My Third-grade teacher, Mrs. C, gave us all hard cover blank books to write and illustrate our own stories.  That's where it all began. My grandmother took me to an independent book store and introduced me to the owner, a friend of hers who was a children's book author and told me to pick out any book I wanted... any book I wanted.  I day-dream, a lot.  I write for myself, for readers I've never met, for characters who have not yet come into being.  I don't believe I create the characters in my work.  They appear, I write and doodle and they appear.  Once they show up, I spend some time with them, get to know them, start to love them.  That's where I am now, hanging out with my characters, trying to introduce them to people who might appreciate their quirkiness.