life. “I guess my first major influences would go back to Primary School, my parents went overseas, as a small child you don't have a real understanding, all I knew was that mum and dad were not there, and so I discovered the library and Mrs. Large a wonderful, caring teacher who allowed me to go there in the morning and not come out till the end of school. I'm told I barely said a word for two months, but I fell in love with words. In sixth grade Mrs. Paul, my speech teacher taught us to enunciate our words, she also taught me to love poetry and to understand it on a deeper level. The 2nd biggest influence in my life was the History teacher in High school, Mrs. Barlow made me aware of the medieval history of the Celts. It was at this time I started to write short stories. Then of course I fell head over heels in love at the age of 20, alas was not to be, he taught me to love myself and introduced me to the spirituality inside me. For that I will be eternally grateful. For those 2 or 3 magical years I wrote and wrote, through love and then heartbreak. My mother used to read Shakespeare to me. The earliest memory I have is of her reading "A Midsummer Night's Dream". I grew up understanding Shakespeare instinctively. It should come as no surprise that for my 16th birthday I received Shakespeare's Complete Works and 2 Gilbert and Sullivan Libretto's. All of which I loved; yes I know a little weird for a 16 yr old rebel. That's who I am, a contradiction. Shakespeare, Chaucer, the imagery in their writing still speaks to me. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and lots of other poets I have enjoyed over the years have influenced me subconsciously I guess. I discovered an artist online in the past 2 years, his works are astounding, they have inspired me time and again. Every time I "walk" through his site I find something, sometimes a tiny detail, other times I wonder how I missed such an obvious detail! You can see some of the poems I have written and then click on the link to have a look at his phenomenal talent. Music transports me to another world. From Classical, to Jazz, Celtic, rock and every other kind of music, all inspire me again and again. Yet after all those influences in my life, the major influence these days is LIFE. I get inspiration from watching people, talking to them, or, just walking through the streets looking at life and thinking The most obvious life inspiration is love, heartbreak and the pain of loss, something everyone has been through. Anything can inspire not just me, but everyone if they took the time to just stop and look around them.”