Growing up, I was drawn to written words–both reading them voraciously and writing them continuously.
I began my writing career in the health care field, and sold my first freelance humor pieces by age 22 to the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, the scrappy underdog newspaper to the Los Angeles Times.
Since then, I’ve written 5 books, including my memoirs Bylines and Blessings and The Skeptic and the Rabbi, both works of my heart. I’m an award-winning columnist for the Jewish Journal, where my work earned First Place in Commentary from the American Jewish Press Association’s Simon Rockower Awards, and Second Place for Book Reviews from the L.A. Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards, both in 2024.
My work has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Aish.com, Jewish Action, Chabad.org, and many other outlets.
I also love working with writers as a book coach, guiding them as they realize their visions of a professionally written and edited book. I’ve worked with writers on memoirs, as well as on Jewish philosophy, business communications, alternative health journeys, and more.
To me, writing is almost as essential as breathing. It is a privilege and joy for me to be able to share my writing with a receptive audience.
Growing up, I wanted to be the next Erma Bombeck, only Jewish. Fortunately, I kept my day job in health care public relations as I wrote humor pieces at night. I’ve kept that love of writing ever since. I’ve published three award-winning humor books, a memoir, The Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love with Faith, and co-authored a book on MBA admissions strategies. My memoir is truly a work of my heart, and I’ve been so pleased by the fantastic reader reactions it receives by people of all faiths.
I published my first fiction story, “The Inheritance,” about a couple in conflict over religious observance, and look forward to exploring more themes within fiction over time.
For many years I wrote about my family life and the poignant and funny moments in marriage and motherhood. Now, the kids are grown with kids of their own, and it’s an incredible pleasure and privilege to be a fairly active Nana, too. I knew I was right to save the Legos and the best of the children’s books!
I also practice yoga a few times a week, though despite my practice I’ll never get “pigeon pose” or “Warrior 3” just right. I love what it does for my sense of strength, balance and even mental calm. Naturally I read loads of books, including mysteries (love the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear), Michael Medved’s fantastic history books, Jewish thought and commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and almost anything written by Alexander McCall Smith.
The other day my seven-year-old granddaughter Ahuva saw me working and asked, “Nana, when will you finish working?”
“I have about another hour to go today,” I said.
“No, I meant for the rest of your life!”
I laughed. To me, writing is almost as essential as breathing. It is a privilege and joy for me to be able to share my writing with a receptive audience.
