I have been writing since my teenage years.  I became interested in writing in 5th grade when my teacher would instruct us to make up stories using our spelling words.  She was very encouraging, and I just kept on writing as the years went by.  Expression through poems was my favorite.  I have had several recognized.  I got involved with the schools and Junior Achievement at which time my interests turned to stories that would appeal to the kids.  Writing the stories in rhyme seemed to make them more interesting.  I enjoy taking events from my past and making them stories.  "Bats in the Air, Bats in My Hair" is taken from my own adventure at my Grandmother's house when I was 9.  My cousins and I were spending the night at my Grandmother's.  The house was a large, old two-story.  The girls were in one room upstairs; the boys were across the hall.  We heard something in the middle of the night and turned on the light.  We looked over at my cousin Deb who was still asleep.  There was a bat tangled in her long hair that was streaming across her pillow.  We screamed and ran over to the boys' room and jumped on the bed with them.  The bed broke causing a lot of noise.  My Grandmother was not very pleased with any of us.  She made us go back to bed! I came up with "Just One More Game" after hearing that phrase from my sons over and over every time I asked them to go to bed. The story was guided by watching them get pulled into the video gaming world. It was quite funny watching them get so involved in each game that they played much the way Corey is so involved in beating the Black Knight that he can't eat or go outside to play. I have other stories that I plan to complete. When I speak to kids about writing, I emphasize writing about what you know.  From your heart is always better!