Age: 21+

Location:New York environs

What are you working on now?
A suspense novel with an intriguing hook, a teenage novel filled with pathos, a picture book, and a new website dealing with the mystery of scent plus a revamping of my photography career to include scholastic publishers. I've also been named to the board of Women in International E-Commerce. I look forward to starting work as a substitute teacher with the Board of Education as I work on my literary projects. I also tutor privately in ESL and GED and an open to freelance journalism and corporate communications assignments--financial, technical, and medical industries.

What has been your most difficult project of late and how did you cope with its challenges?
Watering down a long story from 25 pages to submit to a contest that requested five. The challenge of meeting a deadline while working on other demanding projects. I dealt with it my portioning out my time between my volunteer work, writing, and other activities, knowing that without re-writes there is no published work.

What's the most helpful thing you've learned about freelancing?
Being flexible to the needs of the client and open to changes.

What's been the worst career advice you've ever received?
Keeping the status quo. I ignored it and continued to stretch myself as far as I can go.

what is your advice when it comes to writing a teenage book? How is it different from an adult novel?
Teens are finding themselves. Treat each one as an individual. While the subject matter can be sophisticated, one has to remember that teens don't have all the resources to deal with adult issues such as workplace crisis. Don't overwhelm them. Speak to topics that are important to them in terms they can relate to and comment on after they've read the novel.