Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I was born in Wisconsin and spent most of my childhood living between Wisconsin and Florida. We moved around a lot so it was difficult to make friends. I read a lot of books, which sparked my interest in writing. It was an escape from feeling isolated and eventually became my main source of entertainment. My parents did not put limits on what I could read, so I read everything I could get my hands on. I wrote less than I read, but as a teen I did write poetry. I published one poem in a book while in middle school (alas I have neither a copy of the poem nor the book), but school took up much of my time. Eventually marriage & children came along so writing was put on the back burner.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I don't remember the story precisely, but I do remember that it was a play. I was around 8 years old and I wrote a play for my sister, cousin, and me to perform. I'm pretty sure it involved a lot of singing. I also used to write down my dreams. I had a series of recurring nightmares throughout my childhood that eventually caused me to lucid dream to overcome it. That's the first full story I put down on paper. I don't have any copies of it but I could re-write it at any time as those dreams were in my life from about age 5 until I was around 12. The first full story that I still have is a horror vignette about a man and his infant sharing a nightmare.
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