I wrote my first story when I was so young, I don't recall my exact age. I guess I was probably six or so, and my father provided my first feedback: "There's a difference between humor and just being silly." I actually took it pretty well, as I recall. I began writing in earnest around 7th grade and kept going through high school and college. At college, I cleverly met and soon married my editor, and she struggled for many years to teach me how to write. My biggest setback came when I finally landed an agent, but she turned out to be a con artist instead. That killed my fiction career for nearly ten years, although I did write a lot of nonfiction during that time and even sold a few pieces. It's been a long journey, but I think I'm finally starting to get somewhere...