The first thing you ought to know about me is that I go by the nickname, Jody (and, yes, apparently my parents did name me after the character of Jody in The Yearling). My Facts: Fast I grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., until I was thirteen years old, when my father accepted a position with the Ford Foundation and I moved to Nairobi, Kenya. My first novel, intended for young adults, drew on my great passion for Kenya. (No Regrets, Dial, 1982). After two years attending Loreto Convent, I went to the College du Leman boarding school in Geneva, Switzerland. I graduated from Mt. Holyoke College, then received my Master’s degree from Bryn Mawr College, both in the field of English Literature. During graduate school, I married and had two children, Rachel and Daniel. After many years, the marriage ended in a spirit of friendship, and I made my new home in Washington, D.C. My parents, sister and brother live close by with their respective families. My daughter, Rachel, is a second year graduate student at Harvard, and my son, Daniel, is a junior at Yale. My Philosophy: Fast I truly consider myself a reader, first, and then a writer. Though, yes, it’s true that my career is as a fiction writer. Still, because reading is my first love (and we all know how powerful a first love can be!), I write to be read and my goal is to make the reading experience both pleasurable and shocking. That’s why I try to write funny. Laughing titillates and teaches, without a person really knowing that they’re being manipulated. My goal: to make you laugh and, thus, to manipulate you into seeing your world and your self with new eyes.