It’s a funny thing about novel writing – sometimes you realize connections between your fictional world and your real life only after the story is complete. That’s what happened to me with THE FORGOTTEN ITALIAN RESTAURANT, which launched on Aug. 21st. I found myself creating a wonderful character who serves as a substitute sister to…

The day after my parents were married, their car soared off the road and landed upside-down in a ditch. I remember hearing this for the first time when I was about nine years old. I was in the kitchen with my mother, who was telling the story to a friend on the phone. My parents…