Jane Mack, NaNoWriMo liaison and coordinator for the Marianas region, said there were “nine winners from our region” and Ulrich ranked as number 1.
“Participants began writing on November 1. The goal was to write a 50,000-word, (approximately 175-page) novel by November 30,” Mack told Variety in an interview on Saturday. “24 participated in the contest from our region. Our region is Saipan, Guam, and we also have writers from the Marshall Islands.”
Jonathan Ulrich, a fourth grade teacher, said he enjoys art, singing, and writing.
“My novel is an epic romance based on a tropical island called Saipan,” Ulrich told the Variety in an interview.
When asked what inspired him to write, he said: “I’m very right-brained and very creative. I play a lot of music and write songs —I’ve done that my entire life. I also love reading books by Ken Follett.”
Ulrich said he learned about NaNoWriMo from a colleague two years ago. “Once I started exploring my mind and putting it on paper I became addicted,” Ulrich added.
Also present during the interview with Mack and Ulrich was Joe Race, an author of 10 novels.
These include “Christmas in the Tropics” about the gathering of a large family in Yap for the special holidays, and “The Royal Headley of Pohnpei,” which tells the story of a prominent family in Micronesia, complete with missionaries, skullduggery, and pirates.
