Seven years ago, during a very tough time in my life, I took a job in advertising. I'd published one novel. I'd written a second but had given up on its ever selling (it eventually did). My adjunct teaching contract was up. So I decided to change my life, go to work for the Man and see what that was like.

I was 40 years old. And going into advertising at 40 is like becoming a ballerina at 29... The first month was bewildering. Nonstop client meetings and martinis at 2 p.m. I was exhausted but also — I realized — happy for the first time in a while. My colleagues were kind, cheerful, smart, creative and surprisingly devoid of ego. People laughed. No one used the word "pedagogy." Work was actually fun.

I've been looking for meaning all my life. But it's been elusive. So far, the closest I've come is some combination of Jewish and Hindu. But nothing quite fits. Then Pope Francis burst into the zeitgeist. Now here's a guy who gets religion...and advertising. He's all goodwill and great PR. I was fascinated, even if I didn't know why.

It was 2013 and I wasn't sure I'd ever write another book but one day while on vacation I toured a Basilica with my once-Catholic husband. I saw him cross himself, eyes closed, complication on his handsome face. And this, together with the merry new pope, started me thinking about forgiveness. Then a lonely, lost and admirable priest appeared in my head.

The next morning, I sat down to write the first chapter of Forgiveness 4 You.