Early Literary Influences

The early literary influences that I can remember in my life were the Dr. Seuss books (Green Eggs & Ham, Cat in the Hat) and Aesop's Fables. When I was a child I loved to read because it was an escape for me. I would get lost in the books and let my imagination run free. I pretended to be a character in the book so it made reading an adventure. I thumbed through the pages reading day after day and would be easily consumed by the words, so much so that I would finish the book in a few days' time. When I would ready the Dr. Seuss I would be so amused at the rhyming of the book and would find myself laughing as I read. Aesop's Fables there was a lesson to be learned from the story and depending on the reader and the number of times the story was read, the lesson could be different.

Other books I enjoyed reading when I was younger were the Little Golden Books (I really liked the uniformity of the collection - all of them had that gold book spine), Judy Blume (Superfudge and Ramona), R.L. Stein (Goosebumps), Francine Pascal (Sweet Valley High)...the list could go on and on. Just thinking about now takes me back and my heart skips a beat just thinking about the time I spent in the pages of the stories.

As an adult the book that I read that has had more of a recent impact on my life is Right People, Right Place, Right Plan by Jentezen Franklin, Senior Pastor - Free Chapel in Gainesville, GA and Orange County, CA and my personal pastor and spiritual covering. I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it talks about allowing God to show you, speak to you, and align you with your destiny. It really made me think about alot of the aspects and things in my life that I had not 100% allowed to be under God's control and this book helps you to let go and truly allow God to be God.