Sparkfest: Doom Goes the Writer

"What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer?"

This is a question often put to writers. Most have a definitive answer - I do not.

I "officially" began writing in my early teens (although my mother claims I was creating pictorial stories even before I could write - and has very embarrassing proof). This was a time of ravenous reading and little notice where one book ended and another began, and since I can barely recall what I read last month, I cannot even fathom what title or author could've sparked my passion to write.

The vague memories I have of my first stories are those of slavery and Star Wars (not in the same story, mind you - although, actually, maybe a little...). I recall being quite fascinated by historical novels at one point, mostly in the form of Dear America journals. I began writing one of my own, about the unlikely friendship of a plantation owner's daughter and a young slave girl who worked the fields (original, I know). So I guess a Dear America book could've started me down the writerly road.

But around the same time I also created an entire family tree of force-strong, darkside-tempted smugglers in the Star Wars universe, spawned by Episode 1 and a subsequent obsession to chronologically read every Star Wars book ever written by man and alien. So one could say Star Wars brought out my passion for writing as well.

Which came first? I'm not entirely sure. Whenever I think back, I recall being crouched in front of an ancient Apple, handwritten notes beside the keyboard and a floppy grinding in the drive. Exactly which story I had been writing, I do not know. I was probably too busy trying to stay focused and not wander off to read my latest inspiration from the library.

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