Tell us a little about your background.
I grew up in western Kentucky, studied creative writing at the University of Virginia, taught at the University of Montana for six years and then joined the English Department faculty at UAB last year. As a writer, I started out writing poetry and only recently moved on to children’s books.

Where do you get your ideas for children’s books?
From both experience and imagination. Big Mama is about a real person in the neighborhood I grew up in, my best friend’s grandmother. Grandpa’s Overalls, though, is just a whimsical story I made up to make myself (and, I hope, other people) laugh.

How did you connect with your illustrators? Why did you use different ones for each of your books?
I don’t get to choose the illustrators - the publisher does that. But, I’ve been pleased with the art in both my books, even though they’re different from each other.

Blackwater Swamp
by Bill Wallace

Creepy Classics
by Mary Hill

Danger at the Fair
by Peg Kehret

Drum the Doll and Zombie
by John Bellairs

Ghost Comes Calling
by Betty Wright

Goblins in the Castle
by Bruce Coville

Haunted Year
by Ann Phillips

McMummy
by Betsy Byars

My Sister, the Vampire
by Nancy Garden

Raw Head, Bloody Bones
by Mary Lyons

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
by Alvin Schwartz

Scary Story Reader
by Richard Young

Seven Spiders Spinning
by Gregory Maguire

Something Upstairs
by Avi

Wait Till Helen Comes
by Mary Downing Hahn

What Happened in Hamelin?
by Gloria Skurzynski