I was born on the Fourth of July, and it's been fireworks ever since. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area as one of six kids, I was never without a cast with which to stage my early theatrical productions, which included a musical rendition of "The Christmas Carol," in which I was Ebenezer Scrooge. I began writing at age eight, with short stories and poems, and I haven’t looked back since.  From the early days of mostly collecting rejection slips, I went on to publish thirty-two novels for young adults, thirteen (and still counting) of women’s fiction, as well as numerous short stories and magazine articles, and one cookbook.

Often I’m asked where I get my ideas.  Fortunately, I have a wealth of life experiences to draw from.  Not all of them so good, but they each contributed to my writing in some way.  Starting when I dropped out of college to get married, at age eighteen. Two years later I was divorced, with a baby son and no means of support. I ended up briefly on welfare, and stood in line for government surplus food. But every cloud has its silver lining, and this one led to my determination to make a go of it as a professional writer.  I borrowed a typewriter from my next-door neighbor, and lacking a desk, plunked it down on the living room floor. The rest, as they say, is history.

I wrote non-stop for the next couple of years, selling a few articles here and there. Enough to fan the flame, if not to make ends meet. Oddly enough, with each rejection slip my determination only grew.  I guess it's true what they say: Success is getting up one more time than you fall down.  My first break came in the early eighties, when I was chosen to help launch a line of teen romances, which went on to become the phenomenally successful "Sweet Valley High" series. At last I had enough money (barely!) to strike out on my own. Ending another bad marriage, I pulled up stakes and moved east with my two children to New York City, where I was determined to make it as a novelist.

In 1986, my first adult novel, GARDEN OF LIES, was published.  The saga of baby girls switched at birth---one rich, the other poor---went on to enjoy a combined total of 16 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, in hardcover and paperback.  Though there’s no such thing as an overnight success, I felt like one, having gone in a matter of months from not knowing how I would pay the rent to wondering what I was going to do with all that money. The first thing I did was fulfill a fantasy born of years of wearing hand-me-downs: I walked into Saks Fifth Avenue and bought a dress...without even looking at the price tag!

I've since gone on to write many more novels.  My most recent, which came out in June of '07, is WOMAN IN RED, a very special story about a woman just out of prison and a man struggling to get back on his feet after losing his wife on 9/11.  Look for it in trade paperback in May of this year.  I also have another hardcover coming out,in June, titled DOMESTIC AFFAIRS ---a Cinderalla story in reverse: Riches to rags but with a happy ending.  I'll be posting sample chapters, so stay tuned.       

My own real-life romance reads like those in my novels.  After three failed marriages, I finally found true love in the most unlikely place of all: sitting at home. I was being interviewed over the phone by a radio talk show host named Sandy Kenyon, formerly of CNN and now a correspondent for WINS and WABC-TV, here in New York City.  He sounded so nice that when he asked if he could call back later on, I said, "Sure!" We talked for three hours that night...and every night after that. Six weeks later, when we finally met, it was as if we'd known each other all our lives. We were married in September of 1996, and after more than ten years we still feel like we're on our honeymoon. 

Yes, happy endings do exist, in life as well as in fiction.  There's only one catch: You have to write them for yourself. I wish every one of you success in making your own dreams come true.