Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
For more than 30 years I’ve been a professional writer — an award-winning journalist, adman, PR professional and novelist, with one book to my credit.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I published my first novel, “Bad Rabbi,” a story inspired by a real life murder-for-hire case, in 2018. The story was inspired by the case of Rabbi Fred Neulander of Cherry Hill, N.J., who for years had a reputation as a womanizer. After falling in love with a woman outside his marriage he hired two thugs to kill his wife, a successful businesswoman/baker.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I need quiet but I can write anywhere.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many. I love many of the great 19th century writers like Dostoevsky but also modern greats like Donna Tartt, John Updike and Larry McMurtry.
What are you working on now?
Some short stories and a novella that could develop into a full novel.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get a job writing news – it’s a lot of fun and you will write every day.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write in the active voice and use strong verbs.
What are you reading now?
A Tale of Two Cities.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing, editing, rewriting.
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?
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, the Rabbit series by John Updike.