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AN AUTHOR IN ATLANTA

From tawdry cabarets to honky-tonk dive bars, writer Hollis Gillespie knows where to get down and dirty in Atlanta.

A regular commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and the award-winning writer of “Mood Swing,” a humor column published in Atlanta’s major alternative weekly, Creative Loafing, Hollis Gillespie has emerged as an unlikely celebrity on the city’s alt-culture scene.

Her two critically acclaimed memoirs have even attracted the attention of Hollywood, with actress Laura Dern (of Jurassic Park fame) and producer Mitch Hurwitz (from cult TV hit “Arrested Development”) currently attached to a TV project based on her crazy and colorful life.

We recently sat down with Gillespie to get her distinctively quirky take on Atlanta’s coolest hotspots.

What do you like most about living in Atlanta?

“There’s a lot going on here that makes the city ideal for a writer to observe. I didn’t grow up here, but my father’s from the South, so I felt a natural affinity for it when I moved here. I used to live in The Telephone Factory, which was this huge creative enclave [of artist lofts] where everything started to happen for me as a writer. I also like that you can get anywhere you want to go from Atlanta; it’s a good escape portal.”

Where are your favorite places to go with your daughter?

“We live in Grant Park, and we like to walk along these abandoned train tracks nearby and pick up old rusty relics. Her dad lives less than a mile from us, and he sometimes takes her to Oakland Cemetery (www.oaklandcemetery.com).”

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Where do you take guests visiting Atlanta for the first time?

“Laughing Skull Lounge at The Vortex (www.thevortexbarandgrill.com) is awesome. (Local burlesque act) Dames Aflame performs there, and my friend Lucky Yates does his live talk show there. Majestic Diner (404-875-0276) has just gotten better over the years, maintaining the greasy spoon appeal but adding awesome stuff like lavender soap in the bathrooms.”

What are your favorite restaurants?

“For breakfast I love Solstice Café (404-622-1976) and Stone Soup Kitchen (www.stonesoupkitchen.net). Solstice Café is a quaint, understated place with really good food and original art on the walls, and Stone Soup is just a fabulous breakfast place. I love the caramelized black bean cake they serve at Vickery’s (www.vickerys.com), and Ria’s Bluebird (www.riasbluebird.com) is another one of my favorites.”

You’re an author and run your own writing seminars. Where in Atlanta do you go to write?

“I go places that make me a little uncomfortable to be there alone, like a bar, because then I can look to my writing to rescue me from my discomfort. There’s a coffeehouse called JavaVino (www.javavino.com) that I really like, and another one called Gathering Grounds (www.gatheringgroundskirkwood.com) in Kirkwood that’s owned by a woman who used to be a minister. Javaology’s (www.javaologyatl.com) upstairs has a great energy about it, but they never let anybody up there anymore. It’s so great, you could take a sleeping bag up there and want to spend the night.”

What kind of things kept you and your family busy in Atlanta all summer?

“I like to take my daughter to the fountain down at Centennial Olympic Park (www.centennialpark.com) or spend the weekend at Barnsley Gardens Resort (www.barnsleygardensresort.com). My daughter goes to art camp at Stone Mountain (www.stonemountainpark.com), and we love doing things around the park and the little town. And we travel a lot in the summer, so we spend a lot of time at the airport!”

When you’re traveling, what local hangout do you miss most?

“My friend Grant Henry bartends at The Local (404-873-5002), so I guess I miss going there to see him. That place gets so crowded, especially when he’s working, because he’s gotten even more well-known than me through my writing about him. But I’ll go down before they get crowded and hang out with him.” —Bret Love