I'm a nice Jewish Girl from the San Fernando Valley who daydreamed, imagined, and told stories from the time I could talk. At UCLA (1982) I majored not in creative writing (a regret, although not a huge one) but in Communications Studies. While my education did not set me on a firm career path, it did force me to write write write, and that was the part I loved. Throughout my early adulthood I wrote to entertain myself, my family, my friends and a small but dedicated fan base. When my two sons came along, I embraced motherhood and put career on hold, slipping in time for writing here and there between naps, diaperchanges, carpools, PTA, doctor visits, volunteering, sports . . . I could go on and on, but you get the idea. When my younger son got his license and I became irrelevant, I said to myself that it's time to focus on my first love - writing. I dusted off the old typewriter, which had miraculously become a sleek new laptop, thanks to my dear husband who is a techno-whiz. I sat myself down and began my career as a writer of fiction.  I love writing. I think about it all day and dream about it all night (taking out time for the occasional nightmare in which my teeth are falling out or a wave has washed me out to sea). Nothing beats hearing that my stories have made someone laugh or cry or smile. I've been influenced by so many, including the great Erma Bombeck, Gilda Radner, and Nora Ephron. A sample of some of the most memorable books I've read: The Shadow of the Wind, The Giver, Curious Incident of the Dog in Night, The Namesake, The Kiterunner, Pillars of the Earth, and from childhood The Little House series - Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Narnia Books by C.S. Lewis.