My whole life, I’ve lived to read. I was lucky enough to grow up with a father who studied history at University. Our den was always filled with all sorts of literary delights, and I devoured them from a very young age. From Lytton Strachey’s biography of Queen Victoria, to Inside The Third Reich…I read them all, and learned so much from each of them.

My greatest love is fiction. I consider myself lucky to have enjoyed the work of authors like George Orwell, Martin Amis, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Shakespeare and Frank Herbert (among so many others). I also adore the non-fiction musings of P.J. O’Rourke.

Aside from the enduring pleasures of reading and re-reading brilliant books, I also have great passion for art and music. There is nothing I love more than touring galleries and museums and drinking in the beauty. I never write without some form of musical accompaniment, and I could play classical music on the piano for hours without stopping.

When it came time to write a new top ten list for www.toptenz.net, I decided to focus on the life stories of authors, painters, and musicians. I chose to tell the stories of the ones who truly suffered for their art. I hope you visit the bolded link and read the list. Every person on my list meant something to me and always will. Their pain did not stop them from creating masterpieces of human ingenuity.

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