On reading: The first fantasy I remember reading was Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" -- I still have it on my shelf. I am generally more of a fantasy than science fiction reader, and I am not much for hard SF, but there are exceptions. The most recent new fantasy I've enjoyed was "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms". I am always happy to hear suggestions for new authors.
On Writing: I have spent a good chunk of my life working on many iterations of a traditional fantasy series. I am currently querying the first book in the series, and am nearly finished with the first draft of a new novel that grew out of my 2009 NaNoWriMo effort. I think my ideas and plotting are solid, but my prose tends to be reserved and lacks detailed descriptions.