“I lost and found myself over and over in the pages of books.”

I grew up in a family that encouraged creativity. My mother, who sings, acts and writes plays, took my brother and me to productions at a children’s theater and made up bedtime tales. She inspired us to express ourselves through the arts.

My grandparents taught us old-school dances, crooned gospel tunes and showed their imagination through cooking and gardening. As if sprinkled by fairy dust, I became enchanted too and began to write. I started by penning entries in my diary.