Carolyn Q. Ebbitt received a B.A. in both special education and elementary education from Vanderbilt University, and an MFA from Columbia University. She lives with her husband Rob in Greenwich Village and Fairfield County.

Did you always want to write books for kids and teens?

Always! I think that kids and teens make the best audience because in addition to being thoughtful and engaged readers, they're able to suspend reality in a way that adults can't. As a writer, this is means you can allow your imagination to go almost anywhere, knowing that your reader can follow you there.

What grades do you teach?

Right now I work as a private tutor for high schoolers, however, for six years I worked in a lower and middle school, teaching grades 2-8. As a learning specialist, I worked in a learning center, or resource room, and taught students with learning disabilities. Like Amelia, all of my students were smart kids who were struggling with school.

Did you make Amelia have a reading problem because you taught kids with reading problems?

Yup. Even before I began writing The Extra-Ordinary Princess, I knew there would be a smart character with a learning disability in it because one year when I was teaching, my 5th grade reading group and I spent a lot of time looking for a book with a dyslexic hero or heroine, and it was hard to find. We all felt that there should be more books featuring different styles of learning!

Are any of the characters in your books based on you or anyone you know?

Yes! The character of Henry is based on my younger brother, Kenny. Growing up we had a very close relationship, so when I thought about what I wanted Henry to be like, it was easy to think of him as similar to my own brother when he was little. Then and now, the two share many of the same characteristics; both are loyal, creative, natural athletes, rational, smart, and excellent friends.

Do you have any brothers or any sisters?

I have one brother, Kenny. He and my sister-in-law Jennifer live in California with my adorable one year old twin nephews, Cooper and Ryan.

A lot of the characters in your book have unusual names. How did you decide what to name your characters? Are any of them named after people you know?

Good question! One fun thing about being a writer is that you can name your characters after your friends, so for some characters I did just that. For example, Amelia Quinn Meyers, age 3, is partially named after me, and she is who Princess Amelia is named after. In some cases (like in the cases of Dori, Lia, and Tiege) I made-up names, which was fun, though some people have suggested a pronunciation guide would have been helpful...So here it is: Dori: sounds like door-y Lia: sounds like Leee-ah Tiege: sounds like tea-G

What were your favorite books when you were growing up?

I had a lot of favorites and they were different at different ages. When I was very little my favorite book was Over and Over by Charlotte Zolotow, when I got a little older my favorite book was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I also had favorite read-aloud books, including: The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and pretty much every book written by Judy Bloom. Books I read and loved in middle school were The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Klonigsburg, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (this is still one of my favorite books!)

Did you like to read fantasy novels when you were young?

Not really, I preferred stories where the characters were more like me. However, the summer I turned eight, my family lived in a châteaux (a castle) in France, and my brother and I had a lot of fun playing various princess and dragon games in the garden and dungeon. Like Amelia and Henry we did a lot of sword fighting (of course, we were using sticks, and not swords, but still....)

Did a certain teacher or librarian inspire you to become a writer?

Yes, and those same teachers and librarians made me want to teach! The librarian at my lower school, Mrs. Smith, always seemed to know exactly what book each student might be interested in, and she taught the very good lessons that no book should ever be judged by its cover, and that before choosing a book, you should read the first two pages of a book to be sure that it was the right level for you. My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Lambert was such an exciting reading teacher, that even kids whom didn't love reading couldn't wait until reading group.

What are your hobbies?

I love photography, swimming, skiing, playing tennis, and reading. I also love painting and drawing (though I'm not very good!) I also like playing with my iphone, and baking.

Are you writing a sequel?

Sort of...It's more like a prequel/sequel because Lia is telling Amelia and Henry what life was like for her and her sisters when their father married their stepmother, the evil Queen Dixon, and Count Raven became their stepbrother. Click on the link on the right to read an excerpt from Lia's Story.

Excerpt