When Sue Monk Kidd decided to work on her first novel, she thought back to the images from her past and a house she had seen that had bees coming out of the walls. This sparked memories of growing up in the South that helped inspire her New York Times best-selling novel, "The Secret Life of Bees."

"The South in 1964 was a passionate and volatile place," Kidd said. "There was a great racial divide."

The book tells the story of Lily Owens, who has a hazy memory of her mother's accidental death. Her stand-in-mother Rosaleen is forced, with Lily, to run away to Tiburon, S.C. after Rosaleen insults a couple of racists. They are taken in by May, June and August Boatwright and welcomed into their beekeeping home.

The book, which has been made into a film starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys, grew slowly by word of mouth, Kidd said. She began to notice the growth in fans of the story after the crowds got bigger and more passionate at the book signings she would attend.

"It all just started in a lovely way and grew gradually," she said.

Kidd said she was approached about making the book into a movie before the book was released to the public. The producer saw an advance copy and was immediately interested in making it into a film. However, the movie took seven years to make.

The main concern of any author is that the movie stays authentic to the book, Kidd said. The process of distilling a novel into a screenplay can often remove key elements of the book. However Gina Prince-Bythewood, the director and screenwriter of the film, worked with Kidd in order to keep the film as true to the novel as was possible.

Kidd said she read drafts and sent notes to collaborate with Prince-Bythewood on the screenplay.

"I was very gracious that she invited me into the process," Kidd said. "I was extremely pleased with the movie, and that is not always typical either."

Kidd has just finished working on a story that she is co-authoring with her 32-year-old daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. The book, entitled "Traveling with Pomegranates," is a mother/daughter memoir where the two take turns writing chapters.

"We wanted to tell a story with continuity," Kidd said. "We're telling the same story with two different perspectives."

"The Secret Life of Bees" is currently in theaters. "Traveling with Pomegranates" is due out in 2009.