I began speaking in complete sentences at 15 months, which doesn�t make me a genius by any means, but I believe it exemplifies that language in all its forms, especially reading, was a huge part of my life very early. I don�t have any direct memories, but my mother and father read to me a great deal at a very young age. Though I don�t remember my mom reading to me at night before I fell asleep, I do remember the stories. I absolutely loved a particular collection of fairy tales and Mother Goose stories and rhymes from which mom would read; the set consisted of four volumes of books. I remember that the covers were hard and were solid colors on the top half (red, yellow, blue and turquoise) and a brick print on the bottom half. I would give anything to get my hands on those books again!

I do have a few vague memories of being taught reading via phonics, coloring letters of the alphabet, and etching cursive letters into the huge lines of the handwriting paper. When I had finally learned to read for myself, I remember pouring over those old volumes of fairy tales, probably to subconsciously recapture the pleasure of my mother reading the stories to me at bedtime. My favorites were the �Teeny Tiny Woman,� �The Gingerbread Man,� �Puss in Boots,� �Sleeping Beauty,� �Rumplestiltskin,� and all the Mother Goose Rhymes. I read them over and over and over.

Once I learned there was a library at school, stacked full of books for me to borrow and peruse, there was no stopping me! I read every Dr. Seuss book I could get my hands on. As I aged, my tastes turned to Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and anyone who could write an engaging ghost story. From the earliest grades I was in advanced reading circles and simply devoured books.

In my middle school years I developed a penchant for Edgar Allan Poe and writing my own poetry and fiction. (Unfortunately, no one knew about it, so I couldn�t get the proper encouragement in this area). Since then I have been as avid a writer as I am a reader. The two quite naturally go hand in hand. My only wish, aside from finding time to write and actually getting it published, is that I have more time to read the books that I have recorded on my �Books to Read� list. I wonder if I�ll ever complete the list, since every few days or so I come across more I want to read.