I am often asked when I decided to become a writer, and why. I’ve told the story many times, of how I knew all my letters and numbers before starting school, of how I took to reading and writing by Grade 2, how I was producing my own hand-written and -illustrated story books by Grade 4, and then a play by Grade 6 – that my class performed before the whole school. Add to that the wonderful input and encouragement of a very special school teacher, the voraciousness with which I