How long did it take to write KLEPTO from start to finish?
I guess about three years—but I should point out that is because I was always doing other projects at the same time. I acted in plays and directed some, so my writing was very stop-start until I knew I would be published, then I wrote pretty diligently for the last year. You have said that KLEPTO began as a one-woman show called Goodnight Diary. How did the story change as it went from a play to a novel? Goodnight Diary came from my real diary that I started keeping when I was about 11, so the one-woman show included a lot more about my life growing up in New York City before my teenage years. When I decided to turn it into a novel, I had to narrow it down to one main subject which I did: shoplifiting. The dialogue in KLEPTO is particularly realistic and funny. Do you think your training as an actress helped you create such good dialogue? Yes and no. I think it mostly comes from having a good memory. I love noticing the quirky and real way people speak, the words they choose and how th
