Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I don't really remember the very first story I ever wrote. I was always writing, it seems. I do remember the first story I grew serious about. It don't remember much about it, only that the protagonist was a red-headed girl who had a matching sage green bath towel/wash cloth set. It was probably awful, if I'm honest with myself. I was perhaps fourteen-years-old when I was writing this story.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
This is another one where I cannot remember the exact first story I ever read.
I remember loving a book when I was very young called 'Lickity Split' ... or 'The Adventure of Lickity Split'. Something along those lines. It was an illustrated poem about a young dinosaur who got lost. I can still recite the opening lines:
Lickity Split went walking one day,
When he took a left turn and went the wrong way.
My parents had a library with an entire wall of books; most of them speculative fiction. It is probably the main reason why I write it now. I remember being utterly enthralled by Frank Herbert's 'Dune' as well as Piers Anthony's 'Xanth' series. From there I fell in love with David Eddings' 'Elenium' series, and well, the rest are all falling dominoes.
I've always loved reading. I'm really very good at suspending my disbelief. While this makes me a terrible editor, it makes for fantastic reading. I'm easily transported to other worlds, and get deeply emotionally invested in the characters very quickly... if the writing is good!
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