Me

I’ve resisted writing an about until now even though I like reading them on other people’s pages. I figure you can get the essence from scanning the categories on my site.

Writing: I’m in the midst of my first novel and I pause here and there to write short stories. I used to think I was a screenwriter. That was a mistake, but a useful one. I learned a lot about how to build a story. But now I write fiction and I’m much happier.

Los Angeles/Hollywood: LA. Where I live and I’m almost fond of the place, though I’m from New York and most of the time I think I’d rather be there than here. Hollywood. Where I used to work. Once upon a time I was an assistant editor on mostly schlocky low budget features and mostly classy high profile TV shows. My husband Dan is an editor on the latter so I still have one foot in that world.

Cute kid/Parenting: One child. Damian. Born May 5, 1998. Cinco de Mayo. High functioning autistic, largely past the bad parts of that diagnosis. My online journal Hidden Laughter is about his recovery, a term I use with reservations because I’m not sure there is such a thing, but he’s certainly no longer in thrall to the condition. He’s a great kid. Smart, loving, funny, imaginative, sometimes a pain in the butt. Always cute.


Other categories:

Books. Mainstream fiction, literary fiction, SF, mystery, romance, nonfiction (both creative and the other kind). I love books.

Movies and TV. Well, who doesn’t watch them? I like to analyze what I see, place it in context or just dissect it.

Food. Yum. Cooking and eating in restaurants both. Mmm.

Politics. Liberal from birth. Feminist from childhood. I don’t like to talk about it too much here. God knows there are plenty of poliblogs out there with authors who can afford to spend the time researching their theses. Me, I rant on occasion but mostly not.

Weight loss. I’ve lost twenty something pounds. I want to lose about twenty more. I did Weight Watchers, now I’m on my own.

Travel. Love it. Don’t do enough of it.

Life stuff tends to include my journal-type entries, though I’ve also talked about the grand adventures of a new car purchase (The Test Drive! The Research! The Negotiation! The Drama!) and our ongoing DIY home renovation projects. We own a Craftsman bungalow in Hollywood; we got into the real estate market in the proverbial nick of time. It’s not everything we want from a house (well, a location) but it’s pretty (the house, not the location).

There you have it. All you need to know, embedded in my category choices.