A: St. Petersburg, Florida, but my favorite city is Barcelona, Spain. 

Q: Did you always want to be a writer?

A: Privately, I always dreamed of becoming a writer, but I never talked about it with anybody because I figured it was a lot like becoming a famous movie actor or top-class athlete--difficult to actually achieve.

Q: What other jobs have you had?

A: Besides being a writer, I have been a waiter, teacher, interior designer, and house builder.

Q: Do you have any pets?

A: I have had many pets over the years, including cats, chickens, tropical fish, parakeets, dogs, and one rabbit that hopped sideways. (He was called FunnyBunny.) Now, I have only a "wooly-child," a schnauzer named Kubric.

Kubric, my "wooly-child."

Q: When did you become a writer?

A: I became a writer in first grade when my teacher helped me make a book and called me an "author." I didn't become a professional writer, though, until my last year of college when my poetry began to be published. When I began teaching school, I would teach during the day and write at night and on weekends. Eventually, writing began to take more and more of my time, so I became a full-time writer.

Q: What was your first book?

A: I started by writing poetry for grown-ups. My first book for young people was BMX Freestyle.

Q: Where do you work?

A: I work at home in a spare bedroom that I've turned into an office.

Q. Are you married and do you have any kids?

A: No.

Q: Do you do anything besides writing?

A: Besides writing, I visit schools and conferences to speak about writing. I also still teach from time to time.

Q: What is your favorite book of those that you've written?

A: I'm supposed to say, "I love them all." The truth is The Littlest Wolf is my personal favorite.

Q: What is your favorite book that another author wrote?

A: Corduroy by Don Freeman.

Q: Do you have to travel for your job?

A: Sometimes, yes. I am invited to a lot of schools to speak to children and their teachers about writing and the importance of reading. Many of those schools are located in the United States, where I have visited every state except Oklahoma and Maine for my work. Also, every year schools in other countries invite me to visit with their young people.
  This is Larry in Bilbao, Spain, in 2004

Q: Some of your books have Spanish in them. Do you speak Spanish?

A: Yes, a little, but not nearly as well as I would like. One of my goals is to live in Spain or some other Spanish-speaking country for a year or two to improve my speaking skills.

Q: Are your books published in any languages other than English and Spanish?

A: They have been published in French, German, Korean, and Japanese.

Q: Do you have any hobbies?