My background: A lifelong writer, I would often get up nerve to go into the local travel agency all by self at the tender age of seven, and tell lies! I would say I needed travel brochures from Hawaii, England, or some other place I was curious about. My excuses? "I'm doing a school report." Or- "My family is planning a vacation." Remember, this is before the internet (the 70s) and I loved reading about exotic locales. Major influences: The challenges of disability. Both my own, and others. My memoir for example- Under The Banana Moon, is not only about caring for a dying man with ALS; it's about letting humor guide you; about being strong despite chinks in your armor; it's about falling in holes and crawling back out. It's about doing what you have to because your back is to the wall and you damned well have to. I am influenced by the littlest of things-because I notice the details. It isn't until I look back over my shoulder at the troubles I've weathered that I realize that the big things have not only influenced me but changed me too; for the good. 

Perhaps the biggest achievement of all is to rise every morning, be inside every moment and embrace each day.