I remember the first novel I ever read: Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona. My aunt and uncle had given me a few of her books when I was 6 years old, and they were difficult at first since there was at least one word on the first page that I didn't know. But once I learned what "exasperating" meant, the book had me hooked.
We lived in Montvale, New Jersey until I was eight, and the very best part was that the library was walking distance, and I was allowed to go there by myself. I had hoped to read every book in the children's section. It was a huge disappointment when we moved to nearby Woodcliff Lake, to find that the only libraries were the school libraries. In the summer, I had to feed my reading habit in other towns.
Reading fiction was important to me throughout school, and I majored in English with writing emphasis and Spanish at Goucher College. During this time, though I had pretty much stopped reading for fun, focusing mainly on what was assigned for my classes.
The most important book I read in college was Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. I had studied it in detail for a Spanish Literature seminar, and had written about the book extensively. When I graduated, the economy was bad, entry level jobs were scarce, and my job skills and experience were non-existent. I'd spent about six months searching for jobs and temping in the Baltimore-Washington area after graduation, when I found a help wanted ad for a quirky non-profit on K Street. They were looking for someone who could write, and who spoke Spanish. I thought I did extremely well at the first interview, enough so that I was surprised that I wasn't called back for a second interview. About a month later, they ran the ad again. My savings were dwindling, and the threat of having to move back to my parents' house was becoming very real. I wrote a letter to the Executive Director, and basically begged for that job.
They called me for a second interview, this time with a panel-- consisting of the entire office. This was intimidating, but one of the employees, Claudia sized me up and down... then asked me what was my favorite book. Sure enough, it was her favorite book as well, and the interview, which could have been a discussion of my poor typing skills and lack of experience in anything other than being an arts and crafts camp counselor, turned into a discussion of literature. I started the job the following week.
