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Kate DiCamillo moved from Florida to Minneapolis 14 years ago, taking a job in a book warehouse. These days, she's an award-winning children's book author: This month, The Tale of Despereaux, her second book to be adapted for film (the first was Because of Winn-Dixie) arrives in theaters. And Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken, her latest hardcover title, came out in September. While Minneapolis doesn't show up in DiCamillo's work, its bookworm-friendly environment has made her feel at home. -Michael J. Bandler

Why did you choose to settle down in Minneapolis? You could write anywhere. "In retrospect, I think it was a pre-midlife crisis. I was in a rut in every way. One of my best friends was moving back here, and needed a roommate.

It was an act of desperation and I've never once regretted it, not even when it's 20 degrees below zero."

When you arrived, what first grabbed you about the city that still holds today? "Even before I got here, the thing that I was most impressed with-in theory, reading about it in the library-was that you can go 15 minutes in any direction and hit a bookstore or a library. It's still one of the things I love about it, the fact that it's such a literary community and such a community for artists."

When you first started writing, did you discover quiet places around town where you could dream up plots and characters? "I did. It's Dunn Bros. Coffee (www.dunnbros.com), and I've hung with it ever since. I don't go there to write, but I take a notebook along, think, and write down what I've been thinking."

As a reader, where do you stock up? "One of my favorite bookstores is Magers & Quinn Booksellers (www.magersandquinn.com), [which is] fabulous for new and used books. It's one of those great places where you go in and find one book and it makes you think of another one, and there that one is on the shelf. I could spend hours there. Another is Common Good Books (www.commongoodbooks.com ), Garrison Keillor's bookstore in St. Paul. And there are poetry and children's book festivals at The Loft Literary Center (www.loft.org), a gathering place downtown."

Is there anything related to the city or one milieu that has triggered one of your writing projects? "Yes. Because of Winn-Dixie was very much a product of my being here, because if I hadn't left the South, I wouldn't have written about it in the way I did. So I see it as directly correlated to my move-the emotional and geographical distance, and being homesick a bit for the South."

Tell me a bit about walking your mutt Henry, the poodle/ terrier you once described as your "not-so-lovely dog." Where do the two of you generally wind up? "Minneapolis is a great place to walk, and I walk all winter long, even when it's really cold. I like to walk around Lake Harriet and along Minnehaha Creek, which runs through the city."

It's been written that you hate to cook but love to eat. Where do you indulge that passion? "Café Maude (www.cafemaude.com; 612-822-5411), with its fabulous, interesting food. I don't know that I'm a very sophisticated eater. I'm just a big eater. There's a wonderful organic restaurant and bakery called French Meadow Bakery (www.frenchmeadow.com; 612-870-4740), and for burgers, I go for the Jucy Lucy at Matt's Bar (www.mattsbar.com; 612-722-7072)."

Is there a chance Minneapolis will make an appearance in one of your stories? "No, I guess not. My writings have moved into a fairy-tale direction."

But, in a sense, Minneapolis has been a fairy-tale place for you. "Absolutely. That is exactly the way I feel-like walking into a different world and making a dream come true."

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