Yes, the point you make about not reading just one type of writing is the most important thing. Reading is really a cheap and easy form of traveling, which proverbially broadens your mind; but it is of no use just to circle endlessly round your own small town streets. It is not the mileage you do, but how far from home it takes you.

Since childhood, I have been a voracious reader. Through reading, I learn about other people, families, countries and cultures. Reading is escape. Reading is fun and a joy. Reading is an unbelievably healthy way my high energy medicates itself. My vocabulary increases with reading. I develop compassion and understanding.

As a child, I loved The New Yorker cartoons. There I discovered great comedians: Steve Allen, Woody Allen, Steve Martin and more. Laughing over their witty essays, I learned about irony and the double-entrende'.

One of my favorite childhood memories is reading with my mother before bedtime, with two kids snuggled up on each side. I did the same with my daughter.

As a teenager, I dove into literature surveys:

1. Russian literature;
2. Gay writers;
3. South American great authors;
4. Black literature;
5. Shakespeare's sonnets and plays.

Reading made me a great student. As a senior in high school, when I took the SAT, I scored over the top in reading comprehension, writing and spelling. The University of Michigan waived all of my required English courses.

My first book was published in 2008.