I have been writing since I was 4 years old. I was the kid who never had to be coerced to write thank-you notes to Nana; I wrote 4-page letters to every boyfriend I ever had starting at age 12 (you guys should have kept those letters! Someday I'm going to be a household name. My heroes (or rather, She-roes) are Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan, and Susan L. Taylor. My first paid writing job was as a staff assistant to a State Senator. When he marveled at how good I was at speechwriting (I was initially hired to do administrative/receptionist work) I realized maybe I wasn't the only one who liked what I wrote. My work has been seen over the past 3 years in local publications including The Dallas Weekly, Scene, DallasBlack.com and Eclipse magazine.