How I was first bitten by the writing bug

I've had so many readers ask me how I happened to start writing, that I decided I was missing a great blogging opportunity. From writing PENNY PINCHERS, a weekly newspaper column about how to feed a family on a budget, to authoring 15 novels and co-writing several TV movies, it's been a fun journey.

It all began after the birth of the youngest of our seven children (4 girls and 3 boys). By then the older kids were in school, and I started daydreaming about what I wanted to be once the final little Tallman also boarded the school bus. I took stock of what I might have to offer the world: I had a college degree in radio and television -- used working at a local TV station to pay for tuition and board, but not touched since I'd graduated -- a love of snow skiing, bike riding, listening to music and watching movies, none of which was likely to provide me with a pay check. I also loved reading books, ever since childhood, although that didn't appear any more promising as a career choice.

Or was it? What would it be like to actually write a book, I wondered? Kind of scary. I comforted myself with the thought that nobody had to know what I was doing -- so no embarrassment if I failed. Right? But could I even pull it off? Hmmm.

(On Saturday, my first, faltering efforts to write professionally)