I was born in Newark, NJ and raised in South Orange, NJ. I was educated in the school system of South Orange – Maplewood, NJ, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College, a Juris Doctorate degree from the Seton Hall University School of Law, and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from The College of St. Elizabeth.
I parent my son Christopher and share a life with my partner Susan, her two children and their families. I play the cello in the South Orange Symphony Orchestra and teach a class about Graphic Novels to the boys at Oratory Preparatory School.
And I have stories that bounce around in my head. I wrote and illustrated my first story in First Grade. It was a monster novel about a Godzilla-like creature. I wrote and illustrated it on construction paper, then bound the pages with red yarn that I’d threaded and tied along its left margin. Mr. Gervasi, my neighbor who drove me to school, insisted that I share it with him and encouraged me to continue to draw and write. In Second Grade, my classmate Terry Fox and I would exchange hand-drawn Batman comics with one another in the back of our classroom until our teacher, Miss Impe, snuck up from behind and caught us. Our comics were confiscated. Miss Impe sent home notes to our parents identifying our inability to focus.
When I applied for admission for my teaching certificate from the College of St. Elizabeth, I submitted my essay in the form of a graphic novel in order to differentiate myself from the other applicants. Shortly after the submission of my “essay,” I received a call from the Secretary to the President, asking if I was being disrespectful to the college in my choice of media and “suggesting” that I redraft my essay to conform to a conventional, paragraph-driven format.
I persevered, undaunted.
My first novel, BookMarck, was published by Olympia Publishers in November, 2023, and follows the adventures of siblings who have been gifted a wondrous and coveted BookMarck, allowing them the ability to be absorbed into the story lines of their favorite novels.
As of this writing, I have completed my second novel, A Symphony of Spies. It has been accepted for publication by Olympia Publishers, London England. Please watch for it. The best way for you to contact me would be to subscribe to my newsletter.
