When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
As a child I was a non-stop reader and wanted to put words together that others would read. I taught creative writing to very young children (with Iretta Bell through Quill Kids), and saw five and six year olds create startlingly poignant and humerous stories. We want to tell stories from the moment we arrive on Earth.

""Sewing needles" skimmed in the air over the tiny log cabin as I sat on the roof  looking out at the field and pond behind me. Shadrach grazed on the grass, barely noticing the flies that occasionally buzzed him. I watched a "sewing needle" land on my arm and I attempted to get it closer to my eyes to see its face. It hardly had a face but I loved it completely and knew I would write poetry as beautiful as it was."
from Living Among Castles, by Jana Cote