She was so determined to be a successful writer, though, that as she progressed she also took short-term jobs "writing manuals for multimarketing people. Whatever came along, I did it. I always tell beginning writers not to be too choosy at first."

Cannon never thinks "in terms of vocabulary or sentence structure to fit a certain age group. It would make me feel constrained. I have a really good memory about what it was like to be a certain young age and the things I cared about. And I've closely observed kids along the way, too."

And like most writers, she admits to eavesdropping when eating out. "I often wonder why the conversation I'm hearing in the next booth at a restaurant is more interesting than my own. I write notes on my hand or the back of my checkbook so I can remember it when I get home."

Cannon also realizes that her life as a writer sometimes put her too far inside her own head. "Sometimes I get so preoccupied with what I'm working on that I think I just as well be an alcoholic passed out on the couch, because I'm not accessible enough to my kids."

Cannon especially admires writers Meg Cabot, Robert Cormier and local children's writer Barbara Williams. She also enjoys many British writers, such as M.C. Beaton, Muriel Sparks and Nick Hornby. "I like it when librarians and teachers like your book, but the best is if a kid likes your book!"

Like most writers, Cannon occasionally suffers from writer's block. "I said to Ken this morning, 'I don't want to do this any more. I feel tired, unoriginal, unimaginative and masochistic about writing.' But you just have to power yourself through it. It helps to have done this before, because you know if you keep writing you can make something come together. But it is hard for me."

Cannon recalled getting various awards from her first three books, "then all of a sudden, I couldn't sell anything for a number of years. Markets do shift and writing is very personal."

She has also written a family/humor column for the Deseret News for the past 11 years. "When John Hughes, the editor, asked me to do it, he envisioned an Erma Bombeck-type column. Now hardly anyone has even heard of Erma Bombeck!"

She sets aside an entire day to write her weekly column. "That way I can capture in the moment a lot of things that are happening." She doesn't understand why some readers who criticize her don't stop reading her column, "but they don't!"

While many writers spend a lot of time sitting back and observing, Cannon has "the feeling that I get wound up and talk more than I should sometimes. I remember stories. I'm a middle-ground person between being quiet and being talkative."

She has always been interested in the fact that people tend to think anyone can write a book. "It's not as mysterious as composing a concerto or painting a picture. But when someone tells me they are going to quit their jobs and become a writer I always say, 'Don't quit your job!"'

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E-mail: dennis@desnews.com