.


Who knows if they'll use it, but when I read the different kinds of stories they were looking for, this one was laid on my heart to share. If they do use it, maybe it'll help someone out there.