Quote

Let's start with the church. As you know, it's my background, it's a natural setting for me and it's definitely my roots.

I made a good living for a teenager. And I had to learn all different kinds of music - jazz, swing, Motown, pop - and that inspired what kind of music I started to write.

Some broad themes brought me where I am today. At a very young age, my hobby became thinking and finding connections.

My entire adult life has been devoted to family and career, each adding to the other in many rewarding ways. I have never felt that I had to set a pattern for my writing and teaching.

I kind of grew up with a mix of two things. One was kind of this individual work ethic that my father and my stepfather and my mother all taught me, which was never depend on anyone else to do things for you, and work really hard on your own. At the same time, I benefited from the help of church and family and government my whole life.

I have a really big family, and pretty much all my work is about my brothers and sisters. I'm the youngest of eight - my mom had seven kids in seven years, and then she had me 11 years later - so I was basically raised by all these teenagers.

I grew up loving music, like, loving it. I was involved in church choir, leading worship and all the choirs in my school - even glee club.

I grew up in the suburbs among highly educated people, in a house crammed with books. It was a culture rich in ideas, stimulation, entertainment, and mental activity, all helpful to the nurture of an imaginative child who wanted from an early age to be a writer.

I grew up in a very spiritual home in a Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, FL. I was raised in the church, and my mother was a very inspirational person in my life.

When we were studying at the Royal Antwerp Academy, we were taught to seek inspiration from everyone, everything and everywhere. My parents and grandparents were also a great inspiration for me a very young age.