Countdown to NaNoWriMo

Surfing the net tonight I was inspired to check out the NaNo forums from this past year. Having received an email announcing the impending revamping of the site for the November 1st start date for NaNo, I thought I should peek in and check out the growing anticipation (or anxiety - lol) for this years event.

Wow! Is that forum busy! I honestly thought it would dwindle down to a handful as the previous NaNo faded into history, but I was wrong. It's a *good* wrong though. I made a couple of posts - which I hope might be responded to before the site closes for maintenance - and made one last visit to my profile. Bittersweet, my friends. Bittersweet.

Onto the next item of business for my NaNo prep.

This year I have the luxury of starting at the beginning of the challenge. Last year I didn't even find out about the site until Nov 10th. So I already have my outline and some ideas for chapter summaries. I can't find my "No Plot No Problem" book from last year, however, so I am a bit hazy on how far I can go with my pre-planning before it invades word-count territory. (Hence, one on my posts.) Perhaps I will find my book before it's too late......!

My one big question for this year is - "Which genre does my story belong in?" I could link to the post (in case anyone might be willing to provide input) but I am pretty sure that as of this Sunday everything will be gone from the site due to "fall cleaning" in preparation for the new year. That said, here is a slightly amended version of my question.


"My idea for the upcoming year is a novel based on a melting pot of semi- true events involving a woman who gets involved with her husbands buddy (with his blessing, no less) only to find that her 'new' beau runs with dangerous gangsters. It's kind of a mix of relationship angst and her own fall into alcoholism which threatens her sanity and her marriage. The gang theme is an integral part of the plot - as she tackles the issues of whether to tell or keep her mouth shut about stuff she witnesses. It clearly isn't romance, since there is really no 'romance' involved per se - but the intimate relationships are just as integral as the gang theme. The only real connection to non-fiction is the inspiration and ideas for how some of the drama unfolds."

So....any takers?? I welcome input.