In February, we challenged you to submit a 400-word excerpt from your NaNoWriMo novels. From over 650 fantastic entries, we chose two Grand Prize Winners and four Runners-Up. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did! (For more excerpts, check out this forum thread.)

"Why didn't you tell us about the ghost?”

Wendy shuffled around a bit on the ground of the school’s costume closet. She knew she’d have to come clean to her make-shift Family eventually, but having three pairs of eyes on her didn’t make this any easier.

"I... thought it would be best to wait until Mars was here," Wendy decided. It was a half-truth, wasn’t it? The other half, was, well… she didn’t trust them.

"They were sick that day, and they're kinda our paranormal expert, professor… thing." Wendy fumbled for the right title and looked up at the last member of Family Five.

Mars themself was the only one in the closet who wasn’t watching Wendy like a cat watches a laser pointer, tucked into the corner with a hand up to their chin, stroking it thoughtfully. But when they heard Wendy say ‘paranormal expert’, Mars glanced over their shoulder for a moment.

"It's true, I'm incredible," Mars mumbled with a nod. A beat of silence, and then with a snap of their shoes on wood they whirled around, throwing their backwards baseball cap to the ground, hand in their messy black hair.

"Incredibly stupid!" They finished, turning on their heel to pace dramatically. Wendy and the rest of Family Five tucked themselves closer to the wall politely, giving Mars room to ramble.

"Having a ghost involved changes everything," They declared, "You didn't just curse yourself, Wendy - you summoned a ghost, and ghosts are a lot harder to deal with than your average black cat or a broken mirror. No wonder we’ve had so much bad luck even after using remedies--”

"Um," Nervous as Wendy was, she felt the need to raise her hand, "Mx. Paranormal Expert?"

"You may speak."

"You're saying the ghost is causing all of this?" Wendy clarified, “Not…”

My name, She didn’t say, Wendy Macbeth, the kid who accidentally cursed her school play just by introducing herself. But if there was a ghost… maybe she wasn’t entirely to blame?

"No, no, your name is definitely what summoned it," Mars deadpanned. They didn’t seem to notice how Wendy slouched in disappointment and swiftly continued, “But, cursed Shakespearean names or not, this ghost has effectively put a wrench in our ‘Operation - Save the Play’.”

“Way to rub it in.” Wendy grumbled. So, not out of the limelight yet - she just had a ghost to deal with.

Yipee.

Evelyn is a young writer who has been creating stories her whole life, and hopes to continue any kind of storytelling in the future. She loves to write, read, and draw, and has been in multiple plays. Evelyn is homeschooled and enjoys it, and likes to work out with her dad, watch cartoons with her mom, and play video games with her sisters. Writing is her passion, and she can’t wait to see where her story writing takes her next!