Please tell us a little about yourself and Houses of Detention. 

I’m a former reporter for daily newspapers in Westchester [County], New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey. After several years playing Lois Lane, I realized Superman wasn’t going to arrive and moved on. I became press secretary for the City of New York, several political candidates, and [various] nonprofit organizations. I subsequently got tired of working on the side of the angels; it was time to earn some money. I got an MBA, became a VP at Citibank, wrote for business magazines, and taught marketing at Temple University in Philadelphia and St. Francis College in New York. 

What made you interested in storytelling? 

I always knew I’d be a writer. Writing was my path to peer acceptance. I wrote the fourth grade play, thereby guaranteeing myself the lead role. When summer camp peers neglected to choose a pudgy, uncoordinated kid for their teams, I wrote humorous poetry about camp characters to create a niche for myself. In college, other members of the newspaper became my close friends and helped define my undergraduate identity. 

What was your editing process like?  

My publisher made it clear from the start that they didn’t provide editing services, but by the time I submitted the book, it had been through years of revisions at the suggestion of peers and writing group leaders. I was a member of a master class run by Kaylie Jones, writer and Akashic Books editor, and two weeks before the final draft was due, Kaylie convinced me to make a substantial change, which I now realize improved the tone of the entire book.  

How did you research Houses of Detention? 

My book is primarily about a Jewish immigrant family in the Bronx, and since I was raised in a Jewish immigrant family in the Bronx, initially I didn’t need any supplementary material. However, the second half of the book introduces a fictional character, a woman from an Orthodox Jewish sect, a group with whom I don’t have any personal contact. To make sure I was portraying her accurately, I hired an Israeli sensitivity editor. In addition, several of my characters quote biblical passages, and I don’t have a formal Jewish education. Fortunately, my publisher, at a Jesuit university, offered several courses in the Old Testament, and one of the professors agreed to review my material. 

What are you working on now? 

Prior to writing my novel, I published 20 short stories in two dozen print and online magazines and anthologies in the U.S. and England. Most of these stories concerned people similar to those in my book. I’d like to put these stories into a single book and sell it as a collection that provides a new perspective on the characters in my book and others with whom they interact. 

Portions of this Q&A were edited for clarity.