Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews is up there for me. The last pages just struck such a chord I sobbed like a baby and it hit me; an author can reach into your world and change you! It was pretty astounding to sit there as a pre-teen bawling my eyes out but it happened and it made the world of literature take on a whole new reality for me.

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Another bawl-your-eyes-out classic. I remember our grade teacher was reading it to our class daily and we were bringing supplies of tissue to class! Imagine little second graders, including the boys, coming equipped with tissues to ride out the storms of pups and boys bonding in the Ozarks! What that author did was take a young group and taught us to express our emotions and that it was OK to do that. We formed a bond in that class through that tale and we were better for it. That teacher couldn't have taught us compassion or caring for animals or empathy through hurt in a more brilliant way!

I had left books for years as I adjusted to teenage-hood but one day I picked up "Go Ask Alice" in high school and it again sent me on a journey through the turmoil of a teen who got into drugs. My heart ached reading it and at the time it inspired me to pick up poetry again. I wrote a poem for my English class which I discuss in a piece in my latest "Book of Past". What's amazing is that I took that story and wrote my own inspired poem and read it to my class and at the end of it I was startled to see the effect it had created! I swear I thought I'd brought the storm clouds into that classroom...amazing how we can paint a scene with words... authors can teach so much if you only care to listen...

Interestingly, I picked up writing again sharing poetry and literature on a global art sharing site where there is quite a large community of writers posting their work back and forth, from diverse people across the world to teens in the US who were expressing themselves through poetry. On this site I found a person who connected with me that was also an incredible digital artist and now does my cover designing! He resides in the U.K. and he literally writes with light! It's cool that he also read some of my literature and that we were interacting on art sharing before I even approached him about covers. As it's gone, I provide the concepts and the general graphics and he then creates digital renderings that I find out of this world! Actually to begin with the first design was a logo for my art website but I then loved it so much and connected it to my poetry to such a degree it's now the hot/cold fire and ice image on The Book of Past. He's always an e-mail away and is such a talented artist. He goes by Phantanomaly and his digital creations are surreal and breathtaking. He's already designed the cover for my upcoming Science Fiction/Fantasy novel I'm writing called "The Watcher" which you can find on my website blog. I love fantastic artists and promoting them and he brings my ideas to light!

I have written poems about children who have taken their own lives after being bullied and have had strangers who read my work relate and become emotional and tell me it helped them come to terms with their own earlier tough periods. I have been approached by a large art initiative to raise awareness on these issues of equality and respect and was honored to be asked to include my poetry on their website. Helping inspire change brings me such sweet satisfaction.

Additionally, a relative of my cousin is a sweet older gentleman who had his whole family lost during the Holocaust as a young boy. He was ripped out of a dream life into horror overnight. He escaped death himself seven times and saved the life of his younger sister as well. He managed to finally arrive to Canada where he helped to devise telephone technology and raised a beautiful family that is still expanding. This man, for all the atrocities he's seen has swelling love in his heart and it flows from him. I was so touched with his story and presence when I first met him that I wrote him a tribute poem called "The Holocaust Warrior" which is included in my poetry publication.

My cousin tape recorded his stories one by one and published a book of his life called "Because of a Fishbone" and at the release of the novel at a local book fair he was so touched by my poem he had it printed up on a poster at the book fair booth and shared it with anyone he could. To be able to reach someone's heart and ease their pain even a little or to give them an adventure or new view is my greatest joy in writing. We can invigorate and inspire people and the world with words.

I wrote a piece a couple months back when there was definitely some mounting turmoil happening on equality and human rights in the USA. I lived in the USA for 4 years from the age of 16-20 (I love America) but was born and raised in Toronto and live here now. This is what I wrote:

Growing up in Toronto

I'm Hungarian and Finnish, my brother is Hungarian and Italian, my sister is Finnish and Chinese mixed. I grew up in a Jewish neighbourhood, one of my best friends was Black South African and Japanese mix, my closest childhood friends were white, Black, Muslim, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Greek, Italian, Native American, Irish, Scottish, you name it.

