Sometime in my childhood, around the age of eleven or twelve, I witnessed a man do something terrible to a helpless kitten. Seeing what he did made me feel wretched; but he seemed pleased with himself. That's when I began thinking about people. Before that afternoon, I more or less assumed all adults behaved the same. Neither my mother or my father would ever be cruel to an animal the way that man was. I thought all people were gentle and sweet, like my parents were. Suddenly, I realized I didn't know much about people at all. That's when I started thinking about how each person is different from every other.

I made mental notes about what this or that neighbor did; how they reacted to different things; what they said about different things; and how they behaved around different people. As life went on, I became less and less of a participant in things like art and drama clubs or sports. I became less of a participant in life and more of an observer. Observation of others became my interest; my spectator sport, like some people like watching baseball and football. I felt pretty smug with my understanding of people. I thought I understood them pretty well; but in my twenties, I had another realization. A girl friend whom I thought I knew shocked me. She told me how she really felt about boys, dating, relationships, romance, and sex.

Her pleasant veneer masked a whole different character. I had no idea her mind was so complex or that her character was so fluid. That's when I began studying deviant personalities, sociopathy, and psychopathy; especially in their romantic and sexual relationships. I now appreciate that an element of their conduct resides in many of us.I love writing. Packaging hidden personality traits in fictional characters and weaving these characters into a cohesive fictional story is my joy. I began writing as a hobby. It challenged my English grammar skills and traveled my mind along many uncharted, whimsical paths.

Writing relaxes me and I enjoy it.