I can’t think of a time I wasn’t a geek.<\/p>\n
I’d say it all goes back to third grade. \u00a0That’s when everything geeky gelled for me, and there was no looking back.<\/p>\n
I’d already become an overachiever at school–straight As, except for cursive handwriting-and more advanced than most of my classmates. \u00a0But some things happened that year.<\/p>\n
Before third grade started, my family went on vacation in Florida, to Disney World and to visit my grandfather-he worked at NASA. \u00a0We went on a tour of Kennedy Space Center, although I honestly don’t remember much of that, but space has always fascinated me. \u00a0I do remember at some point talking with my grandfather about books and Star Wars<\/em>. \u00a0That year, I forget if it was for my birthday or Christmas, he sent me three books–Frank Herbert’s Dune<\/em>, Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles<\/em>, and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation<\/em>. \u00a0The last being the only one I wasn’t able to comprehend enough to finish.<\/p>\n Once school started, I made a friend who was as much, if not more, of a Star Wars<\/em> fan than I was. \u00a0I had someone to be geeky with.<\/p>\n The really big thing for me-that was when I realized I wanted to write. \u00a0Did I know what I wanted to write? \u00a0I couldn’t say. \u00a0I just know that’s the first I remember thinking “This is what I want to do.” \u00a0I haven’t stopped since. \u00a0I don’t think I could, even if I wanted.<\/p>\n At some point, between third and fifth grade, I did realize I wanted to write fantasy. \u00a0Those were the stories that stuck with me. \u00a0Sometimes to the point of distraction. \u00a0I spent a couple years trying to find the sci-fi\/fantasy section of the library so that I could find The Neverending Story<\/em>. \u00a0I don’t know why it took so long, other than the librarians possibly didn’t understand I wasn’t looking for a children’s book. \u00a0I once made my family go from one video rental store to another, trying to find this older movie that had unicorns. \u00a0That was all I could remember about it, but we eventually found it–Legend<\/em>. \u00a0I own both those, now.<\/p>\n Yeah, I’ve lost my train of thought. That happens a lot. \u00a0Need to work on that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I can’t think of a time I wasn’t a geek. I’d say it all goes back to third grade. \u00a0That’s when everything geeky gelled for me, and there was no looking back. I’d already become an overachiever at school–straight As, … Continue reading