The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught.

But the sky was never quite the same shade of blue again.

Advice to a new writer: There are no rules in this profession. Do what is good for you. Read books and watch films that stimulate your writing. In your writing, go where the pain is; go where the pleasure is; go where the excitement is. Believe in your own original approach, voice, characters, story. Ignore critics. Have nerve. Be stubborn.

I never knew what life was until it ran out in a red gush over any lips, my hands!

I loved words. I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them.

So until we meet again, I am thinking of you always; I love you; I wish you were here...in my arms.

None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are.