Yes! I was in the First Grade, and I had a crush on a boy who could not have cared less about me. I wrote a two-page story where he asked me to marry me.

It doubles as a sewing table, so my old trusty Singer is on one side and the sewing project du jour is on the other.

Years ago I came across the yaoi genre, and it really resonated with me. I began to write a script for a manga, but the publisher I had set my hopes on went out of business, and that was it. Life got in the way after that; I tried writing a serious, coming-of-age novel, but it was an uphill battle...mostly because I do not really like coming-of-age stories.

Then the e-book revolution happened. I found my script, reworked it into a yaoi novel, and enjoyed every minute of the process. I am hoping to publish "The Lion of Palmyra" at the end of May.

It is a love story set in the Middle East during the Crusades. I have a soft spot for period adventure movies, even the corny ones; they remind me of Saturday afternoon TV marathons when I was growing up, and I've tried to recreate the feeling: the exotic locale, the handsome heroes, the witty banter, the near-saves and, of course, the epic battle at the end.

My IPad. I won it in an essay-writing contest nearly three years ago; it has gone through a few covers already and the Home button gets temperamental some days, but I cannot imagine my life without it. (OK, I can, but it would be very sad.)

Getting lost in a universe of my own creation, and being "in the zone" where the words just flow and the everyday world disappears.

A new yaoi novel set in Paris during the Belle Epoque. There is a struggling painter, an oh-so-handsome and ambitious model, and an unscrupulous art collector.

Charles Dickens. He was the Stephen King of his time. He had an eye for what sold and great marketing skills. His use of the language is delicious; the description of David Copperfield's household management troubles is hysterically funny.

Emilio Salgari; an Italian writer in the 1800s who wrote adventure books set in exotic locations. I read the whole Sandokan series growing up, and it ruined me for Enid Blyton.

Jules Verne: again, another spinner of fantastic tales in faraway places. I'm sensing a theme here...

Mario Vargas Llosa, who won the Nobel Prize of Literature in 2010. He makes a game of sentence structure. I read him when I was growing up, and he opened my eyes to realities of South American life that I did not even know existed, sheltered young thing that I was.

Coffee and a dog begging to go for walkies.