Winning this competition has been by far the most fulfilling feat of my life. Ironically, about 10 years ago, I made my best effort to gather all my motivation and determination to write a full-length novel. The effort continued for TEN WHOLE YEARS and I suddenly stopped at 120 pages, holding on to stale pages that wouldn't grow for lack of attention! And here I am, part of some "support group" type of website that disciplines, pushes, prompts and encourages writers to get a daily dose of 1,700 words on paper, and IT WORKED! I got to 50,000 in 30 days and with enough hours left in the day to keep going. THIRTY DAYS -- I started thinking about how I got to 50,000 words in 30 days. What made me shed all my fears and inhibitions and those nasty voices (I can never seem to locate their origin) preventing me from accomplishing the final goal. Was it pressure? Was it being unemployed? Was it discipline? Age? Maturity? I still cannot seem to figure out the difference, but I learned a great deal from the process. I learned that the more you keep writing continuously, consistently, certain words, sentences, scenes, story lines and characters fall into place. The mere action of putting the words down is a catalyst for all types of momentum. I learned that my audience had to be secondary just for the sole purpose of getting my words out. I could not waste time thinking about what my audience would like, prefer, need to read; I had to stick to my intentions, my voice, my style, my writing goals. I learned that you cannot look back -- it is a huge lesson in life and it remains valid in writing. In order to keep moving forward, I had to forget about the desire or the unending itch to edit and revise. Some of the best advice I got from the NANOWRIMO peeps was to understand my errors and make the effort to turn it around in future chapters, scenes, etc. More than anything through this experience, I admire the will, support and enthusiasm from the people who put this program together. It takes a lot of hutzpah to put aside all the criticism regarding the literary life and help writers pursue their dreams with determination. I have the utmost respect for Chris Baty and the entire NANOWRIMO team.