Stephanie Van Orman

How could I forget? It was an Australian outback romance I had absolutely no right writing. I was thirteen, Canadian, and I had never been kissed. Worst of all, I couldn't decide which of my guy characters should be the hero, so I kept making each of them do things that were endearing and then jerkish by turns. I had to end the book by making my heroine walk out on everyone.

As a child, I read as though in a daze, like what was written on the page was too tiresome to be bothered with. I couldn't get excited and I didn't care, no matter what was presented to me. When I was in grade seven, I got an assignment to write a book report and for some reason, I had always wanted to be given that assignment. I read 'The Promise' by Monica Hughes and something about non-conformity, isolation, and the idea of being a princess with absolutely no subjects finally ignited my imagination.