I was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California. I was an English Honors student at California State University, Northridge, and taught high school English. I am an avid reader of literary fiction, which is reflected in my writing style. My writing life came late. THE PROVIDER, my first published novel, February-2012, is based on my perceptions of the life of my Russian immigrant parents. It is the first and only one of my five novels to treat this personal subject. My novels reflect a recurrent theme in my writing of people who have an obsession.