How much of this series is canon, and how much isn't?
The only things that I know about Ginger from the show is that she's from New Jersey, and she sassed Sam in The Drop-In. Anything else that you read here is purely my own invention. For example, Ginger went to University of Western Virginia, which is Kim Webster's alma mater.

What's the timeline like for this series?
It's based on the fact that I read somewhere that Donna was supposed to be 27 or 28, I think it was on jedbartlet.com. I figured that Ginger was around the same age, and took it from there. The major events take place as follows (WARNING: Spoilers for the series ahead!) -

November 1990 - Eighteen year old Ginger Clark is a shy, quiet and unassuming freshman at the West Virginia University. Her room-mate drags her to a partner where she meets Alan O'Neill, who shares some of her poly-sci and journalism classes. They spend the entire party getting to know one another and that night he walks her to her dorm and asks her out properly.

November 1993 - Ginger and Alan are on their way to the library when he drops down on one knee and proposes to her. He's been carrying around his grandmother's ring since they came back to school for their senior year. Ginger accepts instantly.

November 1994. - Ginger and Alan are married.

November 1997 - On their third anniversary, Alan takes Ginger out to dinner, having given her his grandmother's pearl necklace as a present. Crossing the street on the way home, a car driven by a drunk driver comes right at them. Reacting quickly, Alan pushes Ginger out of the way, but loses his own life in the process.

April 1998 - Ginger is at home unable to sleep and looking at CNN. In the middle of the night she sees a profile on the presidential candidates and is intrigued by Jed Bartlet, remembering how Alan, a lifelong Democrat, admired him, and said that he thought she was the real thing. The next day, she tells her parents that she's joining the campaign.

November 1998 - Jed Bartlet is elected President on Ginger's fourth wedding anniversary and the first anniversary of Alan's death. After calling her mother, she goes outside to compose herself, where she talks to Toby, telling him all about Alan.

December 1998 - Ginger goes home for the holidays, where her brother Rick tells her that he and his wife are expecting their first child. (Moments of Transition)

January 1999 - Mrs Landingham takes Ginger out to lunch. (Moments of Transition)

July 1999 - Ginger goes home for the birth of her brother's baby. (Surprised By Joy)

November 2000 - Ginger meets Toby in the Sculpture Garden the night of the midterm elections. He overheard her telling Zoey all about Alan.

May 2001 - Toby goes to Ginger's apartment to tell her about Mrs Landingham. (Breaking The Fall)

November 2002 - Bartlet is re-elected. Ginger and Toby meet in the Sculpture Garden and drink a toast to Novembers Future.

December 2002 - Ginger goes home for Christmas, and thinks about moving on with her life. (The Gift of Hope)

January 2003 - The night of the Inaugural Ball, Toby removes his wedding ring. (Mooving On)

July 2004 - Josh and Donna get married. Ginger and Toby meet in the Sculpture Garden and come to an understanding. (Something Old)

What is Ginger's family like?
The Clarks are a lively bunch, with Ginger being the youngest of five children. After four boys, her parents thought the family was complete, but someone somewhere had other plans, giving her mother Marie the little girl she dreamed of. All the Clark children are red-headed, like their father Bill.

The eldest of the family is Dominic, Dom for short. He's married to Fiona, and is incapable of buying her Christmas present, making Ginger shop with him for it every year on Christmas Eve. He's a lawyer and was in Europe when Alan was killed. When his mother phoned him, he walked out of the meeting he was in and went straight to the airport. He stood beside Ginger at the funeral. He was a wrestler in high school. He's ten years older than Ginger.

Michael is seven years older than Ginger and is married to Janet.

Neil is five years older than Ginger and married to Chloe.

Rick is three years older than Ginger, and was very close to her and Alan. He was one of Alan's groomsmen and gave the eulogy at his funeral. He visited Ginger in Washington in the summer of 2002 and was impressed at how she carried herself in the White House, and thinks that Alan would be proud of her. He is married to Deanna, and their daughter Alannah Joy was born in July of 1999 and is Ginger's god-daughter. At Christmas 2002, he knew that there was someone new in Ginger's life without her telling him.

Rounding out the Clark brood are Ginger's nieces and nephews.

Who's this Alan guy?
Alan O'Neill was Ginger's husband. They met at a party during her freshman year, and he asked her out, telling her that he'd been interested in her since the first day of school. She didn't believe him at first, thinking that the tall, dark and handsome football player couldn't possibly be interested in her. They were happy together but Ginger was always afraid that he'd come to his senses and move on to someone better. She was so insecure that she actually broke up with him, and for three months, he moved Heaven and earth to get her back. She realised that they were both miserable, and went to him, begging him to take her back. He did, and they got married in November 1994. They were blissfully happy until their third wedding anniversary when he was killed pushing her out of the way of an oncoming car. He died in her arms.
Alan was Ginger's first love. She readily admits that she had little or no experience with men before him, and once she met him, she never wanted anyone else. Quiet and shy all her life, she credits him with bringing her out of her shell, making her believe in herself. When he died, she didn't know how to go on with her life, and sequestered herself in their house, rarely going out unless she had to. Her family and friends all tried to talk her around, but nothing worked, until she saw the program on presidential candidates in April 1998. She saw Leo and Toby talking about Jed Bartlet and their belief, their passion, reminded her of what she wanted her life to be like. She joined the campaign the next day.

What does Toby think of Ginger?
Toby barely even noticed her until Election Night. She was just one of the volunteers, but what he knew, he liked and he knew that Leo was going to offer her a job after the campaign. When he saw her crying in the garden, he asked her what was wrong, but was shocked when she told him her story. After that, he kept a close eye on her, and had no objections when Leo made her his assistant. He watched her change from the shy quiet girl who was getting used to life in Washington and getting over her husband to the sassy woman that we see on the show, and the more he saw of her, the more he liked her. He can't pinpoint just when he fell for her, but by Election Night 2002, he was ready for more than just friendship, and that's why he took his wedding ring off in January 2003. He did know however that Ginger wasn't ready for romance yet, and resolved to wait until she was.

Who knows about Ginger's marriage?
Ginger didn't tell anyone about Alan when she first joined the campaign because it hurt too much. As time went on, she didn't see how she could drop this into the conversation, so she didn't tell anyone. Toby was the first person that she told. Mrs Landingham saw the rings that Ginger wore around her neck (her and Alan's wedding rings) and asked her about them, and Ginger told Zoey about Alan on the night of the midterm elections in 2002. She told Donna the night before Josh and Donna got married, in an effort to calm Donna's pre-wedding jitters. The next day, everyone found out when Sam, Josh's best man, lost the wedding rings and Ginger gave Josh and Donna hers.

Why is the series called Novembers Past?
The story which begins this is called The Ghosts of Novembers Past and it was a response to a challenge to tell what ghosts haunt the women of the West Wing. A lot of the significant events in Ginger's life happened in November, and on Election Night 2002, she looked back over them, remembering them. It was supposed to be a stand-alone (hah!) but when the rest of the stories came along, that's what I decided to call the series.

Where does the tag line come from?

From a song called Healing by Wynonna Judd and Michael English. It's from the soundtrack to a film called Silent Fall and is also on Wynonna's greatest hits. The full lyrics are so appropriate to Ginger's life, talking about moving on and getting on with your life, and I took two of them for the tag line. I could have used the whole song but that would take too long.

I'm healing
Gonna take some time
I'm on the mend
I'm healing
Starting over at the end
And feeling stronger than I've ever been
I'm healing

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