Okay, I have a little confession to make. Well, maybe it's not such a "little" one.

There is no Carrie.

Actually, that's not true. There is a Carrie; she's just not me. I do have a sister named Carrie (well, Carolyn), and she did recently had a baby boy named Samuel. All the pictures, all the cute baby stories and milestones - stolen. Of course, I haven't really been shanghaiing her entire life. She was never a librarian, for instance. Her husband's name is Mike, and he's in the Army. She sells insurance.

I don't think it's full disclosure on her that you'll be wanting right now, though.

Where to start? My name is really Jason. That's me in the picture, but I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to showing my real face. (Maybe I'm just a little nervous about your reactions.) I don't actually live in the Midwest; I'm a West Coast native. I'm a writer, and this has been a work of practice; several years ago, my editor suggested that I needed to work on making my female characters more believable, so I decided to create one and develop her life over time - living through her, experiencing life through her eyes and experiences.

It wasn't supposed to go on for so long. Really, I thought I'd keep the diary for six months. I quickly became hooked on the idea of a pregnancy, though, so the time extended to nine months...then longer...then I couldn't let her go. The story of Carrie, Eric, and Sam has become a huge, important part of my life.

But I never meant to "hoodwink" anybody, at least not seriously. Nobody was supposed to become a close friend; nobody was supposed to come to trust Carrie, or confide in her. If she provided others with entertainment, then that was fantastic. That was as far as the experiment was meant to extend.

My sister, who has been kind enough to allow me to use the pictures she mails me of my nephew and herself, has been getting more and more nervous about the direction the story has been taking. She also had a few tense moments last week when her supervisor stumbled across the diary and recognized her pictures. The fact that the diary has reached a tapering end at this point works to an advantage in that respect; when Carolyn aired her worries to me, I was able to immediately and sincerely offer to disclose the truth and finish the tale with honesty. She is relieved.

I'll miss Carrie, though. She has grown so much since her "birth" as a meek little office worker. Who could have ever guessed where she would have come in these years? She's a special girl.

Thanks for the ride. It's been a blast. No foolin'!