Occupation: I am the adult program director at the C.H. Booth Library, as of May 1. That entails finding interesting people who have something to contribute to our community to come in and present. It can be anyone from performers to authors to special speakers. On Sundays, I work at my brother’s Good Luck Food Truck at the Elephant’s Trunk flea market in New Milford. I’m an artist, too, and before we moved to Newtown I worked for magazines in New York City doing picture research.

Family: I’m married to Ross MacDonald. I met him 25 years ago when I worked at Esquire and hired him to do illustrations. Our son is Jamie, and he’s 18 and a senior at Newtown High School. Our daughter is Daisy, and she’s 12 years old and at Newtown Middle School.

Pets: We have two dogs, both mutts, Junie and Rocky. Rocky was a rescue dog from Alabama, after a tornado. We have four cats, Bugs, Violet, Gracie, and Little Grey Puff, as well as five fish inside and 20 outside fish in the pond. We have two Roborovski hamsters. They are tinier than regular hamsters and very lively.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We’ve been here for 17 years.

What do you like to do in your free time? I love to read, and I like to cook, paint, sculpt, and quilt. I make these little Sculpy figurines — a lot are diving women — that are intended to hang as if they are floating in air. When I paint, I mostly paint oil portraits.

Do you have a favorite book? I have a stack of books beside my bed. Most recently, I’ve read Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon. It’s different from what I usually read, but I found it so interesting. I like Scandinavian mysteries lately, and I listen to audio books all the time.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? We always go to the Cape. My parents live there, and my grandparents had a place there. We went to France and Italy for our honeymoon, and I would love to go back there. Ross and I drove across country several times before we had kids, and I loved that.

What is the best thing about Newtown? I really think Newtown is a beautiful place. It’s comforting to me to drive down a road and see the beauty. It has some very rural areas still. The spirit of the community is so lovely, too.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My mother is the answer that comes to my lips. She gave me a love of reading. She was very smart and very funny and a wonderful mother. She made us a great family.

Do you have a personal philosophy? The ethic of reciprocity — you have to behave well to other people, and you have to do the right thing.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Right now, I would have to say my very guilty pleasure is playing Words With Friends on my phone. I’m addicted. It’s such a time waste, but I really do enjoy it.