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Joined: 2010/01/09
Last here: 3863 days ago
(possibly inactive)
Country: United States

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INVENTORY >

Status message:
I'm in law school and money is tight (Thanks to fees of $63,00 a year). But I'll send out as often as I can. Thanks!

Bio:
Of Hobbits, History and Debate

My earliest memories of reading come from my parents. Ever since I can remember they were reading to me. I remember my Dad reading me Winnie the Pooh books and a book of poems by Robert Lewis Stevenson. My mom would read me more educational type books; I remember particularly liking books about wolves and bears. By the time I was six I my Mom had read the whole Laura Ingalls Wilder and Narnia series to me and my younger brothers. My father had moved on to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I still clearly feel the horror of Bilbo’s first encounter with Smog in the Lonely Mountain. These are also some of my happiest memories from childhood.
Reading for myself was another thing altogether. I remember my Mom trying to teach me (I was homeschooled), and I remember actively fighting the knowledge I inevitably gained. I never read any kind of real book until I was nine years old. That is when I stumbled across the Cam Jansen mystery series. I read a lot of the short chapter books, which I also used to teach my younger brother Greg (he was 7) how to read with. I quickly tired of the simply written Cam Jansen books and on my father’s suggestion turned to Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes opened up a whole new world to me. I started to read everything I could get my hands on. Around this time I heard the story of how the Thomas Edison’s school told his mother that he was mentally challenged because he was refusing to read. In response, his mother pulled him out of school and taught him herself. Edison did very well, and quickly learned to read. In a short time he read Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Not to be outdone, I immediately found my Dad’s copy of this work and read it completely before I turned 12.
I loved reading about history. I could not get enough of wars, battles, and heroism. I started collecting books, something in which my parents strongly encouraged me. I read and bought dozens and dozens of G. A. Henty books and over one hundred Landmark history books. By the time I was 15 I had over 500 historical books in my bedroom. Coupled with my father’s immense book collection our house was almost a library.
I also first started to write sometime around this era of my life. I wrote a short story involving a native Indian who travels with Lord Cornwallis in his conquest of Mysore. During his travels, my literary hero had many adventures. I think this tale of mine was influenced by both Henty and Kipling, my favorite authors of the time.
I also remember trying to write a story about Richard Hannay, a hero in many of the books by John Buchan. This attempt failed, and I still remember my mother’s anger with my father for introducing me to the phrase “writer’s block” (I then used it almost every day in school).
Both of my parents have bachelor’s degrees, and higher education runs back several centuries on my dad’s side. He has a letter that the poet Robert Burns wrote to his ancestor from back in the 1700’s. Consequently, I have always felt responsible for keeping the strong tradition of learning alive in my family.
Another factor which strongly affected my literary development came when my mother signed me and my younger brother Greg up for a debate league when I was 15 (my brother was now 13). At first, learning to speak and debate was challenging. Even worse was the research that went along with this semi-sport. That year the topic revolved around the United States trade policy with the Middle East and Africa. I was a part of this highly competitive league for five years and eventually ended up going to national tournaments in San Diego and Houston. I also read through vast portions of U.S. code to formulate debate plans and attacks.
These experiences still strongly impact me today. I learn and see everything in my life with an eye toward history. I still read, my favorite books right now are the Sharpe’s series by Cornwell and the Jack Aubrey series by Patrick O’Brian, and enjoy writing. I am excited every time I learn of a good book that I have not read. And I hope to continue in this path.