Debut nov­el­ist Ani­ta Mishook began Helen as an explo­ration of her fam­i­ly’s back­ground. Using skills from her career as a foren­sic psy­chol­o­gist, Ani­ta dove into 1936 research and into cre­at­ing a com­plex epony­mous main char­ac­ter. Now, Ani­ta intro­duces her­self as an author, one of sev­er­al new direc­tions for her life. Ani­ta also co-chairs the Orange Coun­ty Inter­na­tion­al Jew­ish Film Festival.