Writer and illustrator Colleen Doran, whose credits include her creator-owned comic-book series entitled A Distant Soil, is participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. You can sponsor her by hopping over to her blog; donations will go to the Office of Letters and Light, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity. Your donations to the Office of Letters and Light pay for NaNoWriMo’s youth and adult novel-writing programs, as well as the Office of Letters and Light’s operating expenses.

Someone named Laurie Sutton posted a suggestion in one of Colleen’s threads: maybe a few of us could do our own little mini-contest. A light-bulb appeared over my head (yes, an actual light-bulb — very odd, but also useful: I used it to replace one of the light-bulbs in my kitchen). I thought, “Why don’t I offer to host this informal mini-contest and throw my own hat into the ring?”

Colleen kindly let me use her blog to announce this, and I’ve already had a few takers. Colleen herself then said she would join us. I am told she did this because she thought it would be funny to see a grown man wet his pants. Well, I showed her, you know — I didn’t wet my pants. I had an anxiety-induced vomit instead. In your face, Colleen!

OK, seriously, here’s what I propose: if you’re working on a creative project that involves storytelling, set a quantifiable goal for what you’re going to accomplish between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30 and announce it in this thread. If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, you already know what to do: write a 50,000-word novel by the end of November. If you’re doing something else, set a goal that is challenging but attainable, and again: QUANTIFIABLE. I will then post weekly “checkpoints” asking all comers to leave comments letting us know how much progress they’ve made against their goal. Those “checkpoint” threads will also serve as an opportunity for us to motivate and support each other.

As the unofficial ringleader (read: jackass who has no idea what he’s gotten himself into), I should have some real skin in the game. I’m going to work on my comic-book. Moreover, I am going to ask Colleen herself to set my goal for me. Ms. Doran, bearing in mind that I have a day-job and can probably set aside 15 – 20 hours a week if I’m really good with my time, please tell me how many pages I should complete by the end of November.

I ask that the rest of you leave a comment in this thread announcing your project and your measurable goal for the month of November. Then come back every Friday to provide an update about your progress. At the end of the month I’ll post a wrap-up where we can all share how far we got and compare notes.

Also: don’t forget to sponsor the awesome Colleen Doran for NaNoWriMo!!!

Now if you will excuse me, I believe I am due for another anxiety-induced vomit.

North Carolina Democrat Kay Hagan, who running against Republican Libby Dole for a seat in the U.S. Senate, recently filed a defamation lawsuit in response to a campaign advertisement from Dole questioning Hagan’s faith in God. Hagan is also running an ad of her own to assure people that she is a God-fearing person.

Why should it matter whether Hagan believes in God? We may swear our politicians in using a Bible, but the laws they swear to uphold are those of the United States. The last time I checked, the highest law of our land, the U.S. Constitution, explicitly states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The idea that calling someone an atheist is “defamatory” just shows how much religious bigotry still exists in this country. Prejudice against atheists is still prejudice, folks.