Author: beccakinla

Jewish Book Carnival coming in July

beccakinla AJL, Ann Koffsky, children, Jewish, Jewish Book Carnival, July 2011 Leave a comment

Ann Koffsky, author and illustrator, will be hosting AJL’s Jewish Book Carnival on her website. Check in to the site after July 15th for links to blogs and websites with Jewish book themes. There’s also a Goodreads group with discussions, etc. See here for more details. http://www.jewishlibraries.org/main/Resources/Blog/JewishBookCarnivalHQ.aspx

Have you always wanted to write a novel?

beccakinla contest, novels, whole megillah, writing process Leave a comment

So you want to write a novel, but never have motivated yourself to crank it out? Here comes the “Write Your Own Megillah” contest from The Whole Megillah blog to get you moving.

Goal: write a middle-grade Jewish-themed novel of 18,000 words or a YA Jewish-themed novel of 36,000 words in one month this fall (Nov. 21-Dec. 21). There are prizes and all sorts of guidance offered. For more details, check this link: http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/write-your-own-megillah-a-new-whole-megillah-event/ .
Hatzlacha raba!

Self-doubt, or the Intimidating Activity Called "Writing a Novel"

beccakinla how to write, novels, terror, writing, writing process Leave a comment

I’m both distractedly excited and painfully terrified. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’m trying to change a short story I have written previously into a novel in response to the advice of friends and colleagues. I’m completely overwhelmed by the task at hand, but I want to try to get a rough draft written in the next couple months just so I can get these characters’ voices out of my head, at the very least.

If you don’t want to write a novella–you’re committed to a novel–you have to crank out AT LEAST 30,000 words for middle-grade or YA readers, 50,000 for adults.
At the same time, you don’t want to be “bore-geous,” what Ayelet Waldeman calls writing that is long, lush and vivid but does nothing to further the story line. Neither do you want to add subplot upon subplot upon unnecessary scene upon unnecessary character just to make deadlines, fill up a word count, pad the pocketbook, or all of the above. (The latter often happens with books that start as serials, like those of Charles Dickens, to point out an example that will hurt no one’s feelings and probably not constitute lashon hara.)

The problem is that I HAVE A LIFE, and not a very convenient one at the moment. I have more immediately remunerative work to complete, a husband and children to feed (bli ayin hara!). Tushies to wipe! Candyland to play! I am haunted by the desire to fill in the story of these characters, but have been cruelly separated from my PC.
Even when I resort to writing in a notebook while supervising my children’s play, self-doubt leaves me thinking, “Can I think of enough details and plot twists to fill a novel? And what if I’m just plumping this goose up so it’s ready for the rejection-letter-shaped ax!”
Sometimes, I finally sit down at that PC and can’t even figure out where to start. To prompt me a bit, I’m now improvising a bit on the Snowflake Method, invented by Randy Ingermanson. I’m going over every hinted-at back story, every interesting character, every “off-page” alluded-to event that appears in the initial short story and trying to extend, extend, extend. I am now at just under 7,000 words…and I can’t imagine how this baby is ever going to get done!
I know I’m not alone on this. A quick Google search about novel-writing included an article subtitled “The quiet h*** of 10 years of novel writing,” by Susanna Daniel, and a blog entitled “The Long Path to a Novel” by Rachel Connor.
Check back with me in two months to see if I’m any closer to the “Great American Jewish Sci-Fi Novel’s” completion.

Books about friendship

beccakinla david ezra stein, friendship, mo willems, recommended reading, reviews, yaffa ganz 1 Comment

In one of those bizarre synchronicity moments you sometimes have at the library, my family borrowed a slew of books all about friendship at our visit yesterday (the first three are by Mo Willems, who is wonderfully engaging). I’ll briefly review each and add several other suggestions on the topic at the end.

My Friend is Sad
My Friend Is Sad (Elephant and Piggie Series) by Mo Willems: Book Cover
A wonderful book for new readers to read on their own about how to comfort a friend feeling down.
City Dog, Country Frog
Teaches how to build a friendship and how to cope with loss of a friend. A charming, even moving read and a stylistic departure for the author Mo Willems.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster
Friendship turns out to be the great purpose in life for Leonardo, a monster unable to scare anyone.
Cowboy Ned & Andy, by David Ezra Stein

Cowboy Ned & Andy (Paula Wiseman Books)
Andy the horse loves his owner, Ned, so much that he wants to give him a birthday cake in honor of Ned’s big day. But what does Ned really need?
OTHER GREAT “FRIENDSHIP” SELECTIONS:
the Mimmy and Simmy books by Yaffa Ganz,
the Toon Book Stinky,
the classic series commencing with Frog and Toad are Friends,
That’s What a Friend Is by P.K. Hallinan,
Little Bear’s Friend by Else Holmelund Minarik,
A Friend for King Amadou by Robert McKissack,
Dog Blue by Polly Dunbar,
Winnie the Pooh books,
Sheila Rae, the Brave and almost any book by Kevin Henkes,
the magical Charlotte’s Web,
anything about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan,
As Good As Anybody by Richard Michelson
…and for older readers Louis Sachar’s amazing The Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom,
Beth Firestone’s Candles in My Window,
The Sea of Trolls trilogy,
Sorcery and Cecelia,
The Chosen,
and Patricia Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons.

Please Share more “Friendship” books for children–fictional or not–below!

Have something you want to blog about?

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Calling All Bloggers

The website Savvima is looking for bloggers right now. The have specific subjects they want to cover, and the target audiences is…well, savvy imas. Here’s the link for more info:

Jewish Women’s Writing Conference in Jerusalem

beccakinla blogs, conferences, Jewish, writing Leave a comment

There is a wonderful Orthodox women’s writing conference in Jerusalem, which I fantasize about attending yearly. Many fabulous writers and editors appear, and I wish I could hear them speak about

This year was particularly appealing to me, as there was a workshop about making writing a (somewhat) profitable career. B”H someone recorded the presentations and Naomi Elbinger posted them on her blog.