I have been writing since third grade, when I won top honors for an essay. The prize was a rose-colored rosary. My teacher, Sister Mary Irmengarde, urged me to continue writing, which I did, over the years becoming the recipient of reams of rejection letters, but also of a few personal, hand-written words of encouragement. I have written under the pen names of Anne Lamott and J.P. Donleavy. (I'm