Even in the world of idiosyncratic authors, Ellen Meister is a stand-out: The Long Island native writes in her kitchen, has authored two novels using Dorothy Parker as her unlikely heroine and now, for her tenth book, has dreamed up a quirky Uber driver/life coach wannabe trying to balance her innate cheerfulness against her father’s cranky pessimism.

In Joyride, Joybird Martin navigates the streets of Brooklyn imparting earnest, optimistic wisdom to her riders, receiving a dose of the same from a handsome Wall Street type and, in the process, finding her own direction.

In addition to writing novels, Meister is a book coach, screenwriter and creative writing instructor. While her work has been highly praised, she claims as her proudest accomplishment being a clue on Jeopardy.