To Bloom Like a Tulip follows a family separated by two continents during WWII and their efforts to survive as a Jewish family. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I have known quite a few people who survived World War II in Europe. One of the toughest aspects of the war was that people didn’t always know where their relatives were, or what was happening to them if they were separated in different countries by the war. Communications between warring Allied and Axis nations were completely stopped. So in this story, the mother had taken her two youngest children to America to settle her late father’s estate. Her three oldest children and their father stay behind in the Netherlands so the kids can go to school and the father can run his business. They think their country is going to remain neutral as it did in World War I, so they’re not initially worried, although the Nazis are already gearing up to be on the march. Settling the estate takes longer than the mother thought it would, the war comes to Holland when the Nazis invade, and then, they can’t be reunited for years. Right there, that’s a cause for a lot of concern and worry on both sides. So that was the initial setup. Add to that, this is a Jewish family, so the ones under Nazi occupation are in peril. Imagine being in America and having to wonder what’s happening to them! Horrific. Yet it’s exactly what went on with a whole lot of families during that war.

What were some ideas that were important for you to personify in your characters?

The time period of this story is completely crazy so that in itself adds a lot of intriguing drama into the mix. Nazis turned normal life on its head in every one of the countries they took over, and, worse, state-sanctioned murder was legal. The Jewish characters are a nice family that’s just trying to survive and they find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. There are some very good people in this story, like the ones who hide the three children in a movie theater when matters become worse, and there are also some absolutely atrocious folks, hideous ones. A lot of prejudice came to the surface after the Nazis arrived on the scene, and the worst of the civilian characters suddenly think they have a green light to persecute others, in their own small ways. Others are just nosy and are watching their neighbors to see what they’re up to, but that’s terrifying to those they’ve got under scrutiny. So there was a lot to work with there.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I’ve heard that for many, many people who survived the war, the worst part of it wasn’t the war itself, incredibly, but contending with the aftermath. In this case, some of the characters are betrayed. They don’t know by who, and they don’t know why. Imagine making it through, yet having to live with a question like that! It would be like the “whodunit” from Hell, and it happened, for real, to scores of survivors. So that’s the big question they’re all trying to answer in this story, once the hostilities are over and they’re trying to go forward. Who did it?

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

I’m in the middle of writing another mystery, and this one is set in the neighborhood where my dad grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The characters in this one are Catholics. Two little boys find a baby abandoned on the steps of their church. It’s also set during World War II, but on the American homefront. I’m enjoying writing it to the hilt because my father grew up in a very colorful area with a lot of interesting personalities and I was told so many wonderful stories about it. The book should be available sometime this winter. Stay tuned!

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