What I’ve Written:

My NOVEL The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream was published by Simon and Schuster/Atria Books in 2022. Publisher’s Weekly deemed it a powerful debut and Real Simple called it a “funny and insightful book about caregiving” and named it a best book of the year. I was honored that the Croton Free Library chose it as their book of the year and presented with a Month of Caring, and that Queens Public Library featured it as part of their It’s Time for Kind celebration. This story was inspired by my relationship and adventures with my dear brother Davie, and is dedicated to him and all who care. I have adapted it for the screen (see In Progress).

I’ve written several PLAYS. Most recently, I wrote and performed my solo-play Turkish Delight at The Barrow Group in NYC, where I am an Artist in Residency. Co-Artistic Director Lee Brock directed. I continue to perform this play in various venues, including Savage Wonder in Beacon, New York, produced by Hit House Creative.

Other Full-length plays: Welcome to Westchester, Kicking Inside (published by Smith & Kraus in their Best Plays series), If Only, Massage in Progress, Senior Moment, Ma and Betty Save the Day. Short plays: Ladies Room, Talking to My Girlfriends, and others. Musicals: Jimmy Moves Out (with director Richard Caliban, was a runners up for Eugene O’Neil Theater Festival), Loggerhead Rock (for kids). Theaters: Playwright’s Horizons, Rattlestick, Ars Nova, Hudson Stage, True North, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Cape Cod Theater Project, The Flock Theater Company, Croton Children’s Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater.

SCREENPLAYS: Ladies Room LA (adapted from my short play, director Eric Simonson, won many best comedy and audience favorite awards on the festival circuit), Board Game (I wrote, acted, directed, and produced this from my home early pandemic, also won awards) Most recently, I’ve written The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream, an adaptation of my novel of the same name.

ESSAYS & POEMS: When my Kids Left Home, Jumping on my Trampoline Saved Me, published by Today (The Today Show); An Open Letter to My Sister Annie who Accepted My Facebook Request Six Months After She Died, McSweeney’s; Hell Yeah, Fifty, Purple Clover; Author Picks: 7 Books about People with Disabilities, Off the Shelf.

ACTING: Many plays off-Broadway, including Top Girls, A Lie of the Mind, Antigone, Savage and Limbo, The Crossing, various one-woman pieces, and others, at Flock Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, Ridge Theater, and others. With the Flock Theater Company, I was co-artistic director and responsible for producing numerous off-Broadway productions, receiving lovely reviews in The New York Times and The New Yorker. I studied acting with Suzanne Shepherd and Sanford Meisner. I choreographed and danced solo in the short film The Mother Is the One Who Stretches, written by Marcy B. Freedman, directed by Susan Todd. I studied ballet, modern, and other dance forms in college and NYC.

MORE ABOUT ME: I grew up outside of Washington DC, the youngest of seven children. I acted and wrote plays for thirteen years in NYC, raised two amazing daughters and continued writing in Croton on Hudson. Now empty nesters, my husband, artist John Cote, and I live in Beacon, NY with our sweet pup Arlo.