If only there were some metaphor about horses and gates that were apt here

The bad news is that we have only sixteen participants this year, a new low (and marking the third straight year of declining participation). On the upside, it's a really stellar field: the sixteen of us have a combined forty-five previous NaNoWriMo U of A attempts, including thirteen previous successes. Seven of us have won at least once before, and I'm expecting at least two new winners this year. Most importantly,* I expect that we'll all have a lot of fun.

Without further ado, this year's participants:

Justin Benko (Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Catrin Berghoff (Loser: 2006, 2007)
Sarah Bidanjiri (Loser: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Courtney Burr (Loser: 2008, 2009)
Richard Casey (Winner: 2009. Loser: 2007)
Adam Demaniuk (Winner: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Ashley Geis (Loser: 2007, 2008)
Jenna Greig (Winner: 2007)
Amanda Henry (Winner: 2007, 2009. Loser: 2008)
Dan Kaszor (Winner: 2006. Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Sarah Eve Kelly (while I'm not aware that she's ever participated in any kind of NaNoWriMo, she is an agented novellist, making her vastly overqualified for this endeavor)
Scott Lilwall (Winner: 2007, 2008, 2009. Loser: 2006. Has also won some non-U of A NaNoWriMos)
Erin Reddekopp (Loser: 2007, 2008)
Nadia Rushdy (Loser: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Steph Shantz (Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Brenda Smith (No prior NaNoWriMo experience)
Heather Smith (Winner: 2006. Loser: 2007, 2008, 2009)
Steve Smith (Winner: 2006, 2009. Loser: 2007, 2008)
Krystina Sulatycki (Winner: 2009. Loser: 2007, 2008)
Jake Troughton (Winner: 2006, 2009. Loser: 2007)

* This is not actually the most important thing; completing novels is.

Update: Heather's in this year, too, meaning that we now have seventeen participants, of whom eight have succeeded in past attempts.

Update #2: My mother has just signed on for her first NaNoWriMo, which brings us to eighteen.

Update #3: Amanda Henry brings us up to nineteen, including nine past winners.

Update #4: Jenna Greig brings us to twenty, meaning that fully half of this year's participants are past winners. Huzzah!

There are horses and there are gates. Shall ever the twain meet? Maybe.

We have a slimmed down roster for NaNoWriMo U of A 2009. I prefer to think that this means that we're leaner and hungrier. I know I am: as soon as I finish this blog post I'm going to have a snack. But nothing that will compromise our sveltness (sveltitude? Hell, why not both if it will help you reach fifty grand faster?), I promise.

Anyway, we have twenty-one twoone lined up this year, fully one third seven six of whom are past winners (though granted this figure includes a couple of people who told me that they were "maybe" in, and who I'm promoted to "definitely" in on the basis of not having heard otherwise from them). I think seven is the minimum number of completed novels we should expect this year. Woot? You're damned right.

Justin Benko
Sarah Bidanjiri
Ashleigh Brown
Courtney Burr
Richard Casey
Natalie Climenhaga
Adam Demaniuk
Amanda Henry
Daniel Kaszor
Scott Lilwall
Dave Miller
Chris O'Leary
Shawna Pandya
Samantha Power
Nadia Rushdy
Chris Schafenacker
Steph Shantz
Heather Smith
Steve Smith
Krystia Sulatycki
Jake Troughton
Ray Wheeler

This is always the best part of the month

That is, the part that isn't actually the month, but rather before the month. Our combined word deficit is zero, which is the lowest it will ever be. Nobody's novels are yet suffering from gaping plot holes, and nobody's social lives are yet suffering from novels. For most of you, I'm sad to say, the exhilaration of standing here at the starting gate is as good as it will get. This is because most of you are cowards. For the few of you - the few of us, rather - who succeed, it only gets better from here, albeit in the kind of way that involved a lot of worse spots. Don't think that makes any sense? That means your critical faculties are still working. Turn them off for the next month. Join me.

Any way, here are this year's participants:

Kate Andrews
Josh Bazin
Elena Belyea
Justin Benko
Sarah Bidanjiri
Courtney Burr
David Climenhaga
Natalie Climenhaga
Shannon Collum
David Cournoyer
Adam Demaniuk (successful 2007 participant)
Andrea Enes
Ashley Geis
Madelaine Gierc
Katharine Hay
Amanda Henry (successful 2007 participant)
Daniel Kaszor (successful 2006 participant)
Elliot Kerr
Paul Knoechel
Julia Kozak
Cindy Leung
Scott Lilwall (successful 2007 participant, as well as a successful participant in other, non-U of A NaNoWriMos)
Jessica Lockhart
Janelle Morin
Ritika Nandkeolyar
Shawna Pandya
Darren Pleavin
Samantha Power
Erin Reddekopp
Eve Richardson
Ashraf Rushdy
Nadia Rushdy
Chris Samuel (combined word total from previous two attempts: ~550. But if he loses this year, it's going to cost him more than eight thousand bucks.)
Steph Shantz
Heather Smith (successful 2006 participant)
Steve Smith (successful 2006 participant)
Krystina Sulatycki
Nicholas Tam
Jay Ward

Previous successful participants Jake Troughton (2006) and Jenna Greig (2007) have decided not to join us this time.