The first book I ever read by myself non stop all the way through was Edward Lear's THE COMPLETE NONSENSE. It was a revelation. I didn't know it was allowed. To have that much fun. And be a grown-up. And be in a book.

Things have not been the same since.

My job is to tell stories. I used to get in trouble for it, of course, when I was little. One of my favorites was telling my 7 year old neighbor that when I lived in Africa (true), single handedly raised lions from cubs like in Born Free. (not so true). Another, more disastrous one, was when I told my mum's best friend that my mum had just yesterday had a baby--she was delighted but not fooled, mostly because the day before she'd seen my mum and she hadn't been pregnant then. (Which proves you need to get all your details straight if you're telling a story and you want people to believe it.) Fortunately, lately, my telling stories--well, I seem to be getting away with it. So far. Even getting paid to do it.