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Interview with Suri Rosen, author of Playing with Matches
Today, I have the pleasure of sharing with my readers an interview with Suri Rosen, the author of a new YA novel, Playing with Matches. (You can find my review of the highly-entertaining Playing with...
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Writing exercise for building empathy, Part 2
A month or so ago, I published a post about how writers — and everyone else — could benefit from building empathy. I’d like to share another strategy about which I’ve gotten a positive feedback about....
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Have you seen my review of Miriam Kosman’s new book about Jewish feminism in...
This week’s Jewish Home L.A. contains my review of Circle, Arrow, Spiral: Exploring Gender in Judaism, recently published by Mekor Press and distributed by Menucha Publishers. Miriam Kosman’s...
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Can we just get this over with?
I am sick of writing my serial. There, I’ve said it. This week, I’ve resolved to crank this puppy out as fast as humanly possible, because I fear it has taken over my writing life. I haven’t written a...
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Fighting hibernation again
I think that despite outward appearances, I am a bear. You may have heard me complain about this before. For some reason, for the last several autumns, my body has decided all I really should be doing...
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A classic or a shonda: Which pieces of literature stand the test of time?
Earlier today, I was listening to an audio recording of some Beatrix Potter stories. My children and I laughed over the surreal adventures of little Lucy in “Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle” and the slapstick of...
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Visiting “This Way to Eden” today for the Orthodox Women’s Roundtable!
Want to know what Orthodox women think about? Today I am appearing with several other amazing bloggers on the latest round of “Orthodox Women Talk.” We’re answering a reader’s question about...
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A discovery! And what happens when you follow other writers’ advice.
So, things today went better today than last week. In short, I wrote more today than I wrote in the entirety of last week. (Yes, that’s how bad things were going.) One of the things I found helpful was...
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Tables turned: a writer gets interviewed by Fradl Adams for The Lakewood Shopper
Fradl Adams interviews inspirational women, particularly baalos teshuvah, for The Lakewood Shopper. Her column appears weekly. Anyway, she asked to speak to me — focusing primarily on my writing for...
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Slacker moment — forgot to let you know about my review of Farewell, Aleppo
Sleecha. I got a little distracted at the end of November, and I forgot to post about my most recent book review for Jewish Home Los Angeles. It’s of Claudette Sutton’s Farewell, Aleppo, and it will...
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Remembering Gil Marks and his contribution to Jewish books and cooking
Last week, Gil Marks passed away at the untimely age of 62. He was a legendary food writer, known not only for his recipes, but for his contribution to our understanding of Jewish food. He did...
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My Review of Henye Meyer’s A Stranger to My Brothers
My latest review appears in the Jewish Press book supplement, Of the Book. You can find it here. It’s of Henye Meyer’s re-issue of A Stranger to My Brothers under a new title and with new material.
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Ready for a little Hanukkah Hoopla?
Latkes frying. Image by Jonathunder from Wikipedia Commons . Blogger Renée A. Schuls-Jacobson has invited me to participate in this year’s Hanukka Hoopla. To help wrap up your holiday, I’ll be sharing...
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Books that model good middos: Measure of a Man by Martin Greenfield
One day early in my marriage, I found my husband reading the autobiography of John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach. Martin Greenfield’s new book about the Shoah and after inspires readers to...
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Writers wondering what goes on in the minds of other writers
A couple weeks back, Kristen M. Ploetz posted several questions she wished she could have answered by other writers. The post has generated a bit of buzz, with replies by two bloggers I admire, Nina...
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My favorite books of 2014
I’m pretty much a book addict. I’ll read almost any genre. Occasionally, I’ll ignore essentials like eating, drinking, and using the restroom in order to finish a scene I’m reading. I’ve never taken...
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And the winner of my Hanukkah Hoopla giveaway is…
Last week, I hosted a post for Hanukkah Hoopla, and offered a free book from my stash of review copies for one lucky person who placed a comment on my post. The winner of the book is… Marilyn Stoch!...
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Sometimes it pays to be a fan…
Last week, The Jewish Home L.A. published an article I wrote about Hevria, an online lit mag/blog that I’ve loved from its first post last summer. One day, after contemplating how much I would like to...
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Sol Stein sold me on “The Actor’s Studio Method for Developing Drama in Plots”
Some of my regular readers might notice that my usual response to frustration in the midst of a writing project is to start borrowing writing books from the library and systematically going through...
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Fun with Fan Mail: I can tell you about my characters because they live in my...
Usually, when I get fan mail for my work in print magazines, it’s from other writers. Occasionally, fans will stop me in the street. However, no fan mail for my serial in Binah BeTween had been printed...
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