Some are born into a family of writers while others become writers because of the family they are born into. I fall into the latter category. As a child raised in a large Italian family in New Jersey, I often escaped to my bedroom with a book. This strategy still works when I need a quiet place to read or write at my home in Fairfield County, Conn., where I live with my husband, our two children, and dog.

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After graduating from Boston College, I spent a year in Los Angeles working as a full-time volunteer in a homeless shelter. Next, I took a job in New York coordinating volunteers for the American Red Cross. I decided to become a journalist after I spent a month in Puerto Rico and St. Croix doing PR for Hurricane Hugo disaster relief efforts. 

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After earning a Master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, I took a job working as an assistant editor at American Health magazine (a Reader’s Digest publication). I started my career as a freelancer when I moved to Washington, D.C. a few years later. I loved researching story ideas, delving into new topics, and interviewing experts — everyone from Dr. Ruth to legendary Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau — because I learned so much and met so many fascinating people. More than 25 years later, I’m still at it, although I worked as an adjunct professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University for several years. I also run a company called A Bloc of Writers, which offers writing, editing, and tutoring services (our mainstay is college application essay tutoring). In 2015 I took over as president of the Connecticut Press Club, a statewide organization comprised of media professionals.