24/7 with

24/7 with Beth Webb Hart, Novelist, Charleston, SC

My family: Composer and College of Charleston music professor, Edward Hart, and two children—Frances and Edward.

My work: A novelist and an English teacher at Ashley Hall.

My passion: Edisto Island—I spend as much time as I can in the raw, subtropical paradise.

I’m thinking about: Writing a novel from the point-of-view of a teenage boy.

One thing I never want to do again: Write a novel under a tight deadline during a difficult pregnancy. I nearly lost my mind.

If I could be totally wild, I would: Be a back-up dancer for a band. Maybe the B-52s.

Right now I’m reading:The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.

The one item that has changed my life: Internet access, I can conduct research in seconds flat.

Favorite web site:www.nytimes.com

Last major purchase: Refrigerator.

The nickname I wish I had: Long Legs.

If I had a vanity plate on my car, it would say: I’d rather be at Edisto.

My best friends say I am: Too busy. (They are right.)

I still can’t get the hang of: Cooking. I burn everything. My husband refers to my cooking as “cajun style,” and I have to admit it is usually blackened.

My mother always said: Be sweet and wear a slip.

The worst idea I’ve ever had: To take out the maximum amount of student loans available during graduate school.

What are you most vain about? Truthfully, my work.

Whose diary would you most like to read? Flannery O’Connor’s

Always... Do unto others…

Never... Use sarcasm with kids.