Thanks for visiting my website, and thanks even more for your interest in my work.
The Usual Background Stuff
I grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, which is about an hour outside of New York City. I graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. and M.A. in politics, and from there went directly on to law school at the University of Virginia.
After law school, I joined the litigation department of a large New York City law firm, and after a few more stops, am currently the head of the litigation department of Pavia & Harcourt LLP, which is located in midtown Manhattan. Pavia & Harcourt recently received some fame because it is the law firm where Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor practiced before she was appointed to the bench.
Writing: How it Started
I have always been interested in writing, and yet, oddly enough, never took any courses in college (or after) and actually never seriously tried to write until a few years ago. I showed a first draft of my work to a friend whose brother is an agent for cookbooks, and he suggested I retain a private editor, Ed Stackler.
Meeting Ed was the turning point. He was the first person who thought I had publishable talent, and working with him was like taking every creative writing course I missed in college. Of equal importance, when my first novel was finished, Ed hooked me up with my agent, Scott Miller of Trident Publishing.
And, even though Scott is a superb agent, my first novel didn't sell. There was interest among a few houses, but no offers.
So, back to the drawing board. For my next work I decided to try something different from a legal thriller, and I wrote a political one, focusing on the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice.
A year and a half later, I excitedly sent it to Scott, my agent. He said that I shouldn't even send it out to publishers because it would squander the good will I'd established based on my first effort. He didn't think that it was necessarily bad, but suggested that I stick to what I knew best—New York City legal dramas.
A Conflict of Interest
Fast forward another eighteen months (but it actually didn't go by that quickly) and I finished A Conflict of Interest. Simon & Schuster's Gallery imprint bought it, which enabled me to meet Ed Schlesinger (what are the odds of having two Ed S's as editors?). Like my other Ed S., Ed Shlesinger made key changes to A Conflict of Interest, which made it better.
What's Next?
I've just submitted a work entitled Legally Dead that I'm very excited about. It's about a Hip-Hop artist named Legally Dead who's accused of murdering a Pop star named Roxanne. If it's purchased, you'll be the first to know!
