Growing up in a small town can limit a person's world view. I was fortunate in having parents who valued education and understood that life was way larger than our hometown of 4000 people. They taught me to read at the age of 4 and since my first primary school books, I have been a voracious reader. My college studies focused heavily on literature and although I could not immediately see how I could turn my love of reading into a way to make a living, but it actually happened. I had developed persuasive writing skills and I was well grounded in the pure mechanics of effective writing. more...