Best wishes for Chris Baty

I’ve always vaguely wondered what it was like to have truly exciting news that I couldn’t speak about because of a ‘gag order.’ Now I think I know, though it wasn’t really an earth-shattering experience.

As you might or might not know by now, Chris Baty, that crazy man who somehow turned National Novel Writing Month from a group of friends doing a dare into a worldwide force for creative derring-do, has announced that he is following in the footsteps of other departed Office of Letters and Light staff, and resigning his position in order to go down the path of writing full-time.

Here’s where the ‘gag order’ bit comes in. Chris B actually shared the news with all of the Nanowrimo and Script Frenzy local representatives two weeks ago, and asked us to keep it under wraps until he’d sent out the news to all participants, which happened last night.

I guess the time has helped me come to the terms with the Office proceeding on with Mister Baty as Director Emeritus. I’ve gotten to meet Chris on four different occasions now, three of which were during my trip to San Francisco last year. I really loved talking with him and Lindsey over pastries at the Office of Letters and Light headquarters.

So – good luck with your writing, Chris, and thanks for all that you’ve done to bring more creativity and fun into our lives.