January Jewish Book Carnival

I'm happy to host the first Jewish Book Carnival of 2020. The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where those who cover Jewish books online "can meet, read, and comment on each others' posts." Organized by the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Carnival travels around and is hosted on a different participant's site on the 15th ...

Herewith, the December 2019 Jewish Book Carnival: From Erika Dreifus: a reminder that we are now well into Jewish Book Month, which, as a reminder, takes place during the month preceding Hanukkah. I'll send you over to a recent Washington Post Book Club newsletter, which recently ran a terrific piece about it, to learn more. (And I'll admit that I'...

​Thanks so much to librarian Ana Esterin of the Winnipeg Kaufman Silverberg Library for including Passport Control in her 2020 new releases. 

I'm so excited to share that White Zion and No Entry have been accepted to the Vancouver Jewish Book Festival for February 2020. Vancouver anyone? If you'll be there, please come up and say hello. I'll post more details as I receive them. Stay tuned for details of my Toronto talks coming up, also in February. 

"Nice and quiet here," David says.  "I can't wait to see what you've brought me," Yael says. "I can't wait to see your reaction." "To what?" "You'll see. I paid for an extra suitcase. There's a ton of things from your parents," he says. "Went by the house. They're almost done packing." His words are like cold water down her back. Her smile dis...

Thank you goes out to my colleague and fellow author Julie Zuckerman, the creator of this beautiful poster and author of The Book of Jeremiah. This collage of book covers by Jewish writers is a knock-out and just in time for the winter holiday season. It's a personal gift to me to see White Zion included in this creative and talented group. I'...

Had to snap and post. No Entry, set in South Africa's Kruger National Park and Passport Control, set in Haifa in 1993, are both included on the newest poster at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library in Vancouver. Knocked out to be included among so much talent from this group of Jewish authors. 

"I am listening at the top of the stairs again. I feel sick to my stomach. Scared. War is coming closer. People I have seen who walked on our roads are being murdered. Proof that Jews are being lied to. There are no safe camps or ghettoes any longer. Blood pounds in my ears. My head hurts…I dream of guns firing and water splashing." Excerpt from Ta...

 I was delighted to sit down with Ottawa Jewish Bulletin editor Michael Regenstreif while I was in Ottawa in September. By Michael Regenstreif Editor I discovered Israeli-Canadian writer Gila Green more than six years ago when I read her fascinating futuristic novel, King of the Class. As I noted in my review, published in the Ottawa Jewi...

Steph's book blog is a lovely place for bookworms to hang out. It's brimming with hundreds of book reviews and new ones are added all the time.  Fortunately, blog owner Stephanie Rothwell is a history buff, so I was delighted when she agreed to read White Zion.  Steph's Review With thanks to the author for the copy received. I read t...

Had a great time last night at Keramikli. I was honored to spend the evening with such talented and gracious authors: Ondine Sherman originally from Australia and Dr. Leah Scheier, originally from the USA. So wonderful to meet and talk with other English-language writers in Israel working on such important topics for young adult audiences. A public...

By Gila Green About seven years ago, I was asked to write a paid blog post about a twitter novel and Twitterature in general that was sure to come and stampede over the novel structure most of us are familiar with. While I recall thinking how much I liked the idea of challenging the current novel format, (not to discard it but t...

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I'm delighted to see my novels on display at the Isaac Waldman Vancouver Jewish Library. Thank you Helen Pinsky, librarian (yes! I wanted to be a librarian when I was growing up) for sending me this great photo.   "I have read much of Passport Control, and like the other 2 books, I found it gripping me and impressing me with the character...

It means a lot to me when readers send me their thoughts on White Zion. Thank you, Terri! I read White Zion recently and want to share how moving and powerful it was for me. It's wonderful to hear stories about Jews from MENA and how they are viewed in both Israel and Canada. I understand this is important to you from reading an interview onli...

