What was the inspiration for your most recent book?
Over There, the third book of the Gilded City series, takes my characters into World War I. As medical professionals, with so many American soldiers heading to France, it’s understandable that many nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, and stretcher-bearers would follow. As a writer of medical historical fiction, it was only natural for me to choose wartime as the setting for this third book. War presents harsh, almost superhuman challenges, and I needed to see how my beloved characters would withstand the strain.
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
As an art lover since childhood with a touch of skill, I’ve always admired all sorts of art. But in the last few decades, I’ve begun collecting art jewelry, one-of-a-kind pieces by jewelry artists around the globe. This passion was ignited by a college friend who, thirty-plus years after graduating, opened a contemporary jewelry gallery nearby. It presented an opportunity to learn about the internationally recognized artists in the field while I began collecting and wearing my unique collection (Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ).
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
For me, classes in crafting a novel and the feedback of other students. As a later-in-life writer, this was the only way I could catch up with the herd.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing?
Photography is a passion I can integrate into my life as a writer. With seven grandchildren and a great deal of travel, it’s the only way for me to freeze time and experiences. I am told I have a good eye, that my photographs evoke many sentimental memories.
What brings you great joy as a writer?
When my seventy-year-old fingers can’t up with my typing as I craft a scene, it feels like a giant ice cream cone melting faster than I can lick it!
“I run like the wind to stay ahead of my disease – living, family, writing – my refuge.”
A cancer diagnosis unveiling a genetic defect, together with a lifelong fascination with the history of medicine, propelled Jane Rubin to put pen to paper. In 2009, then a healthcare executive, Jane poured her energy into raising research dollars for ovarian cancer Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) while learning more about her familial roots. Her research led her to Mathilda (Tillie), her great-grandmother, who arrived in New York City in 1866 as a baby, at sixteen, married a man twelve years her senior, and later died of “a woman’s disease.” Then, the trail ran cold. With limited facts, she was determined to give Tillie an exciting fictional life of her own. Jane was left imagining Tillie’s life, her fight with terminal disease, and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Ms. Rubin, a graduate of the University of Michigan (BS, MS) and Washington University (MBA), retired from a 30-year career as a healthcare executive to begin writing full-time. She lives with her husband, David, an attorney, in Northern New Jersey. Between them, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren.
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