About Me
This is where I’m supposed to tell you who I am. That feels so profound. Who am I? For that matter, who are you?
I don’t really know the answer to either of those questions, but whoever you are, I’m awfully glad you’re here with me. It would be lonely without you.
To start, I’ll give you the blah blah blah factual bit, the professional me:
My debut novel, Modern Girls, was a USA Today bestseller, a Massachusetts Book Award “Must Read,” and a 2016 Goodreads Choice semifinalist for Historical Fiction. I’ve been published in a bunch of journals, including Fiction Southeast, McSweeney’s, The Best Women’s Travel Writing, The Southeast Review, and the Bellevue Literary Review. I teach writing, both in-person in the Boston area as well as online through the Loft Literary Center. The Whisper Sister is my second novel.
Want less professional? How about this?
I have a BFA in film and an MFA in creative writing so you can assume I must write tons of movie reviews. You’d be wrong. I stopped going to the movie theater when my kids were little, and now that they’re big, I have no desire to get off my couch.
I grew up in Miami Beach. Yes, people really do grow up there. No, it was not exciting. It was a normal place, albeit with a bit of a coke habit, too many neon colors, and nothing for a kid to do on a Saturday night. Growing up there has left me with the terrible habit of being a Dolphins fan.
I now live in a suburb of Boston. My kids and my husband were born and raised in New England, and yet I’m the only one who likes cold weather.
I refuse to think of my children as adults, even though one is old enough to vote and the other is old enough to drink, and they both live on the opposite side of the country. When I’m lucky, they grace me with a visit.
I like bourbon. I like drinking in general. Yet I always observe Dry January, which my husband thinks is ridiculous. Miami Beach has changed considerably since I was a kid, but one thing has stood the test of time: Mac’s Club Deuce, the greatest dive bar ever. I’ve been drinking there since before I was old enough to drink, and that’s where I started drinking bourbon.
My family wanted a dog for years and years, but I refused because I knew who would be taking care of the dog. I hated changing my kids’ diapers and now they wanted me to pick up after an animal for the rest of our lives? We did get a dog. Lansky. Lansky became the greatest love of my life, and I’m angry they didn’t make me get a dog sooner. Lansky, alas, is no longer with us, and now I have Bailey. And I want more dogs. More more more! There are never enough dogs.
I think that gives you a general idea of me. If there’s something else you’d like to know, you can ask!
Where can you find me when I’m not here?
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