To all of you loyal Larkin fans out there, I just want to say (in Rush’s words) “You birds is the best!” I love to hear from you, and your comments always encourage me. But y’alls’ (remember, I’m from the South) curiosity is insatiable. I thought the Larkin stories were too detailed, but you fans always want to know more. I was asked recently, “Whatever happened to Charlock and his nephew Burdock?” So I got to thinking about them, and here’s what I’ve come up with. Old Charlock is still around. He will occasionally still go out with some of the ranger patrols to cross the Meadow to meet with some of the Larkin believers, but mostly he stays at the Makerian stronghold of Stillwaters. He has recently been asked to take over the leadership of the Vigilants, who are Stillwaters’ gate ... Read More about “Whatever Happened to Burdock and Charlock?”

I was recently asked indirectly, through a wonderful book review at www.simplydarlene.com, how I came up with my idea for the “Turtle,” the paddle-wheel barge the Makerians used in the book Hawthorn’s Discovery. My new young Larkin fan also asked me how I came up with the fishing contraption on top of the Makerian stronghold at Stillwaters. Questions like that always encourage me, because that means that someone else is as interested in the story as I am. “So here she goes,” as Rush would say. Let me start at the beginning. I came up with the idea for Stillwaters because in the woods where we were living when I began thinking of the story, there was a pond.  About ten feet away from the north shore was a small, stunted tree growing on its own little island, which was no bigger than ... Read More about Fun Questions from a Young Fan

I was blessed with a very active imagination. The first twenty or so years of my life, I thought my imagination was a curse. I seemed to be always using it instead of concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing. (Does any of that sound familiar to some of you parents?) My job as a veterinarian requires that I focus my attention on science, medicine, physiology . . . all that unexciting stuff (in some people’s opinion), for hours at a time, day after day. After a while my suppressed imagination can’t take it anymore, and it has to do something. I may take a walk in the woods, go to the River Walk in Columbia, SC, or just squat down next to an interesting root or plant or patch of moss and watch the insects moving around. If the weather is not accommodating or if I don’t have time ... Read More about Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but I have seldom written about how the Larkin live in the winter. I did talk about Larkin and his father Ramus spending the winter with their giant friends in the second book, Larkin’s Journal. But they spent the whole winter living in the giants’ house. I think the main reason I’ve been reluctant to talk about the Larkin in the winter is because I’m not sure how they would handle the snow. Water wouldn’t be a problem, because they could melt the snow. They wouldn’t be able to travel very well in the snow, so they would have to lay up their food for the winter like the forest creatures. If they did need to travel through the snow, tunneling would only work for short distances, because it would be so much work. I think that they would have to ... Read More about “Why Don’t You Ever Talk About What The Larkin Do In The Winter?”