IJF asks: What have you just finished?

I am currently doing revisions for another YA novel, tentatively titled "Callie's Sister."

IJF asks: What book(s) have been life changing for you?

I was a big reader as a kid, so certainly Judy Blume's books were influential to me. When I was in sixth grade, I read a book called "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Ernestine Gilbreth Carey and Frank Gilbreth, Jr. I loved it so much I read it at least a dozen times and wound up adapting it as the sixth grade play.

IJF asks: Can you tell us your best fan encounter story?

"It's been really surprising and amazing to get all sorts of e-mails and feedback from people who are loving ""Change of Heart."" In our town, people that I know often stop me to tell me how much they liked it. One day, I was at the local garden center and someone called my name and stopped me, having recognized me from my book launch party, I think. She told me she loved the book and shared it with her grandmother, who also loved it. For that matter, it was fun to get a call from my own grandmother, telling me she hadn't read a book in 10 years but thought mine was great! (though I guess grandmothers are supposed to think you are great)."

Where did the story idea for Change of Heart come from?

My husband is a cardiologist who cares for patients waiting for heart transplants. One day he and one of his patients were featured on a Discovery Health program with Dr. Oz. It was fun to see him on TV, but what really caught my attention was a young girl waiting for her transplant. The look on her face as they wheeled her into the Operating Room to receive her heart was haunting--she was scared, excited, anxious, worried. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Slowly, she evolved into Emmi and my book was born.

With such a serious topic did you ever consider making Change of Heart an adult book instead of YA?

As much as Change of Heart is a YA book, it is being read and enjoyed by adults, too. Because Emmi is 16 and even with all of her medical issues is still caught up in the high school drama stuff, I felt it was best as a YA.

Did you ever "meet" any of the Sesame Street characters during your time with CTW?

Sure. I met many of them. When I worked in international production, I would often bring our foreign coproducers over to the New York set. I also got to work with many of the characters in recording sessions. We sell Sesame Street to Canada. But in Canada they pronounce our letter "Z" as "zed." So anytime a Sesame Street character said that letter "Z" they had to record it a second time and say "zed." If they forgot to do that, I had to go down to the recording studio with them and do the lines as "zed." Sounds silly, but I had fun.