I live in Greenwich Village, the prettiest part of New York City, with my husband Jerome Kass, who is also a writer, and my dog Honey.  My favorite things are writing, walking and cooking, although I also do yoga and the treadmill. I absolutely hate the treadmill but do it because it is good for me.  While I do it, I watch the food network or a reality show.  I love reality shows.  My favorite is Project Runway.

 I have always loved to read and among my most powerful memories are coming home from school, getting a whole bunch of chocolate chip cookies out of the cookie jar and reading while I ate the cookies slowly, the cookie part first, then the chips, allowing two per page.  Especially I remember Anne of Green Gables, the Betsy-Taci books, Homer Price, and Ballet Shoes.  These books are on the shelf next to my desk to give me inspiration. I love to write for teenagers and kids because of these happy memories.  I hope to give someone else the same joy of escaping into stories. Although probably the main reason I write is because it’s who I am, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to make my living by my imagination.

 I have three sisters, Nora, Hallie and Amy.  I’m the second oldest.  I grew up in Beverly Hills, California, which was kind of a sleepy town then, not all fancy and famous and snobby the way it is now.  My parents wrote screenplays, so I come from a writing family.   All my sisters are writers too.

 My favorite city in the world is New York City, but my second favorite is Paris – it is so beautiful there -- and I feel sad that my stepson hates Paris and only wants to go to Ireland, but I have learned over the years that you can’t force your kids to like what you like.  My stepson Adam Kass, a storyboard artist and illustrator, lives in Los Angeles.  He did this website for me.  My stepdaughter Julie Kass lives outside of Seattle, Washington.  My friend, photographer Patricia Williams, took this photo of me in a Paris café right after I had had a delicious lunch and just before I walked to a nearby bakery and had a vanilla macaroon.