Vanda

I was born and raised in Huntington Station, Long Island, but my mother would never let us call it that. She said we came from South Huntington. Saying we were from Huntington Station, according to my mother, made it sound like we came from the other side of the tracks. And, well, Mom, we did and that fact has greatly influenced my writing.

I wrote my first novel in eighth grade, with encouragement from my teacher, Mr. James Evers, who said, "My children will read your words." (They did) I went on to win an Edward Albee Fellowship among other awards for playwriting. One of my plays, VILE AFFECTIONS, was a finalist for the National Lambda Literary Award.

I am currently writing a series of novels about LGBT modern history that is NOT for LGBT folks only. These are books about people surviving and rising through some very difficult and dark days. However, these are not gloomy books. The characters are filled with spirit and lots of humor. The series begins in 1941, shortly before WW2. So far I have completed through 1956. There is a core romance that begins in the first book and continues through each book that follows. The same characters mature and change throughout each book. The latest book in the series to be published is Do You Know Dorothy? Book 5, Part 1.