It occurred to me at some recent point in my life revolves around the ends of months. The most important dates happen in the last few days on each page of the calendar. Most of the important birthdays (I said most. Don’t get uppity.) are there. Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve (New Year’s Day is boring), Thanksgiving. Even when looking at the new year, it’s not the dawn of the new year itself we look forward to, but the build-up, the anticipation.

For me, tonight might as well be New Year’s Eve. And Christmas.

It’s Nano-Eve (Nano-ween?). T-minus 2 hours and counting until I can start cranking out feverish words at a frantic pace in celebration of an insane month-long holiday, National Novel Writing Month.

And even now, with November 1 looming. With 30 days of craziness clawing at the gates, what am I really looking at? Tonight, the end of October, and November 30, when it’s all over and we can celebrate our accomplishments like the literary conquerors we are.