ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Author Joe McGinniss, Sarah Palin's next-door neighbor in Alaska since May, says he's heading back East to write the book about her he's been researching.

McGinniss, who wrote a best-selling book about a developing Alaska in 1980, stayed out of the state until returning briefly in 2008 and again in May to begin gathering material on a book about the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, the Anchorage Daily News reported Monday.

"I really wanted to be in Wasilla, because 80 percent of the people I needed to talk to live here," McGinniss said.

When McGinniss, who is from Massachusetts, moved into the two-story rental on Wasilla's Lake Lucille, he drew an immediate shot from Palin via her Facebook page: "Here he is about 15 feet away on the neighbor's rented deck overlooking my children's play area and my kitchen window. Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden and the family's swimming hole?"

Though McGinniss would not disclose the book's contents or observations about Palin to the newspaper, he did wax positively about Alaskans.

"There's still the same spontaneous warmth of the people," he said. "I haven't had a single unpleasant encounter since I got here."