Foreword by Ms. Mildahl

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it is an international organization dedicated to encourage writers and writing during the month of November. This marks the fifth year we have had a NaNoWriMo Club at SHMS and it was in many ways the best year, yet certainly the strangest.  Because of the coronavirus pandemic, we were only able to meet in person twice before everyone switched to distance learning.  We met virtually over Zoom eleven more times and though it certainly wasn’t the same as being able to gather and write in the same room together, we still had an amazing group and used the time to do some spectacular writing.

This was a big year in our club for fantasies, murder, and romance. From a secret newspaper organization that hires assassins so they can report the murders, to a pocket dimension filled with endangered species, to a sweet romance between two people alone on a spaceship, we still managed to be creative and visit new worlds through our writing, even though we were mostly stuck in our own houses.

Our club was small, but mighty, this year and I’m pretty impressed that we still churned out over 120,000 words altogether.  I’m always so inspired by the imagination, passion, talent, and hardwork of this group of writers.  Not to mention all the fun we had playing pictionary and Among Us (Ms. Mildahl is totally sus).

This anthology will give you just a tiny taste of what we wrote this month. We hope you enjoy these short excerpts and hope they help you escape the blistering hellscape that has been 2020. We look forward in hope to being able to gather in person for NaNoWriMo in 2021.   In the meantime, happy reading, happy writing, and happy National Novel Writing Month.

Ms. Mildahl
Benevolent Dictator
SHMS NaNoWriMo Club