Red Room congratulates Mary Menacho, the winner of Red Room's National Novel Writing Month Contest!

Mary was among hundreds of Red Room authors and members who competed in November's NaNoWriMo, completing a 50,000-word draft and submitting it for recognition. "Wrimos," as contest entrants are called, form a community of writers who encourage each other, commiserate a bit, and exult in their success when they accomplish their writing goals.  Whether you're a published author or aspire to be one, NaNoWriMo is a great way to finish your project with the support of thousands of others.

Red Room was proud to cosponsor this year's NaNoWriMo, and we decided to add an extra incentive to Red Roomers to finish their drafts. Our contest involved blogging about the experience, finishing and submitting a draft according to NaNoWriMo's rules, and then being drawn at random to win a three-hour manuscript review and a one-hour coaching session with Red Room Founder and CEO Ivory Madison. The prize is "priceless" because Ivory no longer does book coaching. When she did, she would've charged at least $2,000 for this service. Now she only does coaching for good causes.

Red Room's contest winner, Mary Menacho of San Jose, California, was chosen at random from the hundreds of Red Room members and authors who won NaNoWriMo. Here's what she says about writing: "Writing is, for me, an act of hope. The sounds of vowels around the grit of consonants delights my ear and entices word play. Words are nets, small nets to hold imagination." It will be great to see how Mary parlays the completion of her draft with Ivory's coaching into taking her writing to the next stage, and we wish her the best! 

Please check out the many blog entries posted to Red Room about 2008's NaNoWriMo, and look for Red Room to continue supporting writers next November and throughout the year!

–Huntington W. Sharp, Editor, Red Room