Fun Storytelling Project I Just Started

March 21, 2017beccakinla Jewish, parenting, parents, passover, pesach, stories, Uncategorized Tags: a dozen daisies for raizy, audiobooks, children, jewish, kids, listen, orthodox, Passover, Pesach, readaloud, teens, young readers Leave a comment

I kicked off my Pesach cleaning with a little not-strictly-necessary-for-Pesach file purging on Sunday. Once again, I was astonished by how many stories I have lying around unread after their initial publication. I decided to do something about it.

Opening a Soundcloud account, I chose four of my children’s stories, and read them aloud. Now there is downloadable audio of those stories on my Soundcloud account! You can listen to them in the car, at home, even in a waiting room. No story is longer than 10 minutes.

It’s been nearly 9 years since A Dozen Daisies for Raizy came out, and I’ve written several sequels which were never published or were published in a different form. My favorite of these is set at Passover time. It no longer stars Raizy, but I think young readers will enjoy it just the same. I decided to include this story – now titled “Bella’s Busy Day” – on my Soundcloud. You can listen to that story – for ages 4 to 6 – here.

When it came to choosing the other stories to read aloud, I selected three that have been requested by teachers and therapists in the past. They follow Chaim Mendel, a 14 year old Jewish boy with Asperger’s, and his friends. If you want to listen to Chaim Mendel’s adventures, I recommend you listen to them in the opposite order in which they appear on the Soundcloud page: 1) “The Gift of Giving,” 2) “Not So Far From the Tree,” and 3) “Team Thinking.” Those stories are perfect for kids 9 – 14.

A couple of weeks ago, someone asked me if I’d be willing to do audio for them, and I refused. I’m very self-conscious about my voice. Half the time, I sound like I’m mumbling (thanks to being from Baltimore, home of a very strange accent), and I tend to sound high-pitched when recorded. These recordings didn’t turn out too bad, and I figured it was a low-stress environment in which to share my voice with the public.

I plan to add other stories later – particularly as Sefirah follows Passover, and for some of us, that means we don’t listen to music. If you like the stories, please share the links and so on.

Pesach Magazine CRAZINESS!

April 20, 2016beccakinla klempner, L.A., magazine, magazines, new release, Orthodox, passover, pesach, publishing, Uncategorized Tags: binah, budget, cheap, chol hamoed, fun, hamodia, jewish, jewish press, magazine, Passover, Pesach, short, story, the jewish home l.a. 1 Comment

It looks like I’m not just in one Jewish magazine this Pesach, not in two…IY”H, I’ll be in FOUR. That’s right:

You’ll find a sci-fi tale in the Hamodia Story Supplement.
You’ll find another short story in Binah‘s main magazine.
I have a short story also in The Jewish Press, out today.
And, lastly, an article in The Jewish Home – L.A. about cheap activities in Southern California for the intermediate days of Passover.

I’m a little verklempt. And busy. I’ll tell y’all more about the stories another time, when I’m not cooking and have no kids home on vacation. (A couple of the stories have interesting backstories.) If you read any of my stories, and want to give me feedback, just comment below.

And have a chag kasher v’sameach!

Spending the day on your hands and knees

April 8, 2014beccakinla passover, pesach, writing Tags: advice, effort, Passover, passover cleaning, Pesach, pleasure, success, work, writing 1 Comment

I spent this morning scrubbing the fridge, stove, and oven. I donned rubber gloves, used multiple cleaning substances — which hopefully will not kill all my brain cells — and scraped mystery goop with a toothpick. I sweated. At one point, I prayed the aforementioned stuff would just come off already!

Work that has meaning

But it was okay. Why? Because it was for a purpose. If I know that I want a kosher-for-Passover kitchen, I’ve got to work for it. If I want it finished before the kids start vacation so I can actually enjoy their company, I’ve got to work for it. And when I reach those goals, I will be satisfied and happy.

