November 19, 1996  Tuesday

Today I showed my journal to Sidney during Speech class when we were in the library.  She read almost the entire second half of it!  Afterwards she said I was a good writer, and in the journal I seem very normal.  Not like I usually am.  I didn’t know whether to say thank you or be insulted, Ms. Walls!  But seriously, I really believe if you read this thing from beginning to end, by the time you finish you will know me better than… um, me.

Tonight after I go home I started a new story (heaven help me if I finish something I start).  This tale is called “From the Desk of Peter Wilkes.”  It’s about the life of an 8th grader, everything told through a journal he keeps (does this count as an original idea?).  It’s a lot of fun to create a character’s life, but it’s very complex planning the relationships and conflict.  What’s fun is I get to decide his likes, his fears, and his life goals.  I decide on a best friend, and any girls he may like.  I want to make this as believable as possible.  So far he has a friend named Steve Collins, who he met after moving from Chicago to the town of Brichbark.  No junior high career can be complete with a crush on somebody.  Allison Landis is his special someone’s name.  Look for it soon!

aka Peter Wilkes, Neil Broadrick, and who knows who else,