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Upcoming Jewish Writers' Conferences & Workshops
Reblogged from The Whole Megillah: 15th Annual Jewish Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Seminar Sponsored by the Jewish Book Council Sunday, November 10, Center for Jewish History Learn...
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In the Courtyard of the Novelist: An interview with Ruchama King Feuerman
I’ve got a treat here today: an interview (conducted via email) with award-winning author, Ruchama King Feuerman. Her latest book, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist, just came out in September as an...
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Mormon and Orthodox Jewish writers: Does optimism hold back fine writing?
Mark Oppenheimer, in last Friday’s New York Times, posited that the optimistic attitude embraced by Mormons has prevented them from creating literary fiction. Sure, they have succeeded in Sci-fi (Orson...
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Can teenagers really save the world? Musings on middle grade and YA lit
I’m completely behind both writing and housework this week due to a bout of strep throat (thankfully, on the mend now due to penicillin). This was the second time I’ve been laid up for several days...
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Need a little poetry this holiday season?
Can’t get enough Thanksgivukkah craziness? Tablet just put out poetry inspired by the crazy Chanukah/Thanksgiving mashup. To check it out, click here. Here’s my own contribution: What shall we do with...
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How Jewish do you sound? Learning the lingo as you learn the ropes
I promised a full-length review of Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism by Sarah Bunin Benor (Rutger’s University Press 2012) a while back, but I...
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When it rains, it pours!
I’m having a crazy week, and not just because of the upcoming Thanksgivukkah extravaganza we’re experiencing here in the U.S. My latest essay on Tablet popped up on their front page at 12 am EST. No...
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Thank the folks who've rejected you--a radical suggestion for writers this...
Reblogged from Rebecca Klempner: Thanksgiving is upon us here in the U.S., and this is a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon gratitude, whether you celebrate the holiday or not. I'm a big fan of...
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The 3 Comments I Hate to Find on my Articles
Last week, a personal essay of mine appeared on Tablet Magazine online. As it hit the front page, I braced myself. A couple of my previous contributions to Tablet received a lot of comments…including a...
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10 Great 2014 Anniversaries to Write About in the Months Ahead
Following up on a suggestion (I wish I could remember who passed along this hint!), I was scoping out historically significant anniversaries occurring in 2014 as potential topics for my writing. St....
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My latest obsession: comparing the numbers of comments to the numbers of “likes”
Okay, I’ll admit it: there are better ways to spend my time. But for some reason, I have recently become obsessed with the following question: Why do some articles get many “likes,” but few comments,...
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How you should read a personal essay
The subtitle to this essay should read: the post in which I vent about people being mean to writers other than myself I don’t just frequent Tablet as a writer, I frequent it as a reader. So, when an...
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Conducting interviews to bring realism to your fiction
You’ll find my story “Duck and Cover” in this week’s Binyan. While I lived through the tail-end of the Cold War, I’m not old enough to have survived the Cuban Missile Crisis, the setting for my story....
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Movies vs Books: in theaters 2013
Living in Los Angeles, I’m pretty much surrounded by billboards. About half of these advertise television shows or movies. These billboards are usually lost on me because I neither own a TV nor go to...
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Take 2 Books and Call Me in the Morning: British docs prescribe books for...
Therapeutic reading? Imagine popping a couple chapters of a book instead of two of these. Newspapers are reporting that doctors in the United Kingdom will be prescribing self-help and health books as...
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Went into exile, but have returned
Quite in keeping with the recent Torah portions, our family went into exile and has now returned! Due to some work on our apartment, we had to move out for most of last week. Where we were staying, I...
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Professional empathy: writing and anthrolopology
The incomparable Zora Neale Hurston Earlier this week, Google celebrated the 125th birthday of Zora Neale Hurston. Best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching G-d (which has one of the most...
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Two places to find me in time for Tu B’Shevat!
Hey, everyone. Don’t forget to eat fruits from trees on Wednesday night/Thursday in honor of Tu B’Shevat! It’s my not-so-little secret that I’m kinda obsessed with Tu B’Shevat, the minor Jewish holiday...
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This story does not stop here!
For the last week, I’ve been struggling with a major rewrite of a short story. Basically, the character was not so likeable, her journey was boring, and the ending was very, very lame. The problems...
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Ready for me to reveal more embarrassing truths?
I’m making appearance on Tablet again this week. Not being a shirker, I’ve revealed yet another embarrassing detail of my personal life: I am a reverse snob. (This is along with watching Afterschool...
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