Let's expand the canon of Jewish literature together. There are so many untold Jewish stories. Don't let yours be one of them. Join me January 5 at noon (EST) for a five-part autofiction workshop for women and men at all writing levels with a Sephardi/Mizrachi background or a Sephardi/Mizrachi story to tell. Space is ...
I'm delighted to be part of the American Sephardi Federation (ASF) Institute of Jewish Experience's "New Work Series." I'll be talking about the origins of my novel-in-stories White Zion (Cervena Barva, 2019). DATE: January 27,2021 TIME: NOON (EST) I'll post the link when it's available. From the (ASF) Institute of Jewish Ex...
Thank you to Susan Weintrob, the creator of the "expand the table" website, for her recent review of my young adult eco-novel No Entry (Stormbird Press, 2019). On her food and literature site, Susan pairs her review of my novel with a delicious recipe for a popular South African breakfast: pumpkin pancakes. From her site: "Pumpkin ...
Don't miss new posts by these talented authors and creatives coming up in December, February, March and April: Karen Schauber, Melanie Conroy-Goldman, Leslea Newman, Sharon Kirsch, and Ann Lambert. Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash
Welcome to the November Jewish Book Carnival! We're a month away from our next Jewish Festival of Lights (yes, I'm already waiting for Hanukkah), but we still have this month's Jewish Book Carnival to look forward to and to help us spread more inspiration and brightness. This month is packed with something for everyone from new poetry at Life ...
Sign-up is open! Start 2021 with the story you've always wanted to tell. Tell Your Sephardi-Mizrahi Story Have you always wanted to write your life story? My new Middle Eastern-flavored Autofiction Workshop explores a writing form that pushes beyond memoir and borrows fiction techniques. Inventing your own dialogue and creating deta...
Thank you to The Sami Rohr Prize Guest Forum for hosting the October Jewish Book Carnival! The Sami Rohr Prize Guest Forum is delighted to host the October 2020 Jewish Book Carnival. This monthly event, organized by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL), allows those of us who cover the world of Jewish books online to "meet, read, and comment o...
As I've shared with you before, this summer I taught my first zoom autofiction course. This meant I spent a couple of months perusing everything I could find about autofiction and I'm sure I barely scratched the surface. I loved the course and it was so much fun for all of us, several participants requested a part two. As such, I'm still look...
In 2013, I published a short story titled Mother, Daughter, Mercenary in an international crime fiction magazine titled Noir Nation. I always wanted to go back to that story and I expanded on it in another short story titled Cutty Sark, published in 2018 in Writer's Bone in their December issue. Though at first glance these two...
In the last two weeks, we at NLA have offered representation to seven authors, most of whom received multiple offers. All agents are aggressively seeking new talent right now! It's awesome to talk to savvy authors who have a list of good questions prepared for their initial conversations with prospective agents, questions like:
I loved this July 28th article by Kate Reed Petty on Electric Literature and I agree, it's time to rethink how authors interact with readers online. Before the stay-at-home orders came down in Baltimore, the last thing I did in person was participate in a panel conversation about—ironically—"art and the apocalypse." In retrospect, we should h...
I had a great time on Friday moderating a panel livestreamed from the UK's YA Thriller Conference. The topic was Diversity in YA Fiction. Shout-out to author Madeline Dyer for putting it all together and to my YA colleagues, authors: Fran Dorricott (UK), Nia Davenport (USA), and Isvari Mohan (USA). What did we discuss? -What is 'diversity'? W...
A common complaint of writers is a lack of reviews. But help is out there. If you're an author looking for a book review, I recommend a program created by author Sandra Lopez. On the flip-side, who ever has enough books to read? For book lovers, who cannot seem to get enough, read on to find out how you can read books at no cost and...
When I wrote my YA eco-fiction novel No Entry, I had one goal in mind: to highlight the dangers of elephant poaching and extinction for a young adult audience. I also wanted to connect the people who commit these heinous acts toward elephants with other international crimes: human trafficking, the illegal weapons trade and so on. I ...
