Hi Melanie,
It's nice to hear from you and also to learn that you have a varied interest in what you write too. I am also a teacher (professor now), and I could not agree with you more! I use children's literature in my music classroom all the time. I love how stories can pair beautifully with music.
I am very new to the writing world, and I do not have a background that fully supports writing (my degrees are all in music). However, I have always enjoyed writing and would have pursued English if I hadn't followed my music path. I am looking forward to all of the writing classes and workshops in my future! I am going to attempt the NaNo Bootcamp, where you have to write 50,000 words in November...this might be the craziest thing I have signed up for so far!
Take care,
Lori