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Seven Read-Aloud Tips

you-can-do-it

Thanks to Chrissey Harrison for mentioning my suggestion to film an author read-aloud in her excellent post. Here she offers ten ways to promote your book and I have to agree with her number one suggestion, which is to write another book. Another book is your best marketing tool and you're a content creator after all. Check out the rest o...

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8 Ways to Beat the Clock

Beat the Clock

By Gila Green The secret of getting ahead is getting started—Mark Twain Three deadlines coming up, dinner's not made, and you haven't even hit the grocery store yet? The short answer might be fast food or begging a colleague to take one of your assignments, but the long-term answer is to improve your efficiency. Here are eight tips to help you save...

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Does Your Story Have a Case of Runaway Pace?

speed

This indirect or left-branching sentence builds tension and creates excitement because it slows down the pace of the story. by Gila Green Have you ever seen any of these comments in the margins of your work? Slow downUnevenLacks climaxFlat If you answered "yes," you should immediately browse through your writer's toolbox of literary devices for pac...

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Five Ways Living in One Language Fingerprints your Writing in Another

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Are your notions about your birthplace outdated? By Gila Green Diction. Slang and other everyday words sneak into our vocabularies. If you don't live and write in the same language, it takes an extra effort to root foreign words out of your work, unless they're part of your story.Names. Many writers spend a great deal of time enhancing their work w...

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Description Might be Draining your Writing

Writing Tip

What you need to work on in your writing isn't description it's imagery.  By Gila Green If you write fiction you've probably been told dozens of times to include vivid description, work on your description, and not to forget description. Likely, you've also been reminded not to overdo it on the description. Unfortunately, being told to in...

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Writing Lies and Other Truths

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By Gila Green We live in a publishing world that not only craves categories; it demands them. These pigeonholes are like gasoline for the modern manuscript, which cannot even move through cyberspace to an agent's inbox without the fuel labeling supplies. For those who guide writers on query letters, one of our first lessons is to help authors defin...

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Small Press Author Reading Series: Join me May 17, 2020

Hidden-Timber-Books

 Join me on on May 17, 2020! Register for FREE for the small press author reading series. "In light of so many cancelled book tours as of late, Hidden Timber Books is hosting other small press authors via Zoom for readings. These events are FREE, all you need to do is register for the link to join. Attend one, attend them all, and spread the w...

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I'm in Ravishly

ravishly

 Thank you so much to Erin Khar for featuring my young adult, environmental novel No Entry in the latest issue of Ravishly.

Repost: The Book of Life

PODCAST-TIME

For the last month, Heidi Rabinowitz's The Book of Podcast has had a special series called "Books in the Time of Coronavirus." Authors whose spring 2020 promotional events were cancelled were able to tell the world about their new Jewish books. I wish to thank Heidi once again for including No Entry and to repost her entire series here. E...

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Author Interview: Dani Alpert

The-Girlfriend-Mom-

"There wasn't ever a time that I didn't want a career in showbusiness. I spent years wearing blinders, forbidding myself from thinking outside of the box." I'm excited to share with you my interview with Dani Alpert, an author and Pilates enthusiast, who is new to me and who I've only met virtually. I'm so pleased she reached out to share her ...

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Repost: Canadian Writers Abroad: Where are they now?

Vancouver

Reposting from Canadian Writers Abroad by Debra Martens  Back in March when Canadian travellers were urged to come home, I thought of the small community of Canadian writers living abroad. Would they stay or go? As Antony Millen in New Zealand puts it, "It was a very eerie feeling to hear Justin call Canadians home with such urgency. I admit, ...

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Author Interview: Mel Rosenberg

Mel Rosenberg

I'm happy to share my newest author interview with you today. If you can believe it, Mel Rosenberg is originally from my hometown of Ottawa and I met him only this year but that's not the amazing part. It turns out that Mel's mother was my kindergarten teacher way back in the Old Days. How is that for small world? Indeed, one of my earliest me...

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I voted in the Crystal Kite awards

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 Don't forget to vote for your favorite in the Crystal Kite Awards! These are so many wonderful works to choose from.  "The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world." If you're eligible to vote, don't forget to do so, especially at this time when so man...

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April Jewish Carnival is Up and Happy Mimouna

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Today I want to wish a Happy Mimouna to those who celebrate! Though it was not the same as in past years, we still managed to celebrate a lockdown mimouna complete with homemade couscous, muflettot and Moroccan outfits straight from Morocco.  And thanks to Deborah Kalb for hosting the April Jewish Carnival:  At this difficu...

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You Read it Here First

driving-in-vancouver

Thanks so much to Christina Hamlett for hosting me on her site. I virtually met Christina back in 2014 when I was looking for a new novel to write and decided to take her online course as a source of inspiration. The result was my novel A Prayer Apart (as yet unpublished, but working on it). I'm so happy to reconnect with her this week and to spend...