There are so many talented authors on the way including children's authors, poets, fiction and nonfiction creatives. Don't miss an author interview or blog post. Meryl Ain, author of the Takeaway Men, SparkPress. Rajani LaRocca, author of the forthcoming novels Red, White, and Whole (Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 2021) and Much Ado Abo...
AUTOFICTION WORKSHOP: Exploring Hybrid Writing START DATE: Sunday, August 16, 2020 END DATE: Sunday, September 13, 2020 DURATION: 6 weeks LOCATION: Zoom and email for assignments FEEDBACK: Instructor feedback and critique COURSE DESCRIPTION: What is autofiction? It's not memoir, fiction or personal essay, but might have elements of...
I'm so excited to be part of this YA Thriller conference next week with 24 other YA writers from all over the world. All video events will be broadcast live to YouTube. From the newly launched site: "About YA Thriller ConYA Thriller Con Online is a two-day event, running from July 10th to July 11th 2020, to celebrate and tal...
by Jodé Millman I try to keep up on publishing contract news even though I've reviewed eight contracts at length (no, I didn't sign them all and you probably shouldn't either). But all of my reviewing happened before Covid-19. It's important that writers focus on the business end of writing, not just on craft. Originally in this month's column, I h...
I want to tell you about this new Jewish tabletop roleplaying (TTRPG) anthology that I was recently honored to join. My essay is part of the forward and was written to expand the work to include more Sephardi (in my case, Yemenite) voices. I was able to draw on both my Ashkenazi and Yemenite experience and I'm delighted to integrate my w...
Why do you think this book is set in the future? What was the author trying to achieve by doing so? Do you think there are good and bad characters in this book? If so, is Eve good or bad? What about her husband Manny? Do you think Eve has a good relationship with her sister? What was your opinion of their relationship once Eve's son is kidnapped? S...
Book Club Discussion Questions for Passport Control 1. Why do you think the title of this book is Passport Control? Would you have chosen a different title? One publisher suggested the title of No Way Home. Do you think that title is preferable? 2. Would you say Passport Control is historical fiction? A coming of age story? An adventure story...
Book Club Discussion Questions for White Zion 1. Why do you think the author chose the title White Zion? What does it signify to you? Would you have chosen a different title? 2. Who is the hero/heroine of this novel-in-stories? What makes a hero or heroine? 3. Do you think the author chose the right format for this work? In other words, do you thin...
Book Club Guide for No Entry 1.What is the significance of the title No Entry? Would you have given the book a different title? If yes, what is your title? 2.Yael Amar finds herself in extraordinary circumstances in No Entry once she realizes the identity of the poachers. Do you empathize with her? Are any of her circumstances familiar to you? 3.Ho...
I'm honored to take part in a birthday! Happy 15th birthday to Cervena Barva Press. To celebrate I'll be reading from my novel-in-stories White Zion and I won't be alone. My friend and colleague, poet and playwright Atar Hadari will be joining me from the UK. He'll be reading from his translation of Hanoch Levin's work. A treat! When? July 5&...
Authors will have to be very creative in future about book sales. By: Sue Carter June 22nd, 2020 Just days before Indigo Books & Music releases its fourth-quarter financial results, CEO Heather Reisman told Bloomberg News in an interview that "the depths of the losses we are looking at are literally as seismic as this COVID event is...
I'm so pleased to host this month's Jewish Book Carnival. I find this graphic of Jewish book covers an ideal visual to accompany this must-review list of Jewish author interviews and news. Thank you Jewish Book World for putting it together! The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jew...
Fascinating article by Alison Flood of the Guardian. I've been wondering about the future of literature in light of Covid-19. There's a number of answers and approaches here, everything from stick to 2018 to jump to the future, but should you write one with or without a vaccine? This article explores various answers we are all struggling with...
Prepare to Publish: the business of publication, a hands-on workshop for writers with complete or near-complete manuscripts ready for publication. Monday & Wednesday options starts last week of June Many authors invest all of their energy into their works and are so pre-occupied with writing and editing that by the time it comes to p...