history

My review of Letters from Mir and the wonders of primary sources

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Last week, The Jewish Home L.A. ran my review of the new book, Letters From Mir. Of the books I’ve reviewed professionally in the last couple months, it was the one that surprised me most, on more than one level.

When I read the cover blurb, I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about the book. I warmed up a bit while reading the introductions (yes, that’s plural), but was completely won over once I hit the actual letters. These form the centerpiece of the volume, and they consist of those by and addressed to a young rabbi and yeshiva student, Rabbi Ernest Gugenheim during the tumultuous period that preceded the Second World War.

If you want to read about that book, you can do so here, but my favorite thing about the book touches on a topic that can be applied more widely: the importance of primary sources in understanding the past.  Continue reading →

Remembering Gil Marks and his contribution to Jewish books and cooking

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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 extensive research on the details of recipes, their cultural connections, and place in history. Because I trained as an anthropologist, his ethnological approach to Jewish food made him by far my favorite cookbook author.

Remembering Gil Marks and his contribution to Jewish books.

His most famous books are The World of Jewish Cooking, Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World and Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. That final title is my absolute favorite cookbook of all time. It actually makes fun reading even if you make not one recipe. Marks also wrote extensively for periodicals, such as Emunah Magazine.

Twenty years ago, most people thought of latkes, kugel, kishke, and borsht when they referred to “Jewish Food.” Marks changed that and became among those who popularized Sephardic and Mizrachi cuisine. Continue reading →

Conducting interviews to bring realism to your fiction

beccakinla fiction, HaModia, how to write, preparing, publishing, research, stories Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
cuban missile crisis

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 →

10 Great 2014 Anniversaries to Write About in the Months Ahead

beccakinla advice, blogger, blogging, blogs, magazines, marketing, publishing, writer, writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Following up on a suggestion (I wish I could remember who passed along this hint!), I was scoping out historically significant anniversaries occurring in 2014 as potential topics for my writing.

skyline with arch st. louis

St. Louis, Missouri – 250 years and counting!

In theory, choosing a topic that’s–well, topical–can be a marketing advantage. Unfortunately, none of the anniversaries I’ve found has inspired me so far, but I thought they would be worth sharing because maybe one of them will inspire you.  Continue reading →

Personal Essays: The Importance of Being Real

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While I prefer to write fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy, I do write other genres. This includes personal essays. I took a little break from writing personal essays over the summer, mostly because writing them can be emotionally draining.

Why writing personal essays feels like a round in a boxing ring Continue reading →

Personal life as a metaphor

beccakinla Jewish, Judaism, Tisha B'Av, writer, writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

In literature, we often use the intimate details of personal life to represent broader issues. In my latest article on Tablet, I used my experience of leaving Israel after making aliyah in childhood to connect to the annual season of mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Have you read any memoirs, essays, or even novels where the personal serves as a microcosm for the world at large? Please share in comments below.