 Jera's Jamboree is a fun online place to visit with a plethora of information put out by Shaz, the owner of Jera's Jamboree. Shaz describes her site as "a mix of posts with the focus on helping you to unwind – time out from the pressures of everyday life." There's an original combination of posts about everything from crochet to gen...

www.tessabarrielostblogs.com

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I very recently 'met' the Canadian author, Gila Green, who is based in Israel. Since then, I've got to know her a little better, as she kindly agreed to be interviewed. To date, Gila has written four novels, and her work has been shortlisted for many awards, which is no surprise. Her books focus on everyday pe...

Photo by Laura Fuhrman on Unsplash

 "All I remember of my grandmother's house was her doll collection. I was five and overweight from too much Kentucky Fried chicken, dripping with the honey they'd give you in those bite-sized plastic containers, and I was as shy as any fat kid in a foreign country. I remember a room with low ceilings and walls that felt too close together, and...

Photo: Andrew Neel on Unsplash

 Excerpt White Zion : "We're here," Bubby announced in a trembling voice. "How are you? Can you take us to him or should we go ourselves?""No, I can't do that," my cousin's wife slurred, she was clutching an empty bottle in one hand."Can you just tell us where?""I mean, you're too late."My aunt and uncle looked at one another and then back at ...

Jewish Lit Links

This month's Jewish carnival was kindly hosted by author Yael Shahar. I'm so pleased I took part. See my interview with author Jennifer Lang at the link below. There's more interviews for you to enjoy every month. Authors coming up in the next few months include: Miriam Drori, Daniel Sofer, Katherine Locke, Mel Rosenberg, Julie Gray, Nadi...

"Hello? Anyone home?"  "Sorry. Still not used to driving on this side of the road," Yael lies. "Need to concentrate."  Yael forces her shoulders back. She wants to reverse, set the case on fire. She cannot believe she's participating in the murder of innocent animals. But she cannot arouse David's suspicions. There's no telling what he mi...

Writing Historical Fiction

 After writing three Jewish historical fiction novels (White Zion, Passport Control, and my as yet unpublished novel A Prayer Apart) here's my best advice for Jewish historical fiction writers: Sometimes research provides more than one answer and you'll have to use your best judgement: Someone may call you out on it but don't let that stop you...

It's so fun to win a raffle! Got this message today:  Congratulations on winning the SCBWI Thursday Crawl 10/17!  Gila Green What's the SCBWI BookStop Crawl? Find out now and discover thousands of new novels.   Please check out my page, like it, and leave a comment and go on to explore.

Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library

 Hello Gila, We have now received copies of both your books White Zion and No Entry - thank you so much!! We're cataloguing them, and will send you pictures of them in our display asap. BTW I read No Entry and was very impressed - both with your writing and with the messages that are so clearly conveyed to the reader. Yael is a great main char...

 King of the Class is incredibly powerful.  Amazing!I would like to request a sequel: Elyakim realizes that Jordana's marriage effectively removes her from his personal life. (I leave it to your inimitable skills to pull that one off convincingly — because of what he has been through, etc.)Halachically (my edit: According to Jew...

Don Jimmy Reviews

Thanks so much to James Tormey, the host of Don Jimmy Reviews for having me on his site today.  It's always a pleasure to spend time with book lovers all over the world.  The Secret to Inspired Writing By Gila Green I don't get ideas. I feel ideas. Let me explain. I'm commonly asked where my ideas come from for my fiction. It's a leg...

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It's always fun to be interviewed by a fellow author. Please enjoy my interview with author Rick Hodges, a Stormbird Press, colleague.  Check out my interview with Rick for details about his new release To Follow Elephants.  RH: Please tell us how you came to write No Entry.GG: I wrote four Israel-based novels. They have a lot of variatio...

This week I participated in Israel's first TED circle in Tel Aviv. We discussed a TED talk after watching it together. The main topic was efficiency vs. robustness. It was delightful to meet thirty new people from all different countries, backgrounds, and ages. Thanks to Professor Mel Rosenberg for inviting me AND we discovered that Professor Rosen...

​Today I'm reviewing author Margo Dill's children's book. Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this review. A copy was given to me courtesy of the author.  Title:  Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire Subtitle: The Case of the Missing Cookies Author: Margo Dill Illustrator: Jack Foster Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Sain...