When I was ten, my dad built a boat and our family sailed around the world in it. My mother had me keep a diary as part of my "boat-schooling." This is a section of that diary, written when I was 11. My parents, both authors, typed it up and sent it to their agent and--voila! I had a published book when I was 14! (The other advantage of having authors for parents was, if I was writing, which I loved to do anyway, I was excused from every domestic duty but doing the dishes!)
