Ellie Foreman evolved from the first short story I wrote: “The Day Miriam Hirsch Disappeared.” I was surprised and gratified that, for a first story, it won a couple of contests. It was historical: set in the late 1930s in Chicago’s Lawndale, at the time a thriving Jewish neighborhood. It featured a teen boy named Jake Foreman.
Writing a novel, however, is quite a different kettle of fish. I had no idea what to write about. After several punishing weeks of writers’ block, I finally had a “Eureka” moment. I would move Jake Foreman forward in time seven decades or so. By then he would have an adult daughter whose name would be Ellie. She would have her own daughter, Rachel. Jake wouldn’t live in Lawndale anymore—he would have moved up to Skokie to be near Ellie who lives on Chicago’s North Shore.
And so, I had my characters. Six novels later, they have some stories they’d like to tell you.
