WHAT I’M WORKING ON:

*PLAY. Turkish Delight! I’ll be performing my solo play this November 2nd at the Barrow Group Theater in NYC. Working with director/artistic director Lee Brock. I’ll be sharing the remarkable love story of my mother, my father, and my father’s first wife, in Istanbul 1953.

*SCREENPLAY. An adaptation of my novel The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream (published by Simon & Schuster/Atria Books). Working with Oscar winning director Eric Simonson.

*CHILDREN’S BOOK. What do you Wish? Collaborating with my husband, painter John Cote.

*ESSAYS. A collection, including This is My Dog on Drugs.

*NOVELS. A big family drama-comedy; a dystopian adventure about art.

WHAT I’VE WRITTEN:

My NOVEL The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream was published by Simon and Schuster/Atria Books in 2022. Publisher’s Weekly deemed it a powerful debut and Real Simple called it a “funny and insightful book about caregiving” and named it a best book of the year. I was honored that the Croton Free Library chose it as their book of the year and presented with a Month of Caring, and that Queens Public Library featured it as part of their It’s Time for Kind celebration. Inspired by my love for and adventures with my brother Davie, this book comes from my heart, with humor and honesty. I dedicated it to him and all who care.

I’ve written several PLAYS that have been performed at various theaters. Full-length plays: Welcome to Westchester, Kicking Inside (published by Smith & Kraus in their Best Plays series), If Only, Massage in Progress, Senior Moment, Ma and Betty Save the Day. Short plays: Ladies Room, Talking to My Girlfriends, and others. Musicals: Jimmy Moves Out (with director Richard Caliban, was a runners up for Eugene O’Neil Theater Festival), Loggerhead Rock (for kids). Theaters: Playwright’s Horizons, Rattlestick, Ars Nova, Hudson Stage, True North, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Cape Cod Theater Project, The Flock Theater Company, Croton Children’s Theater.

SCREENPLAYS: Ladies Room LA (adapted from my short play, director Eric Simonson, won many best comedy and audience favorite awards on the festival circuit), Board Game (I wrote, acted, directed, and produced this from my home early pandemic, also won awards)

ESSAYS & POEMS: When my Kids Left Home Jumping on my Trampoline Saved Me, published by Today (The Today Show); An Open Letter to My Sister Annie who Accepted My Facebook Request Six Months After She Died, McSweeney’s; Hell Yeah, Fifty, Purple Clover; Author Picks: 7 Books about People with Disabilities, Off the Shelf.

ACTING: I’ve acted in many plays off-Broadway, including Top Girls, A Lie of the Mind, Antigone, Savage and Limbo, The Crossing, various one-woman pieces, and others, at Flock Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, Ridge Theater, and others. With the Flock Theater Company, I was co-artistic director and responsible for producing numerous off-Broadway productions. I studied acting with Suzanne Shepherd and Sanford Meisner. I choreographed and danced solo in the short film The Mother Is the One Who Stretches, written by Marcy B. Freedman, directed by Susan Todd. I studied ballet, modern, and other dance forms in college and NYC.

MORE ABOUT ME:

I grew up outside of Washington DC, the youngest of seven children. I lived in NYC and Croton on Hudson for decades. I have two young adult daughters, and now live in Beacon, NY, with my husband and creatures. I sometimes run writing workshops and coach one-on-one.