While I’m still waiting for Glixman‘s arrival, I’ve got a nice surprise for my readers. The story supplement for Hamodia‘s English edition for Pesach – due out today, I think – contains a short story by me. Continue reading
HaModia
An interview with author Batya Ruddell
Today, I have the pleasure of sharing with you another interview. In this post, you’ll meet the funny, talented Batya Ruddell. For those of you who read Binah Magazine or Hamodia, her name will certainly be familiar. Batya is one of the foremost writers in the Hareidi world today, and her work is beloved both by readers and other writers. Next week, she’ll be presenting at the Jerusalem Writers’ Conference, and this week, she’s answered a few questions for me via email.
RK: How long have you been writing? First, as an amateur, and then professionally?
BR: I think I was writing in the womb!! Seriously, for as long as I can remember I’ve had a pen in my hand. Writing was always my passion but a botched attempt at getting into Journalism school (I knew NOTHING about politics or current events, LOL), led me down a different path to a career as a pediatric and neonatal intensive care nurse. I worked in this field for almost three decades before switching tracks to my initial dream a few years ago and becoming a professional writer.
Conducting interviews to bring realism to your fiction
Radio and television connected Americans with the facts of the ongoing crisis, and also increased their anxiety about its dangers.
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. In order to get details about how teens reacted to the situation, I conducted brief email interviews of a number of subjects who were old enough to remember the events. I asked about their feelings, how they coped with them, how they heard about the crisis, how the adults around them (both parents and teachers) reacted, and so on.
How did I use the interviews?
The responses I received were fascinating, and often contradictory, Continue reading
Grabbing those lemons and making lemonade
If your day includes some of these, it’s time to find a pitcher, some water and sugar.
About 9 months ago, I went on vacation. Vacations are unusual for the Klempner family, and I really enjoyed the break from normal surroundings and routines.
Unfortunately, my husband checked his email on the third day of our vacation and informed me that my email account had been hijacked. When I investigated further, I discovered that all my contacts had been deleted, as well.
This scenario might sound familiar–it’s happened to enough of my friends.
Well, when I got back home a few days later and sat back down at my desk to write, the story that flew out of my fingertips was a reimagination of my email hacking.
That story, “It Wasn’t Me,” appears in this week’s Inyan, inside HaModia.
Have any of you out there turned some something annoying, frustrating, or inconvenient into a piece of art?
Background on my new story: “Just Perfect” (or why I believe we all live in a Magical Reality)
This week, Hamodia‘s Inyan Magazine published my new short story (and it’s actually for adults!), entitled “Just Perfect.”
The original version of the story was explicitly a piece of fantasy, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I transformed the story into an example of magical realism rather than fantasy in order to address the concerns of my lovely and knowledgeable editor at Hamodia.
In the original version, then called “Easy as Pie,” the transformation of Libby’s life occurred after she bumped into a little old lady who offered her a slice of peach pie at a party. The pie made Libby’s life–well, just peachy. But my editor felt the little old lady was a little unbelievable. Could I cut her? The only problem was that her brief appearance at the beginning and the end of the story explained the wacky events in between.
I wracked my brains for a way to ditch the old lady but save the rest of the silliness. There had to be an explanation for it, after all. I did a bit of experimentation and research. Finally, I decided that maybe Libby should just pray–and then G-d answers.
Even after I found my “magically real” solution, I initially balked at making the change. It was an elegant solution, so my reaction puzzled me. I had to think about it a lot, and I think my conclusion is worth sharing. Continue reading
New story out! “Long Lost” in this week’s Binyan
Have you ever met someone who shared your last name, and wondered whether you were long-lost relatives? That’s the set up for my new story for teens in this week’s Binyan (inside the Parshas Shemos issue of Hamodia), “Long Lost.” Check it out if you get the chance.
I used a remarkable incident from my own family history to add interest to the story. Have you ever adapted incidents from your family’s past into a fictional story? Please share your comments below.
Rebecca Klempner 