The Orr Report | November 2025
Hello and Happy November!
I am fired up and have wrist-ice on tap because National Novel Writing Month is here!!
In November, anyone can take part in an annual writing challenge to write a 50,000-word novel between November 1 and November 30. NaNoWriMo was the OG organization until it closed up shop last year, so this year I signed up for ProWritingAid's Novel November (it's totally free, btw).
You "win" by completing 50,000 words (self-reported), and the "prize" is: you wrote a novel!
This is my third year participating. The first year, I "won" by writing a terrifically horrible novel about legal witches that will likely never see the light of day. The second year, I "lost" but outlined most of my next novel. This year, I really want to work on Draft 2 of my next novel but be smarter about my wrist pain so if I hit 50K, awesome. If not, awesome.
If you have already signed up or want to join ProWritingAid's Novel November, please respond to this message and let me know - we can follow each other's word counts and cheer for each other. :)
In Other Writing News
I met my hero last month! As you may know, David Wroblewski's book (and Oprah pick) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle changed my life. This book—a tearjerker if I ever read one—led me to adopt my first dog, Charlie, and stayed in my heart and mind for years.
His second book, Familiaris, came out last summer and once again, Queen Oprah picked it. I had the privilege of reading it after ingesting tons of writing classes and WOW. Now that I better understand his craft choices, I am even more in awe of him as a writer! I've read both books about three times at this point. The books make my heart sing and cry and love simultaneously. They make me feel smarter and like I'm a better human being for reading.
Thanks to the Wisconsin Book Festival, I got to meet my hero at his author event on October 24th.* He was as wonderful as I had hoped! Yes, I cried a little when I told him about Charlie the Dog and how much his work meant to me. He was incredibly patient as I asked him for a selfie followed by a million questions about the novels and whether he is writing a third (he could not say). As you can see here, he has that Oprah Book Club Pick-sparkle in his eyes.
Meeting him really made me re-commit to writing as my second career and inspired me to write a BEAUTIFUL book some day. If even one future reader told me one of my novels changed their life, this gamble of leaving BigLaw for books will be 100,000,000% worth it.
*My sister made this trip possible by assuaging my travel anxiety with her presence. She had a photographic slumber party with Miss Gracie at a Madison hotel while I was at the event. Thank you, little sister!
Photography by the talented Melissa Luebbe!
Happy Things
I watched, read, and listened to so many great things last month, it was quite difficult to only pick three and not sure the first one is entirely "happy" but I enjoyed it!
Books, Books, Books: I read a ton of great books this month! I re-read my David Wroblewski books (of course), then re-read/studied Fellowship Point and A Thousand Acres to help me outline my next novel. New-ish books were Buckeye, The Lincoln Highway, Katabasis and So Far Gone by Jess Walter.
The last one feels very now: the book begins in 2023 and it's about a progressive environmental journalist who flees to the woods to leave the world behind after punching his conspiracy-loving son-in-law. Also, it's about a right-wing sect, a father-daughter relationship, and the choices we make to engage or disengage when the world is on fire. And it's funny! I realized I so rarely read books set NOW and I enjoy them and appreciate how difficult it is for authors to predict future relevancy since most traditionally published books take one to two years from acquisition to publication. Luckily for Jess Walter, the world is still a dumpster fire and the book resonates. :)
Nobody Wants This (Season 2): I'm not a rom-com kind of gal but I did foster a deep crush on Adam Brody for weeks after watching the first season. This season, it's more about the sister relationship (in my humble opinion) and I very much enjoyed it. Also, loved the soundtrack, lots of bangers.
Victoria Beckham Documentary: I was so excited to watch this after devouring the David Beckham documentary (also on Netflix). This one is a portrait of a super ambitious woman and also an infomercial for her fashion and beauty brand, which worked beautifully on me as I ordered her lip pencil, eyeliner and lipstick. Also, she's funny!
Please comment below and tell me things you enjoyed this month! Special thanks to those who responded with great recs last month - I will add a round-up to the next newsletter!
That's all from me! I hope you all have a great month and Happy (Early) Thanksgiving!
