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I was always a good student, but I didn't read that much until I was 18 and I was working my way through college.

I was an English major in college!

I have a Bachelor of Arts in English, which means I had a lot of formal training in reading.

It was very lucky for me as a writer that I studied the physical sciences rather than English. I wrote for my own amusement. There was no kindly English professor to tell me for my own good how awful my writing really was. And there was no professor with the power to order me what to read, either.

I'm not well-read, but when I read, I read well.

I had higher math SATs than in English - yet I became an English major in college.

I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own.

I wasn't a very good student in elementary school and had a hard time with reading and writing.