Away with the Fairies
Away with the Fairies, or What Happens in November The British have an expression, “away with the fairies,” which according to the Oxford Dictionary means “ giving the impression of being mad, distracted, or in a dream world.” Which pretty much describes me on a typical November day as I’m pecking away at the keyboard writing 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) . Now, this isn’t a bad thing. My madness is typically expressed in a tendency to giggle at my own jokes—and not my main symptom. “In a dream world” is more of the definition I fall into as I live and breathe my characters’ lives intensely for hours each day, laughing and crying with them as they struggle, grow, suffer, or fall in love. The experience is surreal and satisfying. If you’re a non-writer, imagine having a movie playing in your mind all day long—and playing all the roles. Weird and wonderful stuff. And when I come back from being “with the fairies,” I feel changed. If you e