PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Denise Richardson: I was born and raised in New England and most of those years were spent in Brattleboro -a beautiful small town in Southern Vermont where I was lucky enough to grow up in a typical Italian family where Sunday's were spent at my grandparents home devouring vast amounts of homemade pasta and listening to countless sermons from my grandmother (Nonie). She taught me through her actions and strong convictions, to believe in the power of faith and know that "everything happens for a reason -you just need to have faith that you will figure out the reason. She often said the best rewards in life are realized when we give of ourselves to others - without expectations for anything in return. A concept that greatly rules my life today and one that makes me recognize the scale of her powerful influence.

I did write while young... I religiously wrote in my diary to empty out thoughts in my head that would often consume me -until I could spill them out on paper -a pattern that that still holds true today!

My most precious memory of reading while young… My sister and I would grab a book, blanket and plastic pails and head off through the woods to Riley's Dam, picking blueberries by the pail full, all along the way. Once we found a spot we liked, we would lie out a blanket and relax under a tree by the water and read our books while gorging on handfuls of blueberries.
 

PageOneLit.com: Why did you write "GIVE ME BACK MY CREDIT "?

Denise Richardson: Give Me Back My Credit was born out frustration, passion and an overwhelming sense of necessity to use my story to encourage others to become proactive when protecting their credit and their identities. I looked at my life experiences and realized that if my belief of that old adage "everything happens for a reason" was true, then the reason for the last 15 years was staring me right in the face. I needed to share my experiences and lessons learned throughout my saga, if I wanted to shed light on the problems and work towards much needed change in the industry. It was definitely an "aha moment".