Bonnie Jo Campbell's latest novel, "Once Upon a River," is a thrilling coming-of-age story about a resourceful girl named Margo Crane, who is as comfortable as an otter in and on and around Michigan's Stark River, where she lives. When tragedy strikes, she sets off in her rowboat in search of her mother. The book is steeped in the muck and creatures and life of the river; it is also a powerful story about gaining independence.

Campbell, who lives in Kalamazoo, Mich., is a 2011 Guggenheim fellow and a 2009 finalist for a National Book Award. We caught up with her last week to ask a few questions. You can ask her some of your own -- she'll speak at 7 p.m. Thursday at Open Book, 1011 Washington Av. S., Minneapolis. And for more of Campbell's answers to our questions, check out the On Books blog at www.startribune.com/books.

Q Where are you right now? Describe what you see.

A Right now I'm on my screen porch, the place I think of as heaven in summer. What do I see? Well, all the things you'd expect to see in heaven. A stainless steel toaster, a pot of flowers, a church pew, a folding bicycle, a wine glass with a bit of red wine still in it, a spooner containing my Century of Progress souvenir spoons. Above the door leading to the living room is a porcelain rabbit with glowing red eyes, and above the door leading outside is a mule deer skull with antlers.

Q What does your writing room look like?

A I sit at the end of a long table, working on my laptop -- I've just given up my desktop computer, and that has cleared out some space. A huge window on my left looks out onto a swampy woods full of wildlife and wildflowers and a bird feeder. There are some rocks I've piled out there and a fertility goddess my friend Eva gave me 24 years ago as a wedding gift. Hard to say if the goddess has been lucky for me; I have no children, but I have four published books. Directly in front of me, on the wall, is a busy circus poster of Annie Oakley, in which she is shooting from horseback, shooting from standing, shooting behind her back using a mirror. In the middle of the poster is a drawing of her face; her eyes are close set, and her visage reveals a tremendous melancholy. That face inspired me all during the years of writing "Once Upon a River."

The room is stuffed with books, books atop every surface and books atop those books. Of course. I tell myself that for each new book I bring home, I have to get rid of a book, but I rarely manage to do it. The room has a high ceiling and is separated from the room where I sleep with my husband, Christopher, by only a partial wall. It gives me comfort to hear him snoring over there while I'm working.

Q What is your writing strategy -- do you have rituals?

A My writing strategy is to work hard and to put into my writing whatever time I can find, which is not always enough. My habit, which I've maintained since college, has always been to write all morning. I run errands and run around in the afternoon, and then I read and perform duties related to teaching in the evening. I see a lot of my family, too. It's been very important for me to keep socializing with family and friends, the folks who inspire me, in order to keep their concerns close to my heart.

Q How do you get past writers' block?

A I don't let myself believe in writers' block. I have to believe that it's merely the inability to work on a particular piece of writing. For that reason, I am always thinking about several pieces of writing at a time. If my current novel is not going well, then I try to work on a short story, and if that fails, then a poem. For years I've been trying to work on an essay about women and their barnyard fowl. When all my other projects seem hopeless, I will gladly return to that essay.

Q What authors have inspired you?

A Steinbeck is such a great humanitarian, and he inspires me the most. Flannery O'Connor is downright mean at times, and she inspires the heck out of me. Faulkner is so good. Contemporary writers inspire me continually; almost every book I read inspires me. Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and Alice Munro are the three goddesses to whose temples I pay homage. Also I'm inspired by my mother, who loves to spin an outrageous yarn. My students inspire me, too. And I love a good obituary.