I have to write. The characters won't shut up until I put them on paper and even then they continue to whisper, begging me to finish their story.

Raised as an Air Force officer's daughter I moved around a lot and found making up friends a whole lot easier than making real ones. I didn't know at first to write them, I just learned to live with the voices.

Later as a young mother of four I found that if I told my kids about the characters the voices would leave me alone for a while.