It's NaNoWriMo. Sorry, I'm 10 Days Late.

Okay, maybe I'm oblivious to some of the goings on in the writer-oriented social media. For the longest time, I thought NaNoWriMo was a Japanese anime character. I envisioned a little purple, oblong creature with googly eyes that looked like a crawling pill for chronic heartburn. I could almost hear it's squeaky chipmunk voice. Alright, I'll settle down. Let's talk about the now ongoing National Novel Writing Month.
I Googled NaNoWriMo and found http://nanowrimo.org/
The website immediately greeted me with "Are you ready to write a novel?"
The site offers you a chance to:

•  Write a novel in a month 
• Track your progress online
• Get pep talks and support
• Meet fellow writers online and in person

 In addition to the above, NaNoWriMo offers a graphic design marathon called "30 Covers, 30 Days".
You can also get deals or win prizes from sponsors such as Create Space and Watt Pad.
http://nanowrimo.org/sponsor-offers
You are not alone! NaNoWriMo offers access to pep talks any time: http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks
Here are the 2013 Pep Talkers: http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks#current
Toward the bottom of this page, the Pep Talk Archive has links to the Young Writers Program, which has its own selection of YA Pep Talkers each year.
National Novel Writing Month was established in 1999. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes stories matter. This year, we anticipate half a million writers joining our noveling adventure.
During NaNoWriMo 2012,

• 341,375 participants started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.
• 648 volunteer Municipal Liaisons guided 586 regions on six continents.
• 82,554 students and educators created worlds through the Young Writers Program.
• 615 libraries opened their doors to novelists through the Come Write In program.
• And in 2013, 44,919 Campers participated in Camp NaNoWriMo’s online writing retreat.

Over 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder. See a full list of our published authors.
Just signed up? Click here for the Map of the Month: http://nanowrimo.org/map-to-the-month
For those of you in the know about NaNoWriMo, I wish you success with your 30-day novel!
If not, maybe you're a hot shot and can bang a novel out in 20 days!