Journalist Mills was sure she'd fail when she traveled to Monroeville, Alabama, to land an interview with reclusive To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee. But against steep odds, Mills not only made a connection with the writer, she ended up spending 18 months hanging out with Lee and her sister, listening to their stories, and tagging along with them to fast food joints. Through a combination of persistence, kindness and journalistic karma, Mills has done what no writer before her could: She got Harper Lee to open up about her life, her work and why she never wrote another book.