Amanda asked K.A. Barson:

Did you always know what you wanted to be when you got older? I used to want to be a zoologist, a teacher, and now I hope to be a child psychologist and am going through school working towards. Sometimes I look back and think about those old dreams/wants I had and what life could be like in the future if I chose those. If you ever wanted to be something else, do you think back on it too? Do you regret it?

K.A. Barson I always liked writing and reading, but I hadn't thought of being an actual author as a real career. I didn't know anyone who did that. To me, authors were like rock stars or movie stars--they didn't feel like real people. In middle school and high school I wanted to be a preschool teacher because I really liked kids. That didn't happen, which was probably best. I ended up working in an office. It was a good job, but not a good fit for me. Then I had kids of my own. I homeschooled them, so I did end up teaching, which I still do, but now at the college level. I also started my own collection agency, which was ANOTHER bad fit. I was a horrible bill collector! I cared way more about the people and their stories than getting money from them. I dabbled in dog training and herbal remedies (for both dogs and humans). I spent a lot of time pondering what I wanted to "be". Eventually, I returned to writing and loved it. It took a while before I decided to pursue publishing my work though. Even after I did, it took a lot of time, work, and dedication to get there. I don't regret those bad fit jobs though. They helped me appreciate the right fit all the more.

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