I’m a risk-taker when it comes to leaps of faith.
I moved to New York City from Santa Cruz, California in my thirties with two young children and no money except the promise of work writing teen romances for hire. A risk that paid off big when I was hired to help launch what went on to become the phenomenally successful Sweet Valley High series. That, in turn, launched my career writing adult fiction under my own name.
I got married again after more than one divorce. We’re still together, still in love, twenty-two years later.
My leaps of faith sometimes land me flat on my ass, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know, right?
The most out-there job I ever had was as a life-drawing model. Hey, it was the seventies, I was young, and I needed the money. I don’t regret it. The one good thing I got out of it was I have no body shame. You lose that quick when you’re standing naked in front of a classroom full of art students; after an hour, you’re more bored than embarrassed. I’m no longer in perfect shape like I was then, but who cares? When I walk on a beach in my swimsuit, I don’t worry about other people watching me.
The best thing about being an author? I get to work at home, which means I can cook up plots while cooking in the kitchen, I don’t have to wear pantyhose or high heels, and I’m my own boss.
