1. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I moved to Washington DC in 1993 and now call it home. I have a day job where I’m the President of a media company and Helen Lambert’s job is actually based upon my former job.
A Witch In Time
2. The idea for A WITCH IN TIME came after I failed to sell my first novel which was a dark, rural noir mystery. I’d grown up reading Anne Rice and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but for some reason wasn’t writing what I liked to read and watch, so I decided to try my hand at fantasy. The original draft had Helen giving a death-bed confessional. My writer’s group loved Juliet’s and Nora’s lives and timelines but told me they hated the idea that the modern-day main character was on her death bed, so I changed that detail pretty quickly!
3. When I’m in writing mode, I write 1,000 words each day, faithfully. I’m also a big fan of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) each November. I’ve participated twice, completing one draft and earning my badge. It did teach me how to just get your first draft down.
4. Sandra is my favorite of the “lives” in the book. I think she is probably most people’s least favorite, but I had the most fun writing her section and I think I’m drawn to her because she’s so flawed. It is also the section that I had to rewrite. My editor, Sarah Guan, didn’t think the original Sandra section matched the rest of the lives. Originally, Sandra was a nurse in Pittsburgh. I changed her to a musician in Los Angeles to keep the through line of music in all of the women’s lives.
5. I studied the piano for more than fourteen years along with voice lessons. A lyric soprano, my parents really wanted me to be an opera singer. I entered college as a music major but changed it to writing my freshman year and never looked back. I really didn’t enjoy performing and I’m a horrible, horrible piano player despite all of the years of playing. Although one of my recent purchase was a baby grand piano.
6. I received an M.A. in English from George Mason University and wrote my master’s thesis on the Barbie doll. It was a bit of a Marxist study the culture that surrounds the famous Mattel toy. My advisor was Susan Richards Shreve. As a result, I have quite a bit of vintage Barbie memorabilia in my office.
7. I have two Welsh Terriers—Butters (named after the popular South Park character) and Gidget (named after the sixties film). Butters broke my nose jumping to greet me requiring two surgeries to correct the break!
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