Reading is a waste of time. It's mentally laborious, hard on the eyes, and to a much larger extent...boring! Only an idiot would ruin their day by reading.

Believe me when I say that I absolutely felt this way back in seventh grade. I hated to read...with a passion. Partly becuase I didn't think I would understand what I was going to read. Things changed, of course...so let me tell about it.

It all started about twelve years ago in Mr. Scott's social studies class at Placer Elementary School in Loomis, California. For thirty minutes each day, Mr. Scott would force a silent reading session on the entire class. The thought of a silent reading session horrified me; I just couldn't see the sense in it.

"Each day!" I remember thinking to myself. "How could I possibly fake reading for thirty minutes, each day?"

Perhaps, I thought , I could do something else? When I asked about this, Mr. Scott just smiled at me and cocked his head slightly.

I knew the answer, but reading was a waste, and only a nerd would dare to be caught with a book in his hand!

I was determined not to read, and as a result, I've since read hundreds upon hundreds of very good books, and am, today, writing one of my own.

I will explain...

Mr. Scott was not satisfied that we just read. He also wanted a complete reporting of what was read!

This really horrified me! What was I to do? I couldn't possibly read the story and then tell about it later.

So I thought, and thought, and thought....

Finally, I came up with something!

What I'd do is glance over the pictures on the front cover, read the back blurb, then conjure up a story that seemed plausible.

Well...when it was my turn to tell about my book, which by the way was one by Piers Anthony, called Nightmare, a fantasy novel, one my Mom bought me, the first book I would call my own, I scuffed reluctantly toward his desk.

I remember him looking strangely at me, as if he expected disappointment. As it turned out, he was quite surprised!

Evidently, I had furnished him with a completely plausible story. Whenever he'd ask about a particular character, while thumbing through the book, I would quickly include that character into the story I'd come up with. I imagined my way through it all...

...and he bought it!

Well, after receiving an A+ on my book report, I began to think...what was Nightmare really about? Needless to say, I read it, and was hooked from there on in.

That was how reading became a major part of my life. It was also the same time that I became interested in writing, but it wasn't until later that I realized writing was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I'd like to thank Mr. Scott for accepting my false story as truth, and my Mom for buying me my first book.