Frequently Asked Questions

l. When were you born?

October 19, 1958

2. Where were you born?

Troy, New York

3. How old are you?

See question number one and do the math.

4. What’s your favorite book you’ve ever read?

I’ve read thousands of books and generally find something good in all of them, but thinking back to my childhood, the book I remember loving most was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I connected with the character, “Jo.”  Like me, Jo loved to write.

5. What’s your favorite book you’ve written?

There will always be a special place in my heart for The Wedding Planner’s Daughter because it was my first novel, but just as I love each of my three children totally and uniquely, I love each of my books in a special way.  There is a “firefly moment” connected to each book, a piece of me in each.  With every new book, more of what I truly care about becomes apparent.  I learn who I am as I write.

6. Did you write stories when you were young?

I don’t remember writing stories as a child.  I read them.  I always kept journals though and wrote lots of poetry and the occasional song and play which I would coerce my siblings into performing.   Thankfully they have forgiven me.

7. Do you have kids?

My husband, Tony, and I have three wonderful sons, Christopher, 18, Connor, 15, and Dylan, 13.

8. Do you have any pets?

We have two adopted-from-the-shelter cats, Penny and Bandit.

9. Where do you live?

I live in Guilderland, New York.  We also have a home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

10. Do you have any hobbies?

Reading is my favorite hobby.  I do 3-mile runs six mornings a week and when we’re at our Cape Cod home I love to walk the beach.  I enjoy traveling with my family and hosting parties for friends and colleagues.  I enjoy board games like Scrabble, Chess, Taboo and Pictionary.  I LOVE to dance.

11. How many books have you written?

As of June 2008, there will be 8.  In order of publication date, they are:

How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales, Simon & Schuster, 2004

26 Big Things Small Hands Do, Free Spirit Publishing, 2005

The Wedding Planner’s Daughter, Simon & Schuster, 2005

The Cupid Chronicles, Simon & Schuster, 2006

Mack McGinn’s Big Win, Simon & Schuster, 2007

Willa by Heart, Simon & Schuster, 2008

Catching the Sun, Charlesbridge, 2008

The Funeral Director’s Son, Simon & Schuster, 2008

12. How many books will you write?

As many as I can.  I have 4 new books coming out in 2009:

Sunny Holiday, Scholastic Press

Willa’s Summer by the Sea:  Book 1 (tentative title), Scholastic Press

Kip Campbell’s Gift (tentative title), Simon & Schuster

P.I.T, Prince-in-Training (tentative title), Dial, Penguin Putnam

13. What is your favorite part about writing?

The surprise of it.  I’m never sure what’s going to happen next.  I find that so exciting.

14. Will there be more books about Willa?

The character of Willa Havisham made her debut in my first novel, The Wedding Planner’s Daughter.  Her story continued in The Cupid Chronicles and then in Willa by Heart.  Right now there are three more “Willa books” under contract.  The next two will be out in 2009.

15. Where do you get your ideas?

My best ideas come unexpectedly like fireflies on a summer night.  I’ll be jogging or driving and suddenly hear a string of words or a character talking and I get to pen and paper fast.  Those firefly moments are magical.  Two of my novels, The Wedding Planner’s Daughter and The Funeral Director’s Son sprung out of simple (but brilliant) titles suggested to me by editors.  And just about every day I’ll read something in the newspaper or overhear a conversation or notice something in nature and I’ll jot notes and toss them in a seed basket knowing they’ll somehow weave into my writing.

16. How do you start a book?

Different writers have different methods.  I start writing when I have my main character and I know what he or she wants more than anything in the world.  I don’t do outlines.  I’d feel trapped by that.  I enjoy the surprise of discovering what will happen next.  I get inside my characters and try to experience not so much their thoughts as their feelings -- happy, sad, excited, afraid.  I show up on the page trusting that if I do my part, they will do theirs.

17. Why did you become a writer?

Because I love to read.  When I was a little girl, my Mom and I would ride the city bus uptown to the Troy Public Library.  I’d stick my hands in the mouths of the stone lions then pull hard to open that heavy castle door.  The treasures inside were all mine for a time, in exchange for that plastic card with my name on it.

18. Did you want to be anything else besides a writer?

I wanted to be a teacher.  But when I was graduating from high school and moving on to college I remember a guidance counselor telling me that the job-market was awful for teachers (there were too many) and so I went a different path.  I guess that’s one of the reasons I love doing author visits at schools so much.  I get to be a teacher for a time.

19. Is it hard being a writer?

At this point in my writing life (and I’m fully aware that this may change) I absolutely love what I am doing.  My work is joyful.  The hard part was breaking in to the field and selling that first book.  I was rejected 179 times on dozens of different stories before they let me in the club.  Now, the most difficult thing is finding a balance between work and family responsibilities.  But that is a conflict all working parents face.

20. Is it fun being a writer?

YES! I liked my other jobs, but this is different.  Writing is my passion.  I am happiest when I am writing.

21. Did anyone inspire you to be a writer?

Many fine teachers encouraged me as a writer, but my mother was, and still is, my greatest inspiration.  Growing up, we had six children in our family and in addition to being a homemaker, my Mom also always worked a full-time job  For one long stretch she worked a 4pm-11pm shift.  She would come home exhausted, but would still make time to write.  Journals and poetry and letters.  Sometimes I’d get up late and sneak out to the kitchen to watch her write.  Her hand would be moving swiftly in a curly cursive scrawl across the page and there was an almost transcendent look of intensity and joy on her face.  I wanted to know that world.

22. What advice do you have for a beginning writer?

Write, write, write.  The more you write, the better the writing becomes.  Write what you know.  Write what you love.  Write you heart out.  If you want to be a writer, write.