Hester Bass, SIBA Book Award YA & Children’s 2010 Winner; Author of award-winner The Secret World of Walter Anderson, she will sing for her supper!

Favorite book as a child?  The first books I owned: The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan by Beatrix Potter, Winnie The Pooh by A. A. Milne, and Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

What are you reading right now?  The Everafter by Amy Huntley, Up Close: Harper Lee by Kerry Madden, and The Cracker Queen by Lauretta Hannon.

Share a favorite segment from your book … Walter Anderson painted to realize his secret world, to bring himself and nature into one thing called art.

Why that title? No one knew what he had in his Little Room. His creative process called realization is mysterious. Walter Anderson truly had a secret world.

Why independent bookstores matter?  It’s passion for books and for community, the mind-to-mind, hand-to-hand connection with another human being over a story. That matters.

Favorite part of writing a book?  It’s amazing when I’m not thinking about it & the solution to a story problem just bubbles up. Winning awards is awesome; thank you so much!

Least favorite part of writing a book?  Printing out a draft that I think is finally there, re-reading it, and realizing that I haven’t actually said what I wanted to say.

Are you working on anything new?  Yes! More picture book biographies because I love those, funny picture books, a supernatural YA, and an alternative-history middle grade.

Do you have any superstitions, lucky charms, or rituals around your writing?  Mum’s the word until a project is sold, I keep my first-grade picture on my desk & to remind myself who I work for, I wear a kid’s watch.

Comment on the writing life…  Invigorating, revealing, sometimes frustrating. I’ve been a singer, actress, radio announcer & game show contestant; writer is my favorite.

Hardest part of the creation-to-publication experience?  Waiting! For the right word, to finish the ms, agent & editor response, illustrations, reviews, for the book to publish. Definitely waiting!

Why do you write?  If I tried to hold the stories in, I think it would end up looking something like that scene in “Alien” – you know the one I mean!

When do you write?  I’m best during early mornings and late evenings. It has to be quiet so I can hear the voices. (Insert sound effect: Oooh-whee-oooh!)

When did you know you were a writer?  I’ve wanted to be a writer since 1st grade. I knew I was when a boy told me that my first book helped him learn to read. Cue the waterworks!

What, or Who, would you dish on – as in gossip about?  Andy Warhol, Barbara Walters, Dick Clark, Johnny Mathis, the Millionaire Hot Seat, Meredith Vieira – and E.B. Lewis, but he’s a peach.

What would make you a scintillating dinner guest?  I live life with a capital L! What happens here stays here unless it makes a good story. (I change names to protect the guilty.)

Who is your favorite new author?  Me! (Just kidding!) I’m looking forward to new books by Sarah Frances Hardy, Kristin Tubb, & Leslie Muir. And I just love Lauretta Hannon.

What is your drink of choice?  What I should say: Water with lemon. What I really want: hot chai, an amaretto sour, or the Table Wine of the South: Sweet Tea!

What is your favorite food? I love local specialties; Southern Classic meat-n-three especially turnip greens, fried okra & blackeyed peas; & I love salmon & asparagus.