My father was a research chemist; I was an English major who supported my writing habit first as a children’s book editor, then as a high school English teacher. Still, research is an important part of my writing process whether I’m writing about science, as in my “Forces of Nature” cycle, about history, as in "Chicken Dance" and my adaptations of “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Ghost on Saturday Night,” or both, as in “Ornament of Heaven.”

I’ve learned a lot about science, history, and culture, not to mention superheroes, wrestling, roller derby, and other assorted trivia, while researching my plays and books. A manuscript doesn’t really start coming together, however, until I get a sense of the characters’ goals and personalities. My plays certainly aren’t lesson plans for the educational market, but I’m happy to think they might stimulate their audiences’ curiosity the way they stimulate my own.