What I write...
My tear-jerking love stories and family sagas are set in Philly & the South Jersey Shore. Tissues and snorts are probable. Fist-pumps are highly discouraged. I write about what I've lived, love in spite of tragedy and loss. I write about where I live, inner-city Philadelphia. Still living in the neighborhood I grew up in, a few blocks from the Market-Frankford Elevated Train, I am immersed in a culturally rich and diverse world. The Southern New Jersey Shore of Wildwood is my summer playground- on the lucky weekends I get away.
Where I write about...
In my novels, the town of Ocean Haven is completely fictitious. It's a place where a poor kid from Philly could actually have a summer home right on the beach. Grassy Sound, New Jersey is the inspiration behind this nothing little pit stop by the sea. It's the town you drive by on the way to Wildwood or Cape May. I still drive by it, to this day, and wonder what life is like there. I wonder if we could have afforded a place like that growing up. To satisfy my vivid imagination I created this world and a cast of characters to breathe life into it.
What I'm proud of...
My greatest accomplishment is my daughter. She's a wee bit loud, opinionated, sassy, sensitive, and her heart's bigger than her mouth. Kind of like her mom. Second is my marriage. I've been with this hunk since high school. I love him more everyday and have managed not to kill him- I'm still breathing too, by the way. Third is my first novel, Meet Me In Jersey. It's a love story about childhood sweethearts reuniting along the shores of their youth when both their marriages have ended. It's currently on submission and hopefully, one day soon, coming to a bookshelf near you.
What inspires me...
Love stories, both happy and tragic, have captivated me since childhood. My favorite authors include Nicholas Sparks, Laura Spinella, Jeffrey Stepakoff, Sarah Jio, Paullina Simons, Elin Hilderbrand, Jeanine Cummins, Jane Porter, James Waller, and S.E. Hinton. The Outsiders lit the fire in me to write. And its been burning ever since Sister Edward William gave us a writing assignment to create our own tales. Who knew a yard stick could yield such power?
