m asked Romina Russell:

Did you always want to be a Writer?

Romina Russell I think I knew in fourth grade. I had a teacher who read Shel Silverstein to us in the afternoons, and those readings awoke in me a bottomless appetite for stories. Soon I was carrying around a binder full of my own musings and poetry and short stories, which I only shared with my teacher and hid from even my friends. That same year, my parents bought me the first real book I can remember owning--Great Expectations. I used to stay up late trying to read it, and even though I couldn't understand the actual story, I could feel the beauty of the words like I'd never felt anything before.

In a way, that Dickens novel has informed much of my identity as a writer: After all, the first book I ever wrote was a modern day re-telling of Pip and Estella's story. My college creative writing professor is the only person to read that tale to date, so in many ways my approach to writing now is the same as it was at the start. I think that's because wanting to be a writer isn't a momentary revelation--whether you're a published veteran or an ambitious nine-year-old, it's a passion you rediscover every day.

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