Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
I have had more careers than a cat has lives. I went to Barnard College but dropped out anxiously to get a job. Instead I got married. By the time I was 27, I had four children and my focus was on parenting. The women’s movement hit I was close to 30 and I wanted in, but without a degree and with several children, I wasn’t sure how or what my path might be. With writing in my DNA, I began by writing a few articles for local magazines. However my time was limited and I found it too frustrating to continue, so I turned to creating a small import-expert business with goods from Iran. I hated it, so instead I decided to go back to college. I got my BA the same year I had my 5th child and started working part time in public relations. Two years later I decided a master’s degree in counseling, which I followed with two years of clinical training in family therapy. I had a private practice and was on faculty at Family Institute of Westchester. I took training in divorce mediation and had a private practice as well as developed a training program at FIW. A decade or so later I made a big career change and became a theatre producer. Over the years I produced over 30 shows on Broadway, off Broadway, one in London, several of them Tony award winners. At the same time, I returned to writing. I wrote a book of two musicals, both of which were filmed for and available for streaming. My composer/director team and I are currently developing a third. I also wrote a film with one of my sons that I produced in 1996, and more recently a film now being edited that will hopefully be available in 2024. I taught screenwriting at the Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute for several years and now teaches/script doctors privately. During COVID I wrote Alpha Bette. My next novel, based on one of the characters in Alpha Bette, is partly on the page but mainly in her head at the moment.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Alpha Bette”?
Having been mainly a screenwriter for the past few years, I started the book having no idea if I could write fiction, a very different medium. While my strengths are developing character and writing dialogue, both of which are important in a novel, I had to learn how to rely less on dialogue. Harder still was becoming the camera, so to speak, allowing the reader to envision the people, the place and action, often intertwined with dialogue.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
I am kind of a snob about good writing. I can’t say that any particular writer influences my style per se but I learn from many writers. Barbara Kingsolver is a giant in my book. Amor Tolles. Ruth Ozeki. Kristen Hannah. I need the characters to be well developed.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
Cape Cod. We have had a home there for many years and it is a true antidote to NY living. For several years I went there for a week with several writers friends for a writing retreat. We write all day, then at night someone cooks, then we share what we’ve written or do prompts.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Alpha Bette’?
It was more a process than an inspiration. I created a few characters in a writing group. When I first wrote about Bette, whose name has changed about 100 times, it was about her being in a wheelchair in a department store seeing herself in a mirror for the first time in years. It wasn’t until I started to think that maybe the characters could be linked that the thought of a novel came to me.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Alpha Bette’?
It would never have been written without covid. Theatre shut down, as did my office. Being cloistered at home allowed me the time to focus on a series of stories I had written over a period of a few years and find ways to connect them into a novel.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
All online book platforms. Booksellers who think there’s a market can order copies from Ingram.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Alpha Bette’?
Great question. This is my first book so I knew I needed a great title and cover to garner attention. I had many many titles and asked around for suggestions but nothing really clicked. It played around in my mind all the time for a long time, and one day it just came to me – Alpha seemed a good fit. But her name was not Bette at the time, so I changed her name to Bette, which I liked because another Bette, Bette Davis, was another tough woman. Having been a theatre producer, I feel strongly about the poster as a sales tool. I knew from some writer friends that traditionally published authors often don’t have full control over the title and artwork, which is partly why I chose to go with a hybrid publisher. I sent their design teams some covers I liked as well as ideas I had come up with using AI. Once I had chosen a design with the old woman’s profile, I worked closely with them on the font, the color choices and the layout.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
I’m not sure how to answer that, especially how it relates to readers. But for myself, I am always looking for ideas, listening to conversations, gleaning anything that I can use in some way.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
Share your work with people you trust and listen to feedback. When it resonates, incorporate it.
Buy Alpha Bette on Amazon
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