Becoming a writer

I grew up surrounded by words, by language, by books, by stories. My father was a masterful storyteller, and created tales in which my four siblings and I were the characters. We learned by osmosis - geography, zoology, history. Perhaps even more pertinent, we were lulled into good behaviour. Dad's stories were told at the breakfast table, once we were all present, all dressed ready for school, all eating our breakfast. As a consequence, we were always on time for the school bus.