She did not start reading until she was in the third grade, and even then, she read with difficulty. (Later, she learned that she was dyslexic.) Since reading was such a chore for Service, she read only those stories which captured her imagination. Fantasy, science fiction, unreal stories, and weird, offbeat tales kept her entranced, and kept her reading. Service loved science fiction novels, but her parents did not care for them. She found much easier access to science fiction through the medium of television, which seemed "safer" to her parents. Service also began to enjoy historical fiction as a child. Like science fiction, Service pointed out to
Authors and Artists for Young Adults (
AAYA), historical fiction presents "a world that doesn't exist and that you can't live in." One of her favorite books of this genre was
Mara: Daughter of the Nile, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. This book stirred Service's interest in Egypt and the Nile river.
Service watched The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. (Although she doesn't watch much television these days, she still considers herself a "Star Trek enthusiast.") Television was not only "significant" for Service because it opened windows "to a lot of different worlds" and to things she "wouldn't have confronted" herself, it influenced her visual approach to writing.
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