The story so far..
My mum taught me to read before I could do almost anything else. She obviously thought it an important skill, but she couldn't have known then how important it would become.
When I was nine, my Dad busted me out of school and took me to see the cinema release of one of his favourite books - The Fellowship of the Ring. I was so captivated (and madly in love with Legolas), he bought me my own copy on our way home; all three books and the appendices with a movie cover. I read it in a week, then went back to the beginning and read it again.
Now, I'm all grown; a published writer, magazine editor, holder of an English Literature Degree, long-standing member of a well respected writer's group and still Tolkien's number one fan.
I don't know whether my aspirations in life can be charted back to those two early experiences exclusively, but I do know that the dreams I have now are the same ones I had at nine years old - to travel the world, to write about what it taught me and to find a partner in crime to take along for the ride. The last one in the bag, the other two are works in progress and likely always will be, but how lucky am I to have found all three loves of my life and stay as in love with them as I have always been?
It's not easy, this work, but it's my great privilege to try and see it though, and I'm excited to see how my next chapter reads,
I'll keep you posted..