Hi Bettina, reading was an escape for me as a kid and I also found I loved writing when I was 12. I wrote my first short story that year, read by my teacher in class and embarrassing me to death and I just kept writing, first as a journalist and then as a book person, which my books served as the foundation for a long career as a speaker and consultant. Poetry was always there but I didn't get around to chasing it seriously until I left eh business world. I went back to graduate school, again, in my 60s and got a degree in creative writing/poetry, which is where the latest book originated. I read a lot of poetry these days. Billy Collins says you have to read 10,000 of poetry before you find your own voice and I am still reading and trying to find my poetic self. Thank you Bettina, sorry this is so long. Thom