This week has been declared #Readukkah by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL). In honor of the event, I’ve reviewed a new book, and will share other new book news below.
TUKY: THE STORY OF A HIDDEN CHILD by Shterni Rosenfeld (Hachai 2015)
Here’s my Goodreads review: Continue reading
Erika Dreifus is known to many in the book world – especially in the Jewish book world – as an author, social media maven (currently with Fig Tree Books), and advocate for other writers. Her site is a great resource for writers, with interviews, tips, links, and opportunities for jobs and publishing.
I was very excited (and nervous) a couple weeks ago, when she asked if I’d do a Q & A with her about Sliding Doors and other stories. Eventually, I consented. The results are up on her blog and you can mosey along there to see them.
Thank you, Erika!
Yesterday, I had a kid home sick.
Actually, yesterday, the day before, AND today, I had a kid home sick.
The first day, I got writing done. This was pretty amazing because I usually have problems writing when someone is in the house with me. Just the sound of breathing or a page turning in a magazine is enough to snap me out of FLOW and distract me. I can usually manage to do some editing with people around, but not writing. The fact that I actually wrote a first draft with a little cutie around on Tuesday blew me away.
Yesterday, though, it wasn’t happening. Continue reading
Last week, The Jewish Home L.A. published my book review of Tehilla Edelman’s new anthology about depression and anxiety disorders in the Orthodox world, Calling Out to You.
Calling Out to You
Not only is the book an amazing resource for observant Jews with mental illness, but it’s also essential reading for their rabbis, principals, therapists, family, and friends. The format is innovative as it contains not only articles about treating depression, OCD, and the like, but also poems and narratives written by patients themselves. Highly recommended.
For a while now, I’ve been sitting on a little morsel of news, because I’m exceedingly paranoid about the evil eye (embarrassing, but true): I’ve signed a contract with Menucha Publishers for the novelization of Glixman in a Fix, my serial from Binah BeTween.
This morning, I received the list of changes the editor would like to see in the novelization. The list is totally reasonable, and mostly consists of changes I suggested in the first place, mostly fixing loose ends I dropped and introducing an idea earlier in the text so that it’s less surprising when it pops up near the end.
For some reason, I feel short of breath and ill to the stomach, like I’m about 5 minutes away from a panic attack. I’m not sure if it’s excitement or fear of failure triggering my parasympathetic nervous system. I’m pretty sure I’m experiencing both.
Assuming I complete the changes and everything else (editing, book design, proofreading, etc.) runs on schedule, the book will – G-d willing! – be published next summer-ish. You’ll get updates on all breaking news as the situation develops. 😉
Another writing gig landed at my feet, and it connects to the theme of the last article I published: female leadership in the Orthodox community. Meanwhile, half the things I’ve read in the last couple weeks seem to touch on the topic of leadership. I feel like G-d is sending me a little message: WRITE ABOUT THIS.
I wrote about feminism in the Jewish context a while back, in the form of a personal essay. I’ve wanted to write more about the particular spin I have on feminism for a while – a spin that has made me unpopular with some readers and a bit of a heroine with others. Unfortunately, Continue reading
Rebecca Klempner 