Occupation: I’m a writer. I received my MFA in July 2014, and I’ll be teaching at the low-residency MFA program at Regis University in Colorado. I’ll go there occasionally, but I’ll work with my students mostly by e-mail. I’ve published one novel, and I have one in submission now — fingers crossed! And in the meantime, I’m working on an essay collection.

Family: I’ve been married to Darryl Gregory for 24 years. We have one son, Tain, who is 11 years old, and in the sixth grade at Reed Intermediate School.

How long have you lived here? We’ve been in Sandy Hook for ten years. We moved here in January of 2005.

What do you like to do in your free time? I don’t watch a lot of television, but I like to watch Project Runway. I’m a creative person and I like that they make things. I love watching the creative process, and because I used to be the style-watch editor at People magazine, I still like that breathtaking moment when they come down the runway in something beautiful. I watch football, too. I love the NFL. I do yoga and walk and I run. I love to be outside. It’s so beautiful here in Newtown. I read, and my usual goal for reading is 40 books a year.

What’s on your reading list now? I am finishing up In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker. The top books on my list are Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith; House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III; and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I’m also reading Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton with my church book group.

Do you have a favorite football team? I used to have season tickets to The Jets. I follow all the teams, though. I love how compact the NFL season is, and knowing what’s going on with all the teams.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? We haven’t traveled overseas in a very long time. We just renewed our passports this year, and I hope to go somewhere, soon. I’d love to go and spend time in the countries of Europe. When we visited Europe, years ago, I loved Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s so beautiful. Darryl and I briefly entertained the idea we could live there. A big chunk of my novel under submission takes place in Paris. I think there’s a yearning in me to be in Paris. I’d love to go and spend a day at the Rodin Museum.

What is the best thing about Newtown? The landscape. I complain when I’m running up the hills; it’s so hilly here. But those hills mean we have spectacular views. I love all the trees. It’s like we live in a big, gorgeous park.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? There was a teacher at Harvard, Carl Nagin. He was a writing teacher and he was the one who told me “Don’t you know you’re good enough to get paid for this?” I didn’t know that. I was a struggling pre-med student at the time, and not happy. I switched majors right after that and became an English major. Carl Nagin put me in touch with Time magazine, and that’s how I got my first job. He put me on this path.

If you could meet one person from history, who would it be? It would have to be Abraham Lincoln. I admire people who have to make important decisions I stressful times. He seemed to be an extremely thoughtful man with the task of overseeing this country at a tremendous turning point, and he handled it.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Right now, I have on my computer screen the website for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s an extreme luxury to go to a museum like that and spend a great deal of time. Maybe I’ll celebrate if I sell this book, and buy a season pass to the Metropolitan.