Patricia McKillip began her storytelling career out of sheer pragmatism. As the second oldest in a family of six children, she often was saddled with babysitting duties and found that she could keep the crew content by spinning a yarn or two. Her interest in storytelling prompted her to begin recording her tales, and she amassed a number of manuscripts by the time she was in her teens. McKillip kept writing while in college (partly because she was convinced that she would not survive at a "normal," full-time job) and was able to get her first book published before she needed to hit the pavement to look for work. Since that time, she has published many novels, mastering several different genres and earning popular acclaim.

McKillip's first critics, her siblings, turned out to be a fine audience for her. McKillip admitted to Charles L. Wentworth in an interview...