Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve worked for celebrity magazines for many, many years. I’m currently the Editor of The National Examiner in NYC, where I try to come up with stories that will help, inspire and entertain our audience of seniors. This is my first book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called “Rebel Without A Clue.” During a time I was laid off, I trained to become an EMT and went to work for a company that serves nursing homes. The people I met in the back of that ambulance were so brave in spite of all they were facing, which was sometimes so sad I had to step outside and cry, they would actually ask me about my problems and give me advice! I was so inspired by them and their stories! I couldn’t forget them later so I decided I would honor them — and my poor partner who put up with a lot of my bumbling — with a book about two women and their patients that would entertain others while getting the message of what it’s like to be old in today’s society. Those people humbled me in ways I never expected.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I started writing this book on this tiny dressing table that’s nailed to a wall in my bedroom with a folding chair. It’s really uncomfortable but when I try to do it someplace else, the words don’t come.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
For a long time now I’ve loved Janet Evanovich and her series of books with the funny and candid Stephanie Plum so to a certain extent I imagined my EMT Jenny Price and her cast of characters was somewhat like that with the same audience who like something light and fun, but of course I could never imitate the master, and I have my own writing style. Jenny and her partner Vivian are certainly bumblers though!
What are you working on now?
The second Rebel in which one of the senior citizens gets kidnapped!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I always thought if you were meant to be a book author that it would come on you so easily and a book would be written before you know it! But now that I’ve been in contact with other authors I found that it’s not that way at all. E. L. Doctorow says, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” So my advice would be to just keep on driving a little every single day.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t ever give up no matter how many years it takes. I started writing books 30 years ago and this is the first one that’s been published!
What are you reading now?
“A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles
What’s next for you as a writer?
More Jenny and Vivian goofiness
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
War & Peace
Anna Karenina
The Fountainhead
The Bible
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