I can remember writing little bits of crap from about third grade on. I define "little bits of crap" as small naratives to go along with my fantasy car illustrations. There must have been something to the pictures though because I actually am an illustrator now. In fifth grade I started a small newspaper called "Hot News". It was very small. I ran two (2) editions. Hand written in pencil on tablet paper. All the stories written by me, mostly a written account of the gossip that was going around the school anyway.
The first real story I wrote was in seventh grade. My brother had to write a story for halloween. I wrote it for him because I came up with better stories than he did.

The first adult book I can actually remember reading was "The Red Badge of Courage" but I would have been about eleven then. I didn't read much as a little kid. I recall thinking that I had to read so much in school as it was. Why the hell would I want to read on my own time?