Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a physical therapist focused on work with children with disabilities and their families. Writing and storytelling is something I’ve always dabbled in, but I never had the time to hone the craft until my own children were grown and gone. Then I learned how to write to get published.
I had some success in publishing articles for parents and professionals, and fiction and creative non-fiction stories for kids in national magazines. Risking Exposure is my first novel.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Risking Exposure was somehow always in my heart. All four of my grandparents emigrated from Germany between the two world wars, and while I grew up one grandmother lived with us. So my German heritage was all around – the boisterous songs, the rich language, the ethnic food, and the beautiful photos of the land of my grandparents’ youth.
My younger sister Joyce was born with multiple disabilities, and she was an enormously positive influence on my life. (Risking Exposure is dedicated to her.) Because of what I learned from her about joy and patience and the value of human dignity, I became a physical therapist. I’ve worked most of my career with children with disabilities. Supporting them and their families is a life-long passion for me.
As an adult I learned about a Nazi-era pogrom in which people with disabilities were exterminated. The seeds for Risking Exposure came from my attempt to mix the oil and water of these disparate feelings – pride in my German heritage and the horror of realizing that people with disabilities were also Nazi targets. Over and over I wondered, “What would have happened to Joyce, to my patients, if we had all lived there then? And if I were an ordinary German citizen, what would I have done about it?”
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write in a frenzy. An idea may hit me at 4 am and I’ll write like a woman possessed before work. But more typically, I write in the evening or on weekends.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love historical fiction, so as a kid I was very influenced by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is amazing, and I adore the way Connie Willis intertwines historical fiction and fantasy.
What are you working on now?
A sequel to Risking Exposure, as yet unnamed. The characters just wouldn’t let me stop.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write from your heart, not for the market.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write the best story you can, then shelve it for a couple weeks. When you look at it again, you’ll see where it needs improvement.
What are you reading now?
I just finished Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff. Now I’m reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and The Boy in the Toy Room by Regge Episale.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on the Risking Exposure sequel!
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?
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