I have always loved reading - writing seemed the natural progression. It lets me influence the characters in the story, although they tend to do what they want much of the time! I read my stories as I go along, as much as I write them. In stories, I like heroes and villians and dislike 'normal' people - in real life the opposite is true. Like most people, I write because I love to, but hope that other people will like what I write too...