If you see my doppelganger out and about tonight, kindly direct it back home, will you? Halloween is the one night when I agree to let her out to howl a bit, but she’s been known to occasionally take it a little too far.

Perhaps some of you already know what I’m talking about. Others are quickly scanning down the article to see if I’ll explain it, or if you have to look it up. So I’ll spare you the trouble—A doppelganger could be a ghostly counterpart, a double, or an alter ego. Taking it a step further, I suppose an imaginary friend might fit the definition, or perhaps even a clone would qualify.

I’ve successfully juggled several alter egos throughout my life. One persona for my professional countenance at school, one for family, another for kicking my heels up, the saintly one attends church, and so forth.

But one of them is clamoring to cross over into the limelight of my writing. She is begging me to be the star of my first novel. After years of watching me write short personal experience pieces, humorous anecdotes, and one-act plays, she thinks it’s time for me to tackle a full-length book.

So naturally, my main character will undoubtedly be based on someone I know and love well. And whom do I know better than my favorite doppelganger?

I’m taking that idea under advisement. Meanwhile, like I mentioned earlier, my alter ego is going to go out howling tonight. It is, after all, the best time for doppelgangers to make the scene: Happy Halloween!