[Forward]

My name is J.C. Wilder and I’m addicted to books. Is there a 12 step program for this? I certainly hope not as it is an addiction that I don’t want cured! Most of my waking hours are spent either writing, researching or reading though I do have some fun hobbies like laundry and scrubbing toilets. I know, my life is too exciting for color TV.

So how did I get here?

My father used to say I came out of the womb reading – all I have to say about that is OUCH! Sorry, mom. At nine I was reading on a college level and he would boast about this to his friends. I didn’t know what the big deal was because I read what interested me. Could I help it if See Dick Run was as dull as toast and my real interest was archeology?

Yes, my childhood was far from normal.

I’ve always had a wildly vivid imagination. In second grade my teacher wrote in my school notes that I was a ‘dreamer and unable to pay attention.’ It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t pay attention, but when I was reading short novels at the age, picture books just didn’t do it for me.

One weekend I was sick and my Dad brought two books home from the library, one of which was To Kill A King by Madeleine Polland. This book opened up a whole new world for me. The story contained all the best parts of reading, mystery, tragedy, a chase and most of all, true love.

I was spellbound by this book and the moment I could, I raced to the library to snap up everything Ms. Polland had written. I gorged myself on story after story like a pig in a trough. The words on the pages were sheer magic and they spoke to me.

My Dad bought me a little Royal manual typewriter (which I still have) and I was in heaven. Later he might have regretted it as I went through ink ribbons like crazy! I was so in love with the books that I would sit for hours and retype them page after page. I would introduce new plot lines and characters and each time one bore a strong resemblance to me.

I wanted nothing more than the wallow in the words of each book. To chew on them like a dog with a bone, until the flavor was gone. More than anything else, I wanted to be the one to create this magic for others.

I knew then I wanted to be a writer.