I started writing stories when I was a teenager to combat loneliness and severe depression. Writing was simply the best form of escapsm for me; it was a distraction, keeping my mind busy and at least a little bit excited. I wasn't living a life I wanted to live at all, didn't have any friends or a boyfriend, but I could at least lose myself in my characters' wonderful, exciting, love-filled lives, even if only for a moment. Though I only still write (from time to time) for the exact same reasons I started all those years ago.