Welcome, Book Club Members!

To ask a question or write a review, select Your Review.

Here are some questions submitted by Book Clubs, and my responses

(many thanks to the Ladies of the Dunes!)

(Caution: Spoiler Alerts!)

Why a novel now?  What other writing experiences led you to this project? How did those writing experiences support/inform this project?

I’ve been writing ever since I was a kid: poetry, stories, cartoons, humor. My work has been published in collections and magazines. In the past few years I’ve been writing the full-length history of NYC foods for my blog called NYC EATS (newyorkcity-eats.com). I came up with the idea for Myre quite a few years ago. It was a long-form tale, and I knew it had to be a novel (my first). After many rewrites it was finally published in October 2025.

Where did your interest in Williamsburg come from? Did you spend time researching the settlement and current recreated town in person? 

The basis for Myre is entirely experiential. I visited Colonial Williamsburg for the first time many years ago. I arrived at twilight, and the colonial village (open 24/7) was deserted. I wandered alone along the main street under a full moon, the streets lit by candles, lanterns and fireplaces. The effect of the town unchanged by the centuries was uncanny; I felt I had time-traveled back to the 1770s, even though I was still in the present. That experience led me to use Williamsburg as a setting for the novel, and informed the characters’ strange sensation of being “lost in time.”

During the same trip I stayed in an old barn in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I awoke early and gazed from my high vantage point; I could see many miles beyond the farm I was staying at. It was all forest, completely covering the hills and mountains. No signs of human habitation, no electric lights, no cars or roads, just endless woods. I began to wonder, “What if there are people living somewhere amid this wilderness?” That led me to research the “mountain folk” who had dwelled there for centuries, and eventually led to the invention of Myre.

Did you base the character of Gina on anyone you know, or is she a conglomerate of several people?

Believe it or not, Gina Gallucci actually exists (under a different name.) She’s from South Brooklyn, so she and all her friends speak and act just like Gina does in Myre. They’re all grandparents now, but they still say things like, “Yo, Tony, pass the gefilte fish already, you stunad!” Yes they’re all Jews and Italians who grew up together and married each other and that’s the way they talk! Although I’m a Manhattanite, I had so much fun hanging out with them. “Gina” was almost always inappropriate; the way she behaved, spoke and dressed (like wearing fishnet stockings to a funeral), but as a true Brooklynite she didn’t care what others thought of her. Think Marissa Tomei in “My Cousin Vinny.” That’s her! 

I now had a sub-plot of a modern urban person having to learn how to walk, talk and behave like an 18th-century person, which became a central part of the story.

Where did the notion of a hidden colonial village existing in current times come from?

See above about my stay in the mountains. After Gina’s adventure of “pretending” to be a colonial lady in Williamsburg, I wanted her to experience “real” colonial people, in a “real” colonial village. Further research led me to discover the families who had dwelled in the mountains for centuries, so it wasn’t so far-fetched that some might remain. I spent quite a long time thinking about how such a community could survive: What did they eat? How did they disguise the town? How did they make clothes, homes, and a farm? How did they go to the bathroom? How does one secretly enter and leave? I built the entire village in my head, informed by the historic sources about the “mountain folk.”

There is a lot of detail in many of the chapters regarding the clothing, farming, herbs, etc. Have these topics been of interest to you before writing this book?

Absolutely! I’ve included many of my life-long interests in Myre: American history, antiques (I’m a collector), gardening, foods, and Jane Austen. I’m a big Austen fan...I just HAD to include a Ball, which is the centerpiece of every Austen novel. I utilized my extensive home library, but quite a lot of new research went into Myre: I had to learn about medical issues, women’s clothing and make-up (helpful women explained to me how they apply cosmetics...I had no idea!), the foods of the period, the many different accents and vernacular speech, curtsying, waltzing, how a Mill works, fabrics and weaving, what it’s like to attend the College of William and Mary and live there. There are extensive audio recordings available of actual dialect speakers, using King’s English, mid-Virginia, southern coastal, and mountain vernacular, which I used to bring life to the characters’ dialogues.   

