Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Obviously, this has influenced my writing since The Intoxicated Series takes place largely in Fort Wayne. One of the major plot points is Lauren's move from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne. The setting of the book becomes almost like a secondary character.
When did you first start writing?
The first time I really picked up a pencil and wrote something that others would end up reading was in the second grade. I was selected to represent my elementary school in a Young Authors competition. The book I wrote was titled "My Cat Fizzgig". I also illustrated it. I found that I really enjoyed doing this and started to write stories in spiral notebooks that I would pass around to my friends. This continued throughout middle school, but unlike others even though I took a semi-hiatus during high school, I never really stopped creating things in my head.
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