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I taught high school English, including creative writing, composition, grammar, and literature. But I found I didn't much like trying to make other people do things they didn't want to do. I hated grading composition papers of writers who didn't want to write, leaving me no time to do what I had always wanted to do: write.
I was in 8th grade when the idea I could be a writer first entered my mind. We had to write a story and mine was a scary one about being unjustly confined to a mental hospital. (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may have stolen my idea.) I think the story was pretty good, in part because I had lots of realistic details from my mom's stories of working in the state hospital. My teacher, Mrs. Ruth Fite, thought it was pretty good too. Here's what she wrote on the top of my paper:
Be sure to give me a signed copy of your first book!
There may have been a star there too. It's been a long time since 8th grade, but that dream is at last coming true for me. Unfortunately, Mrs. Fite is no longer with us, so I can't bring her a signed copy. But I am dedicating my first book Time and Again to her.

I taught high school English, including creative writing, composition, grammar, and literature. But I found I didn't much like trying to make other people do things they didn't want to do. I hated grading composition papers of writers who didn't want to write, leaving me no time to do what I had always wanted to do: write. I was in 8th grade when the idea I could be a writer first entered my min... More