Sometimes, I sit and wonder what my life would be like if I didn’t write. Of course, there was a time when I didn’t, so I kind of know. Between leaving school (where I did most of my writing) and having four children, going to work part time, I didn’t have the energy or enthusiasm to pick it back up again. I still kept a daily diary, though, but then one day, when my fourth child was two weeks old, something nudged me to write again. I think it was after a book I’d read had inspired me and it reignited the spark. My sister gave me a typewriter—I’m sure it was her, and thank God she did!—and I managed to scrabble enough money together to buy some paper. Times were hard back then, so buying that paper meant I gave up a couple of my meals.