I've had a love affair with the written word since I was a child. My first grade teacher told my mother I wouldn't amount to anything, resulting in many sessions of Dick and Jane at bedtime. I still remember the victory of reading Green Eggs and Ham on my own. From then on, I was hooked, a veritable bookworm. It was only natural that writing would come next. I dabbled in stories for years, writing continuations of television programs with my best friend and filling notebooks with flights of fancy. Fast forward to college and I majored in elementary education with a concentration in my true lov...