I love to write. I always have. I still have stories I wrote as a child, from My Life as a Shoe (~1978), to my first ghost story, The Haunted Mill (~1980). My teens -- the 80's -- were full of stories and poems, and I will always be thankful for the encouragement of my grade 9/10 English teacher, Mrs. Margaret Kreter, who saw something special in me. She saw a writer.
 
My family, however, did not. I think any artist coming from blue collar roots understands this. "Writing" meant journalism, not s...