About Me

Hi, I’m Claire.

Perhaps the best way to introduce myself is to tell you what brought me here. I came to writing the way I came to Judaism: not by design, but by need.

I wasn’t born Jewish, and I certainly wasn’t a writer, but life had other plans. After cutting ties with my family shortly before my 21st birthday and marrying into a culture I didn’t know, I found myself in Israel: caught between outsider and insider, belonging and not quite but with one drive: to fit in.I’m French-born, Israeli-by-marriage, and a mother of two. At 14, my life took a decisive—and positive—turn: after spending my sophomore year in the U.S., I returned to France with one thought—I needed to leave again and see the world. That took time. I studied law, even though my real interests were in the creative world of photography, filmmaking, and advertising.

At 22, newly married, I moved to Tel Aviv with my Israeli husband, where I converted despite being an atheist. My husband had nothing to do with it—quite the opposite. I wrote the full story in a memoir, and it’s the reason for this site.

Since then, I’ve lived in Germany, Mexico, Spain, South Korea, Norway, Singapore, Israel (again), and now the UK—loving it all, even the frustrating parts.

Along the way, before the digital era, I became a professional photographer (portraits and street photography), taught gymnastics (bars are my favorite, vault a close second 😉), worked briefly in high-tech, launched a baby-product business, and coordinated an expat magazine.

Now in London, I volunteer at a food bank, and with this memoir completed, I’m discovering the world of publishing. Writing a book was never the plan, but after moving right before the pandemic, I took out my frustration and impatience on a laptop keyboard. I started writing to get through the long days. And here we are, four years later.

I never leave home without my American Ex—sorry, my phone—which has (for now) replaced my heavier, more beautiful SLR. And I’m always on the lookout for a flying trapeze rig.

Life has its own script. The edits are mine to make.