Anne Faye

I started keeping a journal on December 31, 1989, shortly after my 15th birthday. The first one was a Christmas present from my parents. I had been admiring blank books in my local bookstore all that year and was so thrilled to get one. It seemed so full of potential. I started keeping a journal because I knew I had a poor memory and I wanted to remember how it felt to be fifteen. Interestingly, it took me a little while to actually trust my journal. I started out by writing fictionalized names and changing details a bit, but within a couple months, I settled into a more truthful routine. My plan, even at 15, was always to bequeath these to a granddaughter someday. Very presumptuous of me, I know, to imagine a future in which I have a granddaughter, and to think that she would want these! At 15, I couldn't even imagine being 20, much less 40, yet here I am. I have now filled 23 of these books, writing on average once a week. In the pages are also tucked various memorabilia of...

I had written back in October that I was thinking about doing National Novel Writing Month this year, and I'm happy to report that it worked out well for me. It's the second time I've done this and both times I went in with the attitude that I would write what I could write doing the month, knowing full-well that 50,000 words simply wasn't going to happen. This year, I actually started October 28th, but I had to skip a few days during November so I figure it all works out in the end. I've often compared NaNoWriMo to a marathon experience. In light of that metaphor, I apparently wrote a half-marathon with a final total coming in at 25,024 - 92 double-spaced pages. I'm happy with that and thankful for the experience. I'd love to say that I'm going to continue and finish by January 1st, but let's be reasonable - this is December, and in the list of priorities in December (actually, in the list of priorities for most months), writing fiction is prett...