Later, I discovered Andre Norton, Ursula LeGuin, Piers Anthony and Anne McCaffrey. I one of the world's most omniverous readers and scarf down, on average, three to five novels a week. There are few genres I don't like. I'm not sure I did decide. My inner demon compels me to write even when I don't particularly want to, and I've been trying to satisfy him for as far back as I can consciously remember.
Writing is, incidentally, a superb anti-depressant.
It's purely psychological. I endured an unusually traumatic childhood and grew up without the most ordinary expressions of affection or love. While my life and my family were interesting, I still find those memories so painful, it's uncomfortable for me to write anything close to home. Four thousand years in the future and in a culture and environment as different from mine as it can possibly get, I can draw on those same memories and experiences and use them with no problems at all. Until my children moved out of the house and my first husband died, it wasn't possible for me to produce anything outside of short non-fiction pieces.