Writing is like that. Sometimes, you’ve got to work hard. Sometimes, it ain’t pretty: you’ve got to scrape out the goop and use every trick in the book to do so. But when you work hard, and pray for success, you’ll USUALLY end up with something you can enjoy. And you’ll get more pleasure from it as a result of all that effort.

Have you ever enjoyed something more because it only came with effort? Please share in the comments.

One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

April 7, 2014beccakinla advice, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, passover, pesach Tags: advice, cleaning, focus, hard, I L Peretz, inspiration, joy, music, Passover, Pesach, pleasure, reading, recommended reading, work Leave a comment

Here’s today’s teeny post:

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Passover is just a week away, but if you’re cleaning your house like me, scrubbing mysterious substances off of flatware and appliances you intend to use during the holiday, it can get hard to think beyond getting the house chometz-free. To get myself in the mood, I listen to lots of fun music while I clean (Jewish, classical, and jazz) and attend classes about Passover with local rabbis and teachers. I enjoy practicing singing the seder songs with my kids during carpool, and we usually read I.L. Peretz’s “The Conjuror” at some point during the week.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

New wacky Passover poetry

April 6, 2014April 8, 2014beccakinla advice, Jewish, jewish motherhood, Jewish writing, klempner, literature, passover, pesach, poetry Tags: chometz, jew, jewish, judaism, kooky, laugh, levity, limerick, Passover, passover cleaning, Pesach, pesach cleaning, poem, reading, share, silly, wacky Leave a comment

I’m not going to have much time to post in length before Pesach hits next week, but I’m going to try to share something small every day to make up for it.

So here’s your tiny morsel of Passover-related kookiness for today:

(throat-clearing)

You cleansed the windows of mud

And you scrubbed all the toys in your tub

But you still won’t be through

When Pesach is due

If you don’t clean chometz off the rug.

Free writing tip…don’t be afraid to write bad poetry. And if you’d like to share your own corny/hammy/couldn’t-hechsher-if-it-tried Pesach poetry, just add it in the comments.

Passover is over. Time to jump back on the wagon!

April 3, 2013beccakinla how to write, joy, Judaism, letting go, passover, peace, pesach, wasting time, writing process Tags: art, break, change, change of pace, creativity, holiday, jew, jewish, no melacha, no work, Passover, Pesach, relaxation, vacation, write, writer 4 Comments

I’ve written zero, zippo, nada since my limericks on the day before Passover, and I now have three pieces outstanding to editors, the first of which is due on Friday. YOW!

As a religious Jew, I was unable to write for most of the Pesach holiday, and chose not to during the more lenient, intermediate days (chol hamoed), as well. Hence the pile up on my to-do list. This post will necessarily be brief. I’ve got to peruse the notes I scribbled two weeks ago, when I received the assignment that’s due first, and start writing.

I think the vacation from writing was good for me, though. I spent a lot of creative energy on cooking (including trying a couple new recipes, even inventing an awesome vegan chocolate chip cookie that is 1) totally kosher for Passover, 2) easy, and 3) scrumptious) and also just playing with and enjoying my husband and kids. We played hours and hours of Monopoly Deal & Old Maid, and visited fun places in L.A. like the zoo and a local U-Pick farm. I let my husband and eldest son pick most of our outings–the WWII Aviation Museum was an unexpected delight. Letting them be in charge allowed me to relax and let go.

Now it’s back to creative work, but it seems a little less like work after the vacation.

Rebecca Klempner

Author page of Rebecca Klempner

pesach

Fun Storytelling Project I Just Started

Pesach Magazine CRAZINESS!

Spending the day on your hands and knees

Work that has meaning

Have you ever enjoyed something more because it only came with effort? Please share in the comments.

One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

Passover is over. Time to jump back on the wagon!

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Work that has meaning

Have you ever enjoyed something more because it only came with effort? Please share in the comments.

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Like this:

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

Share this:

Like this:

So here’s your tiny morsel of Passover-related kookiness for today:

Free writing tip…don’t be afraid to write bad poetry. And if you’d like to share your own corny/hammy/couldn’t-hechsher-if-it-tried Pesach poetry, just add it in the comments.

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