James A. Michener - I would suppose I learned how to write when I was very young indeed. When I

I would suppose I learned how to write when I was very young indeed. When I read a child's book about the Trojan War and decided that the Greeks were really a bunch of frauds with their tricky horses and the terrible things they did, stealing one another's wives, and so on, so at that very early age, I re-wrote the ending of the Iliad so that the Trojans won. And boy, Achilles and Ajax got what they wanted, believe me. And thereafter, at frequent intervals, I would write something. It was really quite extraordinary. Never of very high merit, but the daringness of it was.

- James A. Michener

source: "Storytelling Phenomenon". The Academy of Achievement interview, www.achievement.org. January 10, 1991.