I fell under the spell of writing in the fifth grade, at the same time I felt hopeless about fractions. My teacher gave an impromptu writing assignment, and I found myself in the labyrinth of my first story, thrilled with each perfect word and sentence that seemed to shimmer in my invented world. Fractions didn't matter then.~What followed: a passionate English teacher who taught in New York City, a coffee shop waitress who ardently wrote, a risk taker who gathered my savings and went to Europe, in the days when living there was cheap, to write a glorious novel that would move every man and woman. In Zurich, Strasbourg and London, I pounded on my portable typewriter every day (and fed the trashcan nearly everything I wrote). Back in the U.S.A., I earned my Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois, then taught as Assistant Professor at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. ~ I've published young adult fiction in Scholastic and Pearson publications as well as Young Miss magazine. My stories for adults are collected in "Unexpected Return" ; all 28 pieces have different styles and flavors. No two are alike. They have appeared in literary journals and won finalist awards in international story competitions. My stories are waiting for you. ~Copy & paste into your browser: http://www.inaclairegabler.com