When I was ready, they were waiting for me.
I mean books, of course. From the time I could read on my own, I fed myself a steady diet of whatever was in the school library, which ranged from horror (Bunnicula), murder mystery (The Dollhouse Murders), science-fiction (My Teacher is an Alien), fantasy (Into the Land of the Unicorns), horses (Ghost Horse), to fiction (Glass Slippers Give You Blisters). While I still read all those genres (less horses these days, though), I can pinpoint my specific, fervent love of fantasy to a few shelves within reach in our living room when I was young and impressionable.