I have written poetry and short stories since a child. Although I was generally dissuaded from even contemplating the idea of taking my writing seriously. Now that I have matured and aged to a point where I feel confident enough to ignore the advice of almost everyone around me. I have started taking writing, ever increasingly, more seriously.
As most likely with everybody in this writing community, I am an avid reader. Although it seems my reading habits have become increasingly more singular and focused on Science Fiction. I still read the odd fantasy book, though I find the lack of originality in the genre has pushed me away. But this could just be because I spend less time searching for good fantasy, and more (most) of my time in the technophilic world of Sci-Fi.