When I was a kid, there were some books that really fired up my imagination. I loved Alice in Wonderland. The White Rabbit made a huge impression on me and I remember wishing that Alice would just hustle her bustle a little bit and catch up with him. What was he late for? Why was he in such a hurry?
My parents and grandmother read The Wizard of Oz series to me in elementary school and I loved them. Baum’s world was so colorful that I felt I was right there with the strange creatures that populated it. The characters were almost like friends to me (the Scarecrow was my favorite.)
It was around second grade that I got hooked on mysteries and I’ve been buying them ever since. I read everything, but my favorite books are mysteries. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew. (The Clue of the Dancing Puppet was the first one I read. How I remember this and can’t remember what I did last week is anyone’s guess.) Then there was Trixie Belden. She wasn’t quite as mature as Nancy, but a lot of fun.
So I was wondering---when did everyone realize they wanted to write? Were there books that made you say “I want to write like that!"? And, do you write the genre that you read the most growing up, or have your reading/writing interests changed through the years?