FAQs
Q: Where were you born?
A: St. Petersburg, Florida
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,
ditch-digger, clothing model, teacher, interior designer, and house
builder.
Q: When is your birthday?
A: I was born November 5, 1949.
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.
That book is long out-of-print. My first book for young people was
BMX Freestyle.
Q: Where do you live?
A: I live most of the year in Tucson, Arizona. I
also live part of each year in San Diego, California, and Rico,
Colorado.
Q: Where do you work?
A: I work at home in an upstairs office. When I
am in San Diego or Rico, I work at the kitchen table.
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 school 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: One of the nice things about being a writer is
that I get to travel. I am invited to a lot 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. I usually make one or two trips each
year outside the United States. Some of the places I have visited
are Mexico, Ecuador, England, Germany, France, Canada, Switzerland,
Austria, Spain, and Italy. I am looking forward to visiting Peru,
Argentina, Japan, Chile, Greece, Panama, and Brazil in the near
future.
 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 are also published in French, German, and
Japanese.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: When I'm not writing, I enjoy reading, working
out at the gym, riding my mountain bike, and cooking. There's
nothing better than sharing a conversation with friends around a
table filled with good food!
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