I started out writing novels for adults: The Recital and Nickel Malley were both written and published while I was living in England (these books were published in England only and are now out of print). While teaching great literature, I learned so much about writing: about what makes a story interesting and about techniques of plot and characterization and point of view. Later, I was a teacher (high school English and writing) in England and in Switzerland. It was in college, when I took literature and writing courses, that I became intrigued by story-telling. I also soon learned that I would make a terrible reporter because when I didn’t like the facts, I changed them.

It soon became apparent that I had little drawing talent, very limited tolerance for falling on ice, and absolutely no ability to stay on key while singing. When I was young, I wanted to be many things when I grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, a teacher, and a reporter. Bybanks also makes a brief appearance (by reference, but not by name) in The Wanderer. Bybanks appears in Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, and Bloomability. I loved Quincy so much that it has found its way into many of my books-transformed into Bybanks, Kentucky. We were outside running in those hills all day long, and at night we’d gather on the porch where more stories would be told. One other place we often visited was Quincy, Kentucky, where my cousins lived (and still live) on a beautiful farm, with hills and trees and swimming hole and barn and hayloft.

Bloomability by sharon creech