W&M students shared their experiences. It’s a lovely campus, but many confessed that it was “boring as hell” to go to college there; there are few parties and opportunities for social engagement. I made sure to include this aspect for accuracy. Also, the descriptions of the College’s campus, buildings, classrooms and offices are all based on direct experience, as are Colonial Williamsburg’s buildings, taverns, shops, yards, hidden streets and secret passages.

Was your original idea time travel or a secret society?

Both! I wanted to invent a story where people time travel, but in a believable way. I didn’t want to use any time travel gimmicks, such as a time machine or a DeLorean or a magical hot tub. And I didn’t want the readers to have to suspend belief in physics in order to enjoy the book. I wanted it to all happen “naturally,” for the characters to have an experience just as if they had time-traveled. 

While I was researching the College of William & Mary I discovered that they had a secret society there (the Sevens), and nobody knows their mission. This fit in well with the idea of the outside “Friends of Myre,” so I made that their secret mission. Their campus ribbons and umbrellas with 7s on them actually exist.

Thomas Jefferson is a very charming character. Will he and Gina get together in any future adventures? 

Will there be another book focusing on Jefferson and Gina and their involvement in the secret society? 

Thomas “Jeff” Jefferson seems to be beloved by many Myre readers (especially the women, who sing his praises.) 18th-century courtship behavior still makes people swoon, where a sweet, secret kiss is the height of eroticism. I love this aspect of their relationship. 

And, yes, I’m working on “Return to Myre,” in which Jefferson figures prominently, paired up with Gina for further adventures together!

Will your novel be on sale at the Williamsburg gift shops or on their website?

Yes! So far I have it placed with Fallen Acorn Bookshop, right in the middle of Colonial Williamsburg. Major bookstores will not carry self-published books, so I need to locate independent shops. Do you know of any you could recommend?

The success of any book depends upon word-of-mouth. So please feel free to spread the word to friends, family, and any independent book shops.

It is also important that Myre receives as many reviews as possible on Amazon, which heighten its visibility. For the link, I invite you to select the “Order Online” button on the home page.

How did you imagine/develop the step of single fellows traveling away from the village to find a spouse?

The discovery of a colonial-dressed horse-rider had to be explained. He had to have a reason to leave Myre. Since I had established Myre as a refuge for only three families, it occured to me that intermarriage would be a problem, illustrated in the graveyard scene. Hence, men must leave to find unrelated mates. Of course, the next question is: why can’t Myre women leave as well? That was answered by young Molly, who’s outside search for a mate will be detailed in the next book.

Could the stable/horse farm serve more than one hidden community as a way station?

It could, but as far as I know (or imagine), Myre is the only hidden community remaining in the Blue Ridge, the others having been discovered and destroyed by the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in the 1930s. Mrs. Jenkinson is the lone survivor of one of these former communities, and she explains their destruction. I was fascinated to learn about the many families, derogatively dubbed “Hillbillies” and “Hollow Folk,” who dwelled in the mountains since the 1700s, on the edge of the frontier. There are several excellent books describing these long-lost villages and their fate.

Could you share the story of the cover design?

Sure. The cover has received many compliments. As you may (or may not) know, my career has been as a freelance artist/writer, working with museums, parks and historical societies. The initial front cover design was actually the small illustration on the back cover: a silhouette of Gina and Jefferson in Williamsburg. But I also wanted to portray the road to Myre, as described in the book. This became the front cover.

Actually, the cover throws some people off. One remarked that it implies a dark, scary mystery, with terror and bloodshed. Yikes! They had no idea that it’s a rom-com! Hence, the back cover, with the dashing duo and a description of what the book is really about.

Chapter One really grabbed my interest. How did you come up with it?

Many reviewers noted that Chapter One “grabbed” them. This was intentional. In an earlier response, I recalled visiting Williamsburg, alone at night, and could easily imagine that I was in the 1770s. I was struck by this sense of being in two centuries at the same time. The effect was disorienting, confusing, and yet thrilling. It’s at the heart of Myre. I wanted readers to experience this sensation themselves, right up front. 

So you open the book and it’s all petticoats and horse carriages and cider maids and oxcarts. Then suddenly Lady Gaga sings. This is when the disoriented reader exclaims, “Hey, what century is this?”

Welcome to time travel, Myre style.