I have always been a reader, so the first books I remember reading are the little golden books, like "The Pokey Little Puppy" and "The Tawny Scrawny Lion".
I was always well above my peers in reading aptitude, and I read everything all the time during my school years. Now I am a little bit more discerning, only because there are so many other facets to my life these days. I need to make careful choices about what I do with my time.
I began to write when I was 8 or 9 years old. I would write poetry and short stories. Then I would draw pictures to go with the words. My friends and family read my work. Gradually it became more teachers and friends. Now, I have trusted friends really critique stuff, even though I put a great deal online for anyone to read.
I first read children's picture books, such as the Dr. Seuss series. Then my mother enrolled me in every book club possible for children. And I became an avid reader.
I started writing a diary and poetry when I was around ten. Hopefully, no one was able to read what I wrote.
Later I wrote for my high school paper and my peers read what I wrote. Then further in time, after I began reviewing recordings and interviewing musicians, other musicians and journalists read my work. Now, healing professionals, musicians, and those seeking healing through music read my blog.
The dictionary, I could only understand 1% of it. I moved on to the encylopedia, the son of my foster family saw what I was doing and gave me a Little Lulu comic book. It was a godsend for my little brain. I started writing to a penpal, from there I went to writing poems. My foster family were the first ones to read anything I had written.
In my junior days I would walk to the library and sign out mystery novels. Writing came to me naturally. I began to write during a period of mental stress, hypergraphia (an overwhelming urge to write). My eldest daughter and my husband were my first editors.
I read A LOT when I was a child. My sister and I made weekly visits to the library. I remember in junior high school reading Roald Dahl, J.R.R. Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury and whatever else school demanded of us. I began to write at that time. I loved English class and had an amazing English teacher, Mrs. Orth, who was very encouraging. She was probably the first person to read anything I wrote.
I first read comics, Archies were considered safe enough for by my mother for myself and my older sister, but I also loved war comics and science fiction. The first book I read was Audi Murphy's "To Hell and Back." It was for an assignment in year 4 and it disturbed my mother. Then "Tom Corbet Space cadet" series, where I learned to read every word, without skimming.
I tried writing fiction while I was at school, but felt I was too disorganized, wanting to change every first sentence and never progressing. At university, I struggled with essays, but wrote bad poetry during my undergraduate science degree days. At the end of my undergraduate days, I used a computer and discovered the joys of word processing. I am still non sequential, but it doesn't matter as much anymore.
I began telling stories to classes of my students during free time, in my thirties, and one day I thought to write them down. Meanwhile I felt I was being mugged by politics, and felt writing was a way of addressing that. I used it to blow the whistle on a scandal of the cover up of the death of a school boy.   | | |
I use to read a variety of books in my early days. I began writing stories and creating plays, short films, from the age of 14.. I began working as a journalist at india-forums and they were the first to read my reports and features.
My earliest experience with reading took place when I was about four years old. I was sitting on my grandfather's lap and he was reading the newspaper, holding it out at arms length in front of me because he was farsighted and did not have reading glasses. He would point out words in the headlines or in advertisements, asking me what they were. I think the first word I learned to recognize was "stop." I remember it was in big block letters, in an ad. Exactly when I made the transistion from words to books, I cannot say. My Mom says I would pretend to read the picture books that she read to me, having memorized them from repetition. My favorite was "Little Black Sambo," a good story, but not PC today. But that was in the early 50s. Both my parents were avid readers, as were my maternal grandparents, who lived next door. There were always books around both houses. I read a lot of children's books that had originally been bought for my mother and my uncle. I remember a series about the adventurer, Tom Swift, and "The Six Little Peppers," which were set around the turn of the century.
I wrote my first "book" when I was about eight. It was called "The Paramecium," and I illustrated it as well. My Dad had been showing me pond water under a microscope, and the world that lay beneath the eyepiece was a constant source of wonder. I checked out a book from the school library called "Exploring With the Microscope," and read more about the protozoans in the pond water. This led me to create my own crude little book, and my grandmother was my first audience. She pretended to find it fascinating, and encouraged me to learn more. | | |
As a child, I read everything- literally. I'd read the ingredients to a cake mix just because I was always curious and full of questions. Nancy Drew mysteries and Tiger Beat magazines could be found all over my room.
I began to write as an outlet for feelings I didn't feel safe sharing with anyone. Around age 10, I bought my first journal and began scribbling daily. I kept that journal hidden until seventh grade. I was about 12 when an English teacher began to read some of my writings, mostly poems. She encouraged me to write more and too, to share my work. Surprisingly to me, my peers loved it and from that time on I knew I'd found my niche.
I first started reading very early in life--I believe it was when my sister was learning how to read. Once I'd learned to write it didn't take me long to write stories about whatever interested me as a child. My family were probably the first to see my works, but as I grew older I grew a little more private about some of my stories.
In the beginning... I remember reading The Poky Little Puppy, one of my childhood favorites. My mom read the first stories I wrote, probably in first grade.
I don't remember what I first read. I was reading at the tender age of two years old, so I'm sure it was something very simple, but astounding given my age. The first things I remember reading are Little Golden Books. I began to write by trying to emulate a favorite book (Howliday Inn, by James Howe) when I was about six. My mom was always the first (and often the last) person to read my early works!
I've been an avid reader as long as I can remember, but the first series that really captured my imagination was Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High. As a pre-teen, I inhaled those books. At the time, I identified more with Elizabeth than Jessica, but I suppose Jessica's 'bad girl' streak must've rubbed off on me more than I thought.
As a youngster, I wrote stories all the time, but the first time I set out to write a book in earnest was in eighth grade. Luckily my skills have improved since then. The person who first read my 'novel' in junior high was also the first reader of my Point of Distraction Series--my best friend, Eva. She's given me invaluable encouragement for the last twenty-three years.
I started reading nonfiction when I was very young, age 8 or 9. I wrote short stories for my grade school English class, presided over by Sister Evarista. |
99688 interviews created
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS