“How old were you when you decided to become a writer?”

I’m often asked that question, and I always hesitate. It sounds too glib to say “Forever,” even though it’s true. My first small article was published in Jack and Jill magazine when I was nine, so there’s a clue. Around that time, my sister and I started a newspaper we called The Neighborhood News. We wrote about who was going on vacation and whose cat was lost. I tried my hand at writing a few extremely short, short stories. We ran off pages on my uncle’s mimeograph machine, stapled four or five together, and sold them for 2¢ an issue.

My first writing job came when I was in college; I was a reporter for the Springfield Daily News. Then I turned to advertising because I knew I’d rather be creative.

After too many high-stress years, I stepped out of the real world and into the world of fiction where I knew that I belonged. And here I am, spending my days weaving tales of families, friends, and sometimes foes, who laugh and cry and love and deal with real-life issues—many of which are the types of things my friends and I have had to deal with over time. I love to watch my characters grow beyond their expectations, the way that (though we’ve often kicked and screamed about it) so many of us have learned to do.

If you’ve read any of my work or visited my Books page, you can see that I’ve written a bunch of books. And while I know that no one is supposed to pick their favorite child (or children!), I will admit that next to my first novel, Sins of Innocence (published by Random House in 1994, which probably makes it historical fiction now), my favorite stories are those that take place on Martha’s Vineyard—the magical island that I now call home.

It’s been an interesting journey. And best of all, like life, it continues. Because like all avid readers, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

—Jean