The first book I ever checked out of the library and read all by myself was Andrew Lang's The Green Fairy Book. I was seven years old. I think it Impressed me in the same way as Anne McCaffrey's dragon characters Impress their riders at hatching. I wrote and illustrated my first book at age 10--it was called "The Sea Fairy" and was a quite awful story about a pair of girls who save a sea fairy at the beach and join her in battling her evil underwater enemy.
As I overeducated myself, I became creatively blocked, and I would spend hours in front of a blank computer screen. I had nothing to show for my desire to become a writer of fantasy novels, so I ended up going to law school, where I hoped that some miracle might occur and I would suddenly discover that I was passionate about becoming a lawyer. Unfortunately this never occurred. My summer studying for the California bar exam was the worst summer of my life; in fact, when my roommates borrowed an aura camera (Kirlian photography), photos indicated that my aura was brown during that time. The six months of practice afterwards, during which I traded bodywork and psychic readings for mentoring by established lawyers, were almost as painful.
I became a bodyworker and a Rolfer, and I absolutely loved it. It was during my Rolf movement certification in Brazil that I met my husband; I have since moved to Brazil and put my bodywork career on hold. My inner critic's had enough time and space to calm down, and this last year I've finally begun a serious effort to work on my writing aspirations.
Categories I fit into--I'm a Taurus, an INTJ (Valentine insists INFP), an enneagram 4. I'm probably in the 99th percentile for being analytical and also for being introverted. I'm a bit self-absorbed and have tendencies towards solipsism. I believe each person has some best way of learning and a best way of expressing their soul urges artistically--my inner template is that of a writer.
