An author of popular fiction for children tells her own story through the device of personal flashbacks occasioned by her discovery of a blacksnake that took up residence in or near the building where her writing studio is located. Byars' writes compellingly about her childhood and some of her adult experiences as a writer within the context of her encounters with "Moon" the snake. Byars' books published between 1962 and 1991 are listed at the end of an unusual approach to autobiography. (Ages 8-14)