The first story I wrote (well, the first reasonably long story) was a fantasy. It was an English assigment in grade four and I remember feeling this click. I couldn't stop writing. Soon I'd gone seventeen pages over the page limit for the assignment!

The person that really inspired me to keep on writing (because at that age I was self-conscious and I didn't have any confidence in my stories) was my elementary school English teacher, who was a writer herself. I loved her stories, and she was always telling me how I could get that good if I wanted. Every time I finished a story I'd give it to her and she was always so encouraging - I remember pretty much idolizing her! XD (I went back and visited her a few months ago, and she actually recognized me, both by face and name! It was really nice. ^__^)