Ilona Joy Saari, USA

Ilona Joy Saari, a former showroom model on Seventh Avenue in NYC, is a freelance writer who’s worked in many genres, from television/film to essayist to rock’n’roll press to political campaigns.  She was a NY Deputy Press Secretary for President Jimmy Carter, a press liaison for both Jimmy Carter's Democratic Presidential conventions and has written many speeches for celebrities stumping for presidential candidates and women’s issues for the Clinton Gore campaigns and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Her essays have been published in newspapers such as the NY Daily News and others across the country and she is a past contributor to HuffPost.  As the author of three novels in her series "Mystery Chronicles of NY Women," she is currently working on her 4th book for the series, titled "Seventh Avenue".  Now living in Ojai California, she is the food and wine columnist for the glossy magazine, Ojai Quarterly and feature writer for the Ojai Monthly. 

in this episode, Ilona discusses her first book, Freeze Frame, originally written as a screenplay and then expanded into a mystery book… her roots as a New Yorker who loves the city… writing her second novel, White Gloves and Rob Roys, a mystery about a young reporter and four older women, characters who had been on Ilona’s mind for many years… feminism and the women’s movement… the importance (and challenge) she faces in keeping track of the many threads she creates in writing her mystery novels… how her work in story development and television, especially as a story editor, made it easier for her to write her mysteries… persevering and not giving up… her gratitude for having a supportive husband… and the advice that we first understand what we want to do and then find other women who are successfully doing that.

You can learn more about Ilona Joy Saari’s books at her author website-> ilonajoysaari.com