The Sabbath is a weekly cathedral raised up in my dining room, in my family, in my heart.

I never wanted Mary Poppins to be my nanny. I wanted to be her when I grew up.

My husband, Jim, converted to Judaism just before our wedding.

Until very recently men and women inhabited very separate spheres. There was always interconnection, passion, love. But men and women didn't hang out at the end of the day and chat about what their day was like at the office.

Biblical names are hot again.

I got nice rejections explaining that historical fiction was a difficult sell. But I kept trying.

I have a 10-year track record of writing for the Jewish community.

I love many kinds of music: world music, jazz, classical, pop.

My early childhood was spent in Newark, New Jersey, but my family moved to Denver when I was 12.

My six handbooks to Jewish life and lifecycle events mostly followed the trajectory of my adult Jewish life.

Since 1985, I have written about contemporary Jewish practice and the Jewish community.

The Bible - it's sort of the other person in the room. There's this book, the reader, and the Bible.

The real Mary Poppins got lost when Hollywood turned her into a cream puff.

There's something almost adolescent about Whitman's paean to everything that was and remains good about America.

As a journalist I'm comfortable doing library research, and I did a lot! I had a fellowship at Radcliff for a year which gave me access to the Harvard system.

I lived through a classic publishing story. My editor was fired a month before the book came out. The editor who took it over already had a full plate. It was never advertised. We didn't get reviewed in any major outlets.

I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.

November is Jewish book month, so Jewish Community Centers all around the country have book fairs where they invite authors and sell books in advance of the holidays.

One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish and English lines and see how the translator worked.

Right now, I'm Writing song lyrics. Experimenting with a play. Toying with an idea for a documentary. I hope one of these will eventually be launched into the light of day.