At what age did you begin writing?
Do Crayola-scrawled books count? I think I began writing almost as soon as I discovered reading! In grade school, a friend and I entered a "Young Authors and Illustrators" contest with our coauthored book—and won first prize. In junior high, I began a series of Nancy Drew-style mysteries starring (naturally enough) a teenaged sleuth who had a lot in common with me—except she had her own horse and I had...a Schwinn. In high school, I tried my hand at poetry and won a statewide contest—which only encouraged me to write angst-ridden poetry about prom dates and pimples. I've always been fascinated with the written word. And Oreos. But there weren't any Oreo-eating contests. More's the pity.
Did you always have a sense you would be a published author some day?
Given all the above, you'd think so, wouldn't you? But I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, because it didn't occur to me to seriously try my hand at writing (as a career) until after I'd married and had two children. At that point I was a stay-at-home mom with toddlers for company. It's possible I started writing just to experience conversations that went beyond Barney and Legos—even if they were imaginary! I certainly dreamed of becoming a published author and seeing my books in bookstores. I feel tremendously lucky now that that dream has come true for me.
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