Julia and I share some of the same opinions, but not all of them. She does not always speak for me, and I categorically deny responsibility for everything she says or does.

Q: How has your experience teaching literature helped your own writing?

ABR: My experience teaching literature has shown me what great literature is, but is has also shown me that there is a legitimate place for popular literature that entertains and lightens the heart. I am not talented enough to write great literature, but I can tell a good story, and that's what I try to do.

Q: What advice would you give people who want to get a novel published? Is formal schooling in creative writing necessary?

ABR: The advice that I would give to anyone who wants to publish a novel is this: Write a novel. No amount of talking or dreaming about doing it will get it done. You must put words on paper, and those words must show that you know how to plot a story line, draw realistic and consistent characters, and, most of all, tell a good story.

Formal schooling in creative writing is not necessary, although it could be helpful in creating confidence, as well as in teaching the various conventions, techniques, and devices. None of my degrees is in creative writing, but I did take two elective classes in it. It was, however, the public library that was the most help to me. There was a time when I read every how-to-write book on the shelves.

Q: What kinds of feedback do you get from readers? Do you find that they empathize with Miss Julia's situation?

ABR: I am amazed and humbled by the response from readers. And, yes, they are overwhelmingly empathetic with Julia Springer because, I think, she has found the courage to say what they, and I, would so like to say ourselves.

Q: In a single novel you tackle religious fanaticism and intolerance, racism, single parenting, unmarried cohabitation, and criminal rehabilitation. How do you come up with your subject matter?

ABR: I have no idea where my ideas come from. I sit down at the computer and they come flowing out. Perhaps it's because, like many women of my region and my generation, I have bitten my tongue for so long to keep from speaking up, disagreeing, or arguing my opinion that I have a mental and emotional backlog of issues that I can now speak out on. What is stunning to me is finding that there are so many readers who apparently need a Miss Julia to speak their minds, too.

Q: What do you have in store for Miss Julia? Which if any, of your other characters would you consider making the centerpiece for a new novel?

ABR: I try not to think too far ahead since it works better for me to concentrate fully on whatever book I'm currently writing. I have to rely on Julia herself to let me know what she'll be up to next. As for featuring other characters, the next novel will revolve around a problem that Lillian is having, although Julia remains the narrator. There is also another novel in the works that has a different narrator, and it was great fun to view Julia Springer from the outside for a change.

Q: What books or writers have influenced you the most over the years?

ABR: Oh, this is a hard one to answer for I wouldn't want to credit any other writer for my meager efforts. I can say, however, that Geoffrey Chaucer has been encouraging to me because he elevated comedy to a legitimate level, in spite of Aristotle's determinations that tragedy is the highest genre. But Chaucer fearlessly depicted human nature as it is, and much of that is just plain humorous.

I also admire The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Catcher in the Rye because they are accessible to readers of all agesand at each age a reader can find a deeper layer of meaning. Best of all, each of these books tells a good story, which is what I try to do.

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Excerpted from Miss Julia Throws a Wedding © Copyright 2012 by Ann B. Ross. Reprinted with permission by Penguin. All rights reserved.

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