I am the eldest daughter of an alcoholic family and was raised in a blue-collar neighborhood in West Springfield, Massachusetts. I wrote My Townie Heart as a way of coming to terms with where I am from and to expose what a lie it is, when we are told that class doesn't matter.My coming of age was harsh and full of contradictions that would take me many years to understand. I lacked confidence and stability but was full of an almost preternatural drive towards something, I just didn't know what. In and out of college for many years, I waitressed, cleaned houses and made various forays into the counterculture until I moved to New Mexico and discovered journalism.I settled in Washington, D.C. where I spent nearly thirty years working in TV news and nonfiction television production. I currently live in New York City and work as a senior executive producer for Investigation Discovery, a crime channel. I am also a grateful member of St. Marks in the Bowery, an Episcopal church in the East Village.