When the little plot bunny came hopping through my mind back in July of 2005, I knew I was going to enjoy writing this story. In the weeks and months leading up to NaNoWriMo, I grew more and more excited because I was so anxious to tell this story. Even as I'm writing this, I have a hard time believing that I'm finally finished with These Walls. It seems strange that I wrote the story in whole in one month, and that's it's now been finished for close to two months. I always seem to have this feeling of sadness after I complete a story. Perhaps it's just the fact that I have to let go of these characters that I have created and grown to care for. I know I shouldn't be sad. I should feel accomplished, and for the most part I do. I can safely say that I am proud of this story.

Usually it takes me months and sometimes years to really connect with my characters and feel like I've really got them developed, but Jude, along with all of the other characters in this story, just seemed to life so easily. I know that many of you are going to ask if there's going to be a sequel to this story. My answer is I don't know. As much as I love Jude, I don't know if I have anything else to write. I know, I know - you want to read more about her relationship with Zac, but there has to be more to a story than that, and right now I don't feel like I have anything worth writing. Maybe in a few months I'll feel differently, but for right now I think it is safe to say this is the end of Jude.

I know that the ending is left so open, and Jude's relationship with Zac really hasn't been fully developed, but this is how I planned the ending from the beginning. The way I looked at the story was that it was about Jude learning to trust people and find herself once again. And she did. So with the part of her life now in focus and the things from her past settled, it gave her a way to move forward with her life, so I wanted the ending of this story to be more like a beginning for her.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing. Who knows? Maybe Jude will return again someday. Maybe I'll write a sequel next year for NaNoWriMo. Like Jude said - the future is wide open, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

-Brittney
January 24, 2006
3:59 a.m.