rebecca klempner

A Tribute to My Favorite Uncles

beccakinla advice, news, recommended reading, writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Looking for some Shabbos/weekend reading?

I’ve got a new story in this week’s Inyan Magazine, inside Hamodia (dated August 26, 2015). The story is called “The Favorite Uncle,” and it’s a sorta reversal of real-life situations between my kids and their beloved uncles, as well as a paean to my own awesome uncles, Ira and Larry.

Synopsis: 11 year-old Alex Silverstein’s favorite uncle frums out (becomes Orthodox), and Alex is not amused.

I’d love feedback from anyone who reads the story!

I also thought this would be a great opportunity to answer a question I’ve been getting a lot lately, included from professional (non-fiction) writers:

How do you write a short story?

Usually, the first step for me is Continue reading →

Need a little reading material for the intermediate days of Passover?

beccakinla recommended reading Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Check out my new short story, available to read online

The Jewish Press published my magic realism (laced with sci fi) short “An Old Fashioned Girl” a couple weeks ago in its Olam Yehudi supplement. Unfortunately, I was expecting it to run a week later and only found out after that week’s edition had left the stands.

The good news is that my friend (and fellow writer) Yehudis Litvak helped me locate the story in the online edition. You can read it here.

It was my absolute favorite story to write, by the way, pure pleasure. Unfortunately, it garnered four rejections before it got picked up for the Olam Yehudi. I had to cut the text a bit for the format (which is shorter than the word count in most other Jewish magazines), but the story stood up pretty well, I think. Got a comment? Let me know by shooting me an email or commenting though my website.

If you are celebrating Passover, enjoy the rest of your holiday!

Tables turned: a writer gets interviewed by Fradl Adams for The Lakewood Shopper

beccakinla author, interview, Jewish, writer, writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fradl Adams interviews inspirational women, particularly baalos teshuvah, for The Lakewood Shopper. Her column appears weekly. Anyway, she asked to speak to me — focusing primarily on my writing for Jewish teens and tweens — about a month ago, and the interview runs this week. For those of us outside NJ, she provided this link.

I’m much more used to interviewing people than being interviewed. It was definitely WEEEIRD, and I kept thinking, “Do I sound like that?”

Story out this week in Binyan: “A Vision of the Future”

beccakinla Jewish writing, parenting, peace, reading, recommended reading Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The saddest day on the Jewish calendar will be next Tuesday.

Tisha B’Av arrives on Monday night and observant Jews around the world will fast until sunset on Tuesday to commemorate the loss of both Temples in Jerusalem. Many other tragic events have befallen the Jewish people at this time of year, throughout history.

Today, we see war in Israel, and an upsurge of anti-Semitism has popped up across the globe.

A story to help your tween or teen through this tough time

Now, more than ever, we need to unify with both our fellow Jews and with human beings everywhere. The message of my latest story, “A Vision of the Future,” in this week’s Binyan Magazine (inside Hamodia) is just that: Continue reading →

And in other publishing news…

beccakinla family, klempner Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I sent a post to Kveller for their Raising Kvell blog, and they published it this week. It’s totally the opposite end of the spectrum from this week’s Tablet piece:

  • non-controversial topic,
  • short,
  • I wrote it and it was published in a week, without the several months of editing required by the other piece.

It’s light and fun, but also meaningful. Check it out. You know, if you wanna…