Occupation: I work for Elsevier, a Dutch company that is an international health and science publisher. I am the managing editor of three monthly magazines that track the business of health care. It was kind of serendipitous, how I came to work for them. I had been a corporate librarian. When we moved to Connecticut , I got a job as a researcher at a local publishing company. That eventually morphed into a writing and editing position, and then that company was acquired by Elsevier. We have an office in Norwalk, but I work from home a good bit of the time.

Family: I’ve been married to Jeff for 33 years. He’s an attorney.

Pets: We have two delightful beagles, Ava and Penny. Ava is 8 years old and Penny is 4 years old. We have a cat, Leona, who has to torment the dogs all on her own now that our other cat, Maxine, recently died. But she’s up to it!

How long have you lived in Newtown? We have been in Newtown for 13 years. We moved here from Albany, N.Y.

What do you like to do in your free time? I love to garden. We have a big vegetable garden, an herb garden, and several flower gardens. I like to cook, and I love to read. I do love singing with the Newtown Choral Society, too. I like to be outdoors, and hike with Jeff and the dogs.

Do you have a favorite book? I tend to read nonfiction. But the best book I’ve read recently is Room, by Emma Donoghue. It is told from the viewpoint of a 5-year-old. I read it four times in succession — I could not stop reading that book. It’s grim, but uplifting.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? Believe it or not, it’s Iowa, my home state. We like to get back to see friends and family often. I almost physically need to go there from time to time, to spend time under that big sky and on that flat land.

What is the best thing about Newtown? I love the small town feel it has. Considering its size, that’s amazing. The original attraction to Newtown was the big supply of antique homes. I really wanted to live in a very old house. Our house was built in the 1820s, as an inn for cattle drovers, we are told. It just has a lovely feel to it.

If you could spend a day with anyone, who would you pick? Probably my mother, who died about seven years ago. We had a typical mother-daughter relationship, tense at times, but she was one of the funniest people I ever met.

Do you have a personal philosophy? Be kind, be fair, and always take the time to put yourself in the other person’s shoes before passing judgment.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? I do! I am addicted to a few silly reality television shows. I can almost feel my brain cells dying as I watch them, but I can’t pull myself away.