If I wasn't a writer...

Then my little old brains would be exploding everywhere.

When I was a chillin' I played with Barbies and an assortment, of what I called, Little People. Which was a mish-mash of Fisher Price characters, Calico Critters, Charmkins, She-Ra ...whatever wasn't Barbie sized.

This is a picture of me and my cousin. I'm the one in the orange plaid dress. Aren't I cute? I was just happy to play Barbies and Little People by myself. Screw playing outside with friends.

Weekends, when we weren't in Toronto visiting my grandparents, was heaven to me. AND I loved rainy days. Rainy days I could be in my own little world all day long.

I had a Ken doll from the 1970's that wasn't a Barbie brand. He had a huge plastic head with hair molded into his skull and fingers that were separate and long.

He was a hand me down from my older cousin. He was creepy and ALWAYS the villain who was trying to "smooch" and kidnap the heroine.

Anyways, when my mother deemed I was too old to play with Barbies (though honestly sometimes I would sit in my big closet with a flash light and play with them) I had to have an outlet for the voices.

Writing was what came naturally.

Just ask any of my high school friends. I wrote stories on my spares, at lunch, whenever I was bored.

I'd have my big spanning books (which were kept private and are under my bed never to see the light of day. Talk about melodramatic), but other times I would write stories about friends. Goofy stories and parodies, that I would illustrate. There was a long running digest of my friends. We were superheroes and we were fight "Frigging Tall Man" or FTM as we called him. He was a boy at school, who we were friends with.

I'd also include latest crushes of Hollywood in there. Like Keanu, David Duchovny, Pete Sampras, Richard Ian Cox aka RIC (who was my one friend's crush because she was a horse fiend and watched the Black Stallion relentlessly) and Jacques Villenuve. What can I say, it was was the 90s.

It was weird, but everyone enjoyed getting the latest edition of FTM's latest antics. I also incorporated people who'd bully me and make them absolutely ridiculous. It was a way to deal with that.

Yeah, we writers will kill off dinks. You are warned.

So, what would I be doing if I wasn't writing? Most likely going bonkers.

I can't picture a day-to-day without the mini movies in my head. My imagination has always been there.

My mind is constantly going. CONSTANTLY. It's not quiet in there at all.

It's full of lots of things.

Lots and lots.

It's a wonderful, but SCARY place sometimes. :)

You can find out more about me, my latest news and my antics:

Website: http://www.amyruttan.com
Twitter: @ruttanamy