November Novel, by Assia Greene

Assia wondered how to begin—the ending, that is—to November Novel. She knows these characters have started out steps ahead of her, just beyond her reach. They are pilgrims of a kind. And like the characters in Canterbury Tales—the knight, the miller, the nun, the monk—they’ve lived lives here, on their own, with one another— she, the follower, the observer, the fortunate one, witnessing as best she can. That they play, work, wander and wonder; and welcome new people, characters, into their lives. When did it happen—? Assia’s November Novel takes on an energy of its own, seeming to write itself. Assia desperately attempts to navigate the explosion of dramatic events that she cannot seem to write her characters through. Fear nearly brings her writing to a stop when danger bodes for a character she does not want to lose. And who is this mysterious one appearing from the myst? As November 30th approaches, with the ending for November Novel near, Assia struggles to find a way to say good-bye . . . How can she let them go?

Assia wondered how to begin—the ending, that is—to November Novel. She knows these characters have started out steps ahead of her, just beyond her reach. They are pilgrims of a kind. And like the characters in Canterbury Tales—the knight, the miller, the nun, the monk—they’ve lived lives here, on their own, with one another— she, the follower, the observer, the fortunate one, witnessing as best she can. That they play, work, wander and wonder; and welcome new people, characters, into their lives. When did it happen—? Assia’s November Novel takes on an energy of its own, seeming to write itself. Assia desperately attempts to navigate the explosion of dramatic events that she cannot seem to write her characters through. Fear nearly brings her writing to a stop when danger bodes for a character she does not want to lose. And who is this mysterious one appearing from the myst? As November 30th approaches, with the ending for November Novel near, Assia struggles to find a way to say good-bye . . . How can she let them go?

SHASHA C. CROCKETT lives in Minneapolis. Her first two books: Take My Hand, Twelve Stories of Dissolution and Healing, and CANVAS: An Interactive Journal for Healing, are published under the pen name: SASHA PORTER BLUE. She is currently working on two more collections of essays. November Novel, by Assia Greene is her first novel, and is indeed her “November Novel.”