It's that time of year again -- and if you're a writer, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's NaNoWriMo season. It's National Writing Month, which means writers everywhere dedicate ourselves to trying to type out 50,000 words in only thirty days. It's definitely no easy feat and I'm struggling to make word count - as most of us are. But, in an effort to re-inspire and motivate myself, I thought I'd share with you all an excerpt of my novel.

I hope you all enjoy it and that this month only brings you lots of inspiration and plenty of words. Happy writing!

The Autobiography of Alex Banks.

There’s not much interesting about me. I’m only saying this because I know everyone’s autobiography will be the same. What hospital they were born at and when, how many pets they have, what their families are like.

I was born at hospital just like most people were on a day when many other babies were born. The possible one and only interesting fact about my birth, however, was that my parents were totally and completely stunned to find out that I wasn’t a boy. My parents had even bought all the little blue clothes they could in anticipation of my arrival. At least when I came out, it was easy enough for them to swap Alexander for Alexandria. It also meant that Elliot, my brother born only two precious minutes before me, had more than enough clothes to wear for the first year of his life.

The only pet I’ve ever had was a hamster. However, three days after we got him, I let him free in the backyard and never saw poor Henry again. Elliot had a turtle and snake when he was ten but, after a while, we got rid of the snake for safety reasons and the turtle, Sam, still kicks today.

My family consists of my dad, a lawyer named Marcus Banks; my mom, Sarah; my twin brother, Elliot; and finally, Amanda.

Amanda is my mother’s caretaker. She’s been around for three years now and I’ve hated her since the second week on the job. She never smiles like she means it. It’s always like there are two hooks attached to the edge of her mouth and it hurts her to move them upwards. That – and the way she hates to get anything dirty. So much so that in the beginning she had such trouble emptying Mom’s bedpan and we thought Elliot would have to keep doing it for her and I began to wonder why she became a nurse in the first place.

I would like to say that my mom’s accident didn’t define my family but it was that same year that Elliot quit both the hockey and lacrosse team and that Christmas Eve he smashed all his sticks on the frozen cement of our driveway. The sound of wood splintering to pieces and my brother sobbing certainly has got to be the most unique Christmas carol I’ve ever heard. It was also the year that I accidentally asked if Mom was going to die during Thanksgiving dinner, that my dad almost disappeared, and when Elliot and I both worked at least two jobs to get by. It was the year we grew up without even realizing it.

Ever since then, nothing’s been the same.

But this is my autobiography. What have I been up to?

I really don’t feel like getting into the mushy, emotional side that most people would expect me to take at this point so I’ll just tell you the facts.

The school newspaper won’t take any of my article submissions, even when I pulled the dying mother card. I almost dated a guy who turned out to be a street fighter before I found out what he did and stopped answering his texts. I drink tea in the mornings and coffee in the evenings. I still think Adam Levine is the most beautiful man on this Earth and I count down the days until I get to quit the waitressing job I have at the local diner even though I love all the people I work with. I’ve been working the night shift at the front desk at the Grand Hotel to keep myself from thinking too much about this all, so if you’d like to discuss my life any further, feel free to stop by.

That’s been my life up to this point. Hope it’s what you were looking for.