Occupation: Right now, I’m a stay-at-home mom, and the managing editor of The Newtowner, the new literary magazine. I have an MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University.

Family: My husband is Jason Kyle, and we have a son, Rainer. He’s 8 months old.

Pets: We have Rufus, who is an Old English sheepdog. He’s 7 years old. We have an 8-year-old cat, Beaker, and we also have a dwarf rabbit who is 10 years old, Pipkin. She is named after a character from Watership Down.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We just moved here this past July, from Syracuse. My husband got a job in Wilton, so this is a beautiful drive to work for him.

What do you like to do in your free time? Reading, but mostly writing. I write fiction. We like to take walks. I do paint a little, and I like to cook. I like movies, especially a lot of the indie or foreign films. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to do all of that, lately.

Do you have a favorite author? It’s hard to pick. I really love the Russians, like Gogol. He’s a favorite of mine, and I like Chekov and Babel. I really love Nabokov and Kafka. A writer I really admire is a contemporary writer, Kelly Link, who wrote Stone Animals. She kind of blends genres.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? My favorite place is Asheville, N.C., in the mountains. We went there on our honeymoon, so I always think fondly of Asheville.

What is the best thing about Newtown? One thing I like is that it seems everybody reads. It’s a very literary minded town. There are a lot of people who write here, too. It has been a long time since I lived in a small town, so I do love the small town feel here.

Do you have a favorite character from literature? There’s a story called “The Overcoat,” by Gogol, and the main character is a man named Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. He’s just a sad character. He only wants one thing — a new overcoat. He’s the kind of character you’re always rooting for, even while you know nothing good is going to happen.

Do you have a personal philosophy? Try to be mindful of the small, good things. It’s the little things in life that make everything better.

What makes you laugh? My son, definitely, 100 percent. He’s the funniest. There’s always something new and exciting when there’s a baby in the house. The thing about babies, is that their reactions are totally unfiltered.