I was telling stories before I could write. The first one I remember was during a kindergarten show-and-tell and I was squirming because I’d forgotten to bring something. When it was my turn I stood in front of the class and told them about seeing two men going into ‘our’ woods near the Seattle grade school with cans of gasoline and how I’d followed them, caught them trying to burn the woods down, called the police and saved the day. I’m sure the teacher was skeptical but I only saw the wide eyes and adoration of the other kids. It was a light bulb moment, when you suddenly realize the power of a story. Even though I was too young to completely understand, I was old enough to realize I’d just found something important.

Once I learned to form letters, Hucklberry Finn and I took off on many adventures together, sailing across those lined pages with a pencil to pole our way down the story river. He was my first crush, and my first realization that if a story I wanted to read didn’t exist, I could create it.

So, do you remember the first thing you wrote, and do you still have it? Do you remember the feeling of discovering a brand new universe opening up? Do you still get that feeling when you start a new project? My hope is that I never lose that sense of magic and of being transported away on an adventure. I just wish I hadn’t lost those old Huckleberry Finn adventures. Today they’d be fan fiction…