As the daughter of a sculptor, I grew up watching my mother chisel and carve pieces of wood, stone, and clay, until she brought out what she saw inside. Often, she said, the material surprised her by what it ultimately revealed of itself. To me, the essence of writing is much the same - sculpting a story with words, with the expectation that it might not become the story you thought it was.
I love research. My office is piled high with background material. But I believe in visiting the places I’m writing about. They’re never quite the same as they appear in books or articles. A Day of Small Beginnings took me to Poland, where certain sites and some astonishing events I experienced did not match what I thought I knew about the country.
The same is true of Sacrificial Man, which began as a novel but which I am now adapting as a play. Set at the Cahokia Indian Mounds archaeological site outside East St. Louis, Illinois, it is a story of ambition's costs during the McCarthy Era...and human sacrifice of many kinds.
My writing life has also been deeply enriched by working with The Braid (formerly Jewish Women’s Theatre.). It has been my privilege to watch actors give voice to my stories and also to serve the company as dramaturg,, programmer, playwright, and advisory board member. I am truly grateful to be part of this highly unusual creative enterprise.