I was born, raised, and live in Indonesia. No tv as a kid, read lots of books. Wrote my first short story at 6 about a yawn that traveled around the world. University educated in the States; bailed out of a marine geology PhD program due to technical difficulties with my soul, which did not want to be shackled to a career. Most of my creative time was subsequently spent searching the archipelago for surf, only writing now and again, major accomplishment being a 2nd place finish in one of the AsiaWeek's short story contests. Now I'm writing full time, and, to the horror of my old surfing buddies, take more pleasure in turning an original phrase than in getting tubed. In addition to several e-zine and print publications, I've done well in several prestigious contests, which I mention because my 3rd place in the Writer's Digest 2001 Short Story Contest (the story was published in an anthology) led directly to me getting an agent. So if you are wondering whether contests are worth it or not, I certainly would say yes. Agents do keep an eye out.