It’s October. Already. Wasn’t it juuuust “almost November 2024” like yesterday? And now it’s almost November 2025. Where does the time go? Perhaps it’s the definitive shift from summer to autumn that occurred meteorologically over the last 48 hours that has hit like a pile of bricks.

Anyway, yes. Writing. Lots of writing — coming soon, to That November Thing near you.

Here’s what you need to know.

Event Schedule

Highlights:

• Kickoff is Saturday, October 11, from 2p to 3:30p. No cost or registration required. Get your goodie bags! At Allendale Township Library.
• The Halloween Party is Friday, October 31, from 8p until at least 1a. No cost or registration required. Costumes encouraged! Please, no small children; we will have light adult refreshments available. At Jason’s Books & Coffee.
• The Day of Knockout Noveling is Saturday, November 22, from 10a until 6p. Potluck! Writing! Silent auction! At Jason’s Books & Coffee.
• The Thank Goodness It’s Over Party is Sunday, November, 30. The specific times are TBD, but the date and venue are confirmed — the new and improved Bluestocking Bookshop in lovely Holland, Mich.

Our write-in schedule will be finalized in late October and added to the calendar as events are confirmed. If you’d like to host an in-person write in during November, please reach out to one of the Weasel Wranglers with your ideas. We require background checks (at our cost) for anyone hosting or leading an in-person activity.

Check out the calendar for full details. Going forward, the online calendar will be the sole source of truth about events, their details, and (as needed) their cancelations.

Please do not arrive early for events. Although we appreciate the offers to help, we have well-honed setup plans. 🙂 Doors will open for Kickoff, Halloween, and DOKN at the stated times, and not before.

The Auction & Donations

Every year, we conduct a silent auction to support the programming needs of our community. This auction has historically netted us around $150 to $200. This year, we’d like to take advantage of the (free) capabilities of our fundraising platform by hosting the auction online.

To participate in the auction as a buyer/supporter, click the link on the Day of Knockout Noveling (https://givebutter.com/wmaa-auction-2025) to place your bids. Winning bids may be paid for in the app, so you are not required to be on-site when the auction ends.

To contribute items to the auction, please deliver them to Jason no later than Wednesday, Nov. 12. They can be brought to Kickoff or dropped off at Jason’s Books & Coffee. We cannot accommodate items brought to DOKN given the effort of enrolling them in the online auction platform. We welcome items, gift cards, or discount vouchers.

Speaking of fundraising — to donate to us this year, follow this link: https://givebutter.com/tnt25. Your donations are processed through the Givebutter platform on behalf of Lakeshore Literary Foundation, the fiduciary sponsor of the WMAA.

Merch!

Yes, we’ll have merch available for the 2025 program year, using our “Undying Creativity” theme. The updated shop, managed through CustomCat, should be available by mid-October.

Young Authors Guild

Every Wednesday in November, our volunteers Allison and Andrew will host writing games, discussions, and light snacks for our youngest emerging scribes. The events run from 6p to 8p at Jason’s Books & Coffee.

Writers aged 8 to 12 meet on Nov. 5 and Nov. 19; writers aged 13 to 17 meet Nov. 12 and Nov. 26. Registration is required; space is limited. Please register by Oct. 29 to reserve a seat. For more information, read the blog post or reach out to Allison at allison@allihawkwrites.com.

MonsterQuest

We’re now collecting points (already!) for the 2025 MonsterQuest program. Check out the blog post for more info about the challenge and its ways of earning points on the way to gold, silver, or bronze status.

Get Social!

Keep abreast of WMAA activities and our TNT shenanigans by joining our Facebook group or our Discord server. And track your words or time in our TrackBear leaderboard!

Thank you for being a part of our community. We look forward to slaying the zombies of self-doubt with you during this November’s writing challenge.