As a child some of my first female role models included an amazing African girl named Akweyo, who was good friends with my brother and lived across the street from us and Korean twins that were beyond cool in my eyes and were incredible athletes. I saw role models, never really noticed or concerned myself with differences in our features or skin or religion.

My husband is French and German and I have Jewish extended family through a marriage and I'm soon to have more Chinese relatives from an upcoming ceremony too.

Was I ever taught inequality? No. I learned various cultures and beliefs and how amazing each was through my upbringing and from the society around me. My high school was made up of 2500 kids right in the centre of the city as diverse as the world itself and we were friends with whomever we connected with and there were no boundaries. It was a human family of sorts. I grew up with multiple ethnicities, met diverse parents, tried great new cuisine, learned the beauty of religions and learned we are all spirits underneath the flesh.

Growing up in Toronto, inequality was never taught to me. I love Toronto and I feel it leans towards the future of the type of human family this world needs.

I feel that my upbringing and the people I was surrounded with helped to shape my platform of human rights and spirituality. I believe this is reflected in my work, both the light side and the very darkest sides of life and humanity. I have an intimate empathy for others and dedicate my time to helping others in any way I can and I hope my literature can change someone's view or help them fly more free.

I have written before and have been encouraged to publish but it wasn't until I overcame my own fear of exposing my inner artistic side that I unleashed it and put the collection together for my first official publication. I am not a fan of heavy critiquing of the arts or lots of regimentation of something that must be let free and feel this can limit it's scope, so I didn't really even think of doing it any other way with success. Some of my favorite artists and musicians pushed the envelope and I would only want to aspire to that and never compromise on what it is exactly I want to communicate to people. Reaching people is a true joy for me and if I can ride them high and low on the emotional gamut then all the better! I am honored when anyone takes their time to let my world into theirs... I have received such beauty and want to give it back.

If there was no one to write to or for than I don't think I'd have a purpose to do it. The people in the world, our mutual experiences, our love and losses and all the perseverance that exists to overcome adversity and keep adding beauty to this life resides behind the eyes of every reader who will come to know me as an author who perhaps reached into their world to influence or entertain them. In each person I see the potential to be all the greatness they can conceive of, thus I have a reason to write. How could I not love having an intimate conversation through the medium of art with such amazing individuals that exist today? People can be too humble about how amazing they truly are and the people they actually help and bolster, so I like being there to remind them of the concepts of where we could go if we just believed in ourselves and the next guy. I put myself out on a limb when I put my art out for others to experience and that makes me just as willing to have them open their hearts and minds to me. It's a very naked and open relationship and one I cherish.

I am currently writing a Science Fiction/Fantasy novel called "The Watcher". I will, in the near future post the first few chapters on my website to give people a taste of it as frankly I can't wait for people to meet "Device" and enter into his very unique world.

Stephen King is definitely one of them as he was so good that I, as a child, actually plowed through his 1000 plus page book "It" and others. He'd have to have been that good to have held my attention at that age that's for sure! Forever in my heart is V.C. Andrews too for showing me how deeply a world painted in concepts can turn your world upside down. Danielle Steel writes with the heart and her novel "Star" made me dream as a child that one day I could be in love and reach my goals too, just like Crystal in the book. These are some of them. There are more.

Playing the game of life with it's ups and downs and challenges keeps me ticking and I really am always trying to achieve bigger and bigger long term goals. I love helping people improve their lives in any way I can and I love supporting and fighting for human rights movements and this definitely demands a lot of my attention, especially in a world as tumultuous as this one. Artistically, my dream is to author and uplift the imagination and I can say this truly brings me happiness.

I write out of a very deep well of inspiration that I channel upwards from my frustrations with the current state of society, civil rights abuses, environmental issues etc. Reversely I also get much material from the exact and total opposite end of the spectrum; pure exhilaration and creative thought. And oh ya... love... that brings forth my demons and angels of creativity with a force!