Where were you born? Since how long have you been living in Manhattan’s East Village?
I was born in New Haven, Connecticut. I went to NYU for college and fell in love with the city. I’ve been in the East Village since 1981.
Do you remember the first book you ever read?
No. I remember the first book I chose myself: A Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (Book 4 of the Narnia Chronicles)
Who all are a part of your family? How critical are they of your writing?
My father and sister are very supportive of my writing, as I am of theirs. The cats can’t be bothered.
What fears did you have when you moved to New York City to attend New York University?
I wasn’t smart enough back then to have fears. (Ha!) I arrived in New York City at a great time for entertainment: Punk, New Wave, Disco. It was easy to go out every night. I wasn’t thinking much about the future.
Who was first introduced to the Macintosh computer?
I’m not sure what is meant by this question, so I’ll just answer what I think. I discovered my first Macintosh computer when I was working at a graphics studio. Everything was mechanicals and typesetting back then. The woman who owned the place had foresight. She bought a dozen Macs for the studio, and I taught myself how to do layouts.
How has been your experience of working in the publishing industry as a pre-press specialist?
The main thing about publishing: you work a lot. When it’s busy, you work too much. What that does, however, is hone your skills. Nothing like spending twelve-hour days, seven days a week, doing page layouts in Quark or InDesign, working towards an almost impossible deadline, to learn a lot of tricks and shortcuts.
What inspired the plot of your novel, Somebody's Watching You?
A friend of mine was having trouble with her husband. They had always been on different ends of the political spectrum, but he started to dive deeper and deeper into politics, until he actually started working for the party. Things that were never issues before became issues. He’d watch politics for hours, while my friend would be in the other room doing something —anything—else. She kept trying to hold onto the marriage, as they had been together a long time, but eventually, he left her. She was at work, and he emailed her to say the marriage was over and he was leaving. When she got home, he was gone.
I found the dynamic in this relationship interesting, but I didn’t want to write about politics. So: cult.
How did you come up with the character of Melody Hollenback?
Melody is a hybrid of myself, a couple of people I know at work, and designers I see on home-improvement shows. She took on a life of her own as I got further into her story.
What is the sweetest fan-mail that you have ever received?
I don’t get much fan mail! But I did get a nice note from a stranger who said she enjoyed my book quite a bit. It’s one thing to get reviews, but it’s another when someone you don’t know takes an effort to contact you.
What are the names of your two cats?
Tommy is my little (6 pounds!) 14-year-old grey-and-white short-hair. Leia is my three-year-old Caliby (Calico-tabby.) She’s more than twice the size of Tommy, but he likes to pester her anyway.
Did your experience of working in a publishing industry ease out the process of publishing your own books?
Not really. Only in the sense that I was told that my book was edited and proofread better than most manuscripts they received.
What made you fall in love with New York City?
I always wanted to move here. It’s the center of the universe, as far as I see it. Art, music, dance, movies, interesting and varied people. I like the energy. I always felt stagnant in the exurbs I was from. I’m happiest when there are people milling around.
How important is choreography in dancing?
Well, that depends on the kind of dancing. For free-style movement or improv, choreography doesn’t matter at all. Steps are created as you go. But if you want to create a dance where people are interacting in a certain way, in a certain style, to project a certain feeling or story, you need to choreograph it.
Are you working on a new book? Is it going to be a series or a standalone?
I have two books that are works-in-progress. The one I’m currently concentrating on is the first novel I wrote. That was about a decade ago when I didn’t know what I was doing. Lately I’ve decided to revisit it. I think it’s shaping up into something decent. So far, I have no plans to create a series, but that can always change.
What do you think of AllAuthor? Has this website been helpful to you?
AllAuthor is a great site. I love the weekly banners and animated gifs, and I’ve gotten good feedback from their promo tweets and Facebook posts, even some sales.
