After writing freelance travel articles for decades, I wrote my first novel. "A Collector of Affections: Tales from Woman's Heart." The sensual story is for the middle-aged woman reader. It entwines fiction with reality, travel experiences, seatmates and lovers, Spanish moons and memories.

My memoir, "The Street or Me: A New York Story", chronicles my two-year friendship with a NYC homeless woman whom I returned to her family in Italy. It's a raw, riveting read -- one reviewer said it was 'a mystery of the heart' -- that should change a reader's perspective about homeless people and addiction.

I live in New York City and Florida,