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Is there some secret for success as a children's writer? Inquiring minds (i.e., yours and mine) want to know, so I interviewed L.D. Harkrader whose first middle grade novel, Airball: My Life in Briefs, was recently released by Roaring Brook Press.

Harkrader doesn't seem to have any real secrets, but she does offer some insights into the writing process and a look at what an author needs to do to promote a book once it is published.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your writing background. What kinds of things did you write along the way to publication of your new middle grade novel, Airball: My Life in Briefs?

A: I've been writing seriously for thirteen or fourteen years. My first short story, "Prunella Thigpin," was published in Guideposts for Kids in 1994. Since then I've published over 200 short stories, poems, and articles in magazines and anthologies, as well as eight nonfiction books and three ghostwritten novels in the Animorphs series.

Q: How long did it take you to write Airball? What was the most difficult part of the writing process for you?

A: I started Airball in 1998, and it was published in 2005, which adds up to seven years. I'm a slow writer, it's true, but in my defense, I also wrote seven nonfiction books and three Animorphs books during that time! The most difficult part of writing the novel, besides all the stopping and starting between other projects, was maintaining confidence that I could actually finish it. First drafts are always the hardest part of any writing for me. I second-guess every word, sentence, comma, keystroke I make, which is something all the how-to-write experts tell you not to do, but something I can't seem to avoid. On top of that, I knew that this story walked a thin line between reality and fantasy, and I worried that I wouldn't be able to make it enough of either to be believable.

Q: Many writers stress the importance of a regular, daily writing schedule. Is that how you work? Why or why not?

A: Well, I certainly get more written when I maintain a regular, daily writing schedule. Unfortunately, it's not always possible. I also have to be the mom and chauffeur for my kids, as well as my son the sports addict's main cheering section. I'm a substitute teacher one or two days per week and also take on other writing and design projects occasionally just to pay the bills, so my time is not always (and sometimes not ever) my own. Plus there's that whole procrastination/avoidance problem I battle constantly. But work on my fiction definitely suffers when I don't write every day.

Q: What kinds of promotional activities has your publisher expected you to do to promote Airball? Have you found it helpful or necessary to do other promotional activities in addition to the ones the publisher sets up?

A: Roaring Brook has been great at promoting Airball. Their publicist has set up local booksignings and radio and newspaper interviews for me, which are things I probably wouldn't have been able to do (at least not as successfully) without them. My publisher also sent out review copies so that Airball has been reviewed in all the major children's book review sources, of course, and they also sent reviewers and book buyers a calendar that includes excerpts of all the books, including mine, they're publishing this year.

On my own I've