My blog

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been invited to appear on a panel in the awesome Writers Digest mega-conference in August.  This is THE place to be for anyone who loves writing, so [...]

The Book Chic Club comes in with a wonderful review of THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY.  Click here to read more.

One of my favorite parts about being a debut author is being initiated into the world of working writers.  I have uncovered a realm beyond my imagination, where fellow authors hang out in chat [...]

It was such fun to be interviewed by Lisa Evers on Fox5 Good Day Street Talk.  Here’s a short clip: http://www.myfoxny.com/video?clipId=9996036

My Dear Bibliophage calls THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY “real and relatable.”  What’s more, she gives a shout-out to what the title means.  I’ve been waiting for someone to [...]

Gwyneth Paltrow has been getting some flack for a phrase she used in her announcement about her split from her husband: conscious uncoupling.  People thought it sounded snooty and pretentious.  I [...]

I don’t know what I was thinking when I put on The Impossible, with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.  Well, to be honest, I do know what I was thinking: Ewan McGregor is hot (not Ethan Hawke [...]

I was glad to see this reviewer focus on some of the less obvious aspects of THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY, including the protagonist’s sense of humor.  Yes, it’s an “issues” [...]

I will be on Fox 5’s Good Day Street Talk this coming Saturday, March 29th at 6:00 a.m. The very cool Lisa Evers (of, among other things, Hot97 fame) is the interviewer.  Watch me talk [...]

Beautiful insight by a teen reviewer. makes my heart smile. Click here.

So apparently TSSoE now has a page on Goodreads called “Books Like THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY.”  This must be some kind of milestone, because it didn’t used to before.  Not sure [...]

If you like free books, you’ll love Free Book Friday!  Every Friday they give away freesigned books.  The best part?  This Friday they’re giving away five autographed copies of THE [...]

I used to write about things.  I used to spout off my leftie opinions, get combative with the page, ruminate about the sky and the darkness, lilt lyrical about rain. And then my book happened. [...]

I loved seeing THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY at the top of this wonderful list of new novels this spring.  My fellow NJ author Lisa Colozza Cocca (whom you’ll be able to meet alongside me on May [...]

I sometimes worry that THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY won’t go as far as it could because readers might be reluctant to read an “issues book.”  I worked hard to make TSSoE not be [...]

This reviewer she’d a few years reading the book. Awww… hugs! Although I did once hear someone say that we read books to feel things. So I’m glad that, at least with this [...]

How weird is it to see a Q&A online about whether my book qualifies as “Latino” since I was technically born in Spain and not Latin America? Plenty weird. Click here.

What would you say to your teen self? Here’s what I would say to mine: click here

I am fascinated by True Detective, the HBO series that does a masterful job of character development. But I wish it had been a bit braver in its choice of female leads. The show is a dark crime [...]

What’s the weirdest thing on my desk?  That and other fascinating answers revealed in The Story Siren’s Debut Dish today.  Click here to read!

It begins, “Wow.”  (I think some of my favorite reviews are the ones that begin with, “Wow”).  It continues, “What an incredible story.” Click here to see what [...]

I was raised to not toot my own horn, which is hard when promoting a book, since, you know, that’s basically all horn-tooting.  So sharing positive reviews sometimes feels a bit like [...]

Thank you, Reese’s Reviews, for taking the time to read and review THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY! Here’s a snippet from the review, ‘Wow! When I got asked to review The Secret Side [...]

Here’s how Shooting Star Magazine’s review of THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY begins, “If you live in the United States, you have probably heard a lot about illegal immigrants. Maybe [...]

If you’ve had a baby or a wedding, do you remember the weeks after The Big Event?  When the presents had all been put away, the thank you cards written and all that was left was… [...]

It was such fun to participate in the Teen Author Panel at the Los Angeles Public Library Playa Vista branch.  First, Playa Vista, as something of a new community, is just absolutely gorgeous. [...]

Perhaps the best part of traveling somewhere new (and I know it’s hardly adventurous to go to another city in one’s own country and call that travel as if I’d visited remote [...]

Today I got one of the most touching reviews yet. It begins, “I won’t be surprised if The Secret Side of Empty wins a bunch of awards. Because, yep, it’s that good.” The [...]

Today I did a presentation at Gertz-Ressler High School and Richard Merkin Middle School in the Pico Union section of Los Angeles. A big group of students (about 150!) filed in and sat on the [...]

Being a Jersey girl (think culture and gardening, not high hair and drama), it stands to reason that a lot of my book promotion will be centered around my beautiful Garden State.  Here are a few [...]