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Coming up: Hidden Timber Author Readings

Gila Green at an author reading in Toronto Gila Green at an author reading in Toronto February 2020

Hidden Timber Books: Meaningful Books and Stories "In light of so many cancelled book tours as of late, Hidden Timber Books is hosting other small press authors via Zoom for readings. These events are FREE, all you need to do is register for the link to join" and I'm so thrilled to be part of this series. I'll be talking about my YA eco-novel&...

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Listen: The Drum

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So excited to be featured on The Drum.  bit.ly/safeso2 https://www.drumlitmag.com/https://www.drumlitmag.com/sounds/f/Issue_77-dot-_Spring_2020/#entry1101

Watch: Start your week the right way

Jewish-Journal-new

An inspiring video from the Jewish Journal https://www.facebook.com/JewishJournal/videos/507071163529656/ 

Vote for my book cover please

Passport-Control_Cover

Please vote for my book cover! It's one click and you are done.The "Alternative" book cover award poll is now live, and Passport Control is featured.   Here's the link to the poll (April's) which is now LIVE! : https://alternative-read.com/2020/03/31/april-2020-alternative-book-cover-award-nominees-have-you-voted-yet-vote-for-your-fa...

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Guest Post: Miriam Drori talks about her role as a rebel

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I'm a Backstory Rebel by Miriam Drori In one scene of my latest novel, Cultivating a Fuji, the main character, Martin, has to get himself an emergency passport. Martin, despite being intelligent, has no social skills and doesn't know how to stand up for himself. The scene shows the interaction between him and the woman who has to serve him at the p...

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Guest Post: Writing about Myself at Age Three by Rachel Biale

Guest Post: Writing about Myself at Age Three by Rachel Biale Rachel Biale

A decade ago, I won a partial scholarship to a writing program in Montreal at Concordia University. There I took writing courses with Mary Gaitskill and Jonah Winter and I met some wonderful writers. One of them was Rachel Biale and we've kept in touch on and off ever since. I'm delighted to host her on gilagreenwrites today and I want to...

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Listen: No Entry on The Book of Life Podcast

book-of-life

LISTEN:   In response to the pandemic, The Book of Life is hosting a special series, Books in the Time of Coronavirus. Authors or illustrators of new Jewish books, whose promotional events have been cancelled due to quarantine, are invited to promote their books on the podcast. The first episode in this special series features Gila Green,...

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Cover girl: Shalom Toronto Lifestyle

cover-Gila-Green

Thanks so much to Shalom Toronto Lifestyle Magazine for featuring me on the cover and printing an article on all of my books.

WATCH: Elephant poaching might not be what you think

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I'm continuing to post educational videos about my young adult novel No Entry, which takes place in South Africa's Kruger National Park. Thanks to SCBWI for the inspiration to offer resources to teachers, parents, teens, wildlife enthusiasts, elephant lovers and booklovers in lockdown as I am in Israel.  

LISTEN: My podcast with NovelClass on The Last Watchman of Old Cairo

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 My latest podcast with Dave Pezza's NovelClass is out. I loved discussing The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by author Michael David Lukas. This opportunity came at an ideal time. I had just participated in the Vancouver Jewish Book Festival (February 2020) and spent an evening as part of the festival enjoying a livestream intervie...

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Proud to be part of SCBWI's remote resources

SCBWI-Logo_square

​"So many creators of children's books have risen to the call for help from teachers and parents during the COVID-19 crisis by creating online materials that will entertain, instruct, and inspire children and young people. Some are reading their books and discussing them. Some have created mini-lessons on art or history or craft projects. Some are ...

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Join me for NovelClass this Wednesday

Join me for NovelClass this Wednesday

NovelClass@NovelClassPod·12hEpisode 4.02 of NovelClass airs this Wednesday! Author @green_gila returns to the show to join host @dpezza02 in discussing The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, and keep reading!!!

Guest Post: How Lonely is the Life of a Writer by Deborah Mendez-Blaauw

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This website has been up for over a year and my decision to interview authors and to ask them to contribute posts has definitely been my best one. It's allowed me to connect with and hear the voices of so many writers and it's been an honor. Today's post is from Deborah Mendez-Blaauw, who was also gracious enough to review my novel-in-stories ...

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No Entry: Chapter One

Gila Green and her novel No Entry

As so many of us are in partial/full lockdown/quarantine and feeling isolated, I thought I'd read from my young adult novel No Entry. I hope to post a chapter on Wednesdays and Sundays, but given the crazy situation, I can only try to keep to a schedule--please forgive me if I don't.  If you want to learn about elephants, elephant poaching, wi...

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No Entry: Now available in the Biblical Museum of Natural History

the-biblical-museum-of

​My young adult novel No Entry is available in the new Biblical Museum of Natural History gift shop and I couldn't be more excited! Copies are limited. Due to the tragic Australian fires, I am unable to order more and now with corona virus, I cannot predict future availability. No Entry is a perfect read for anyone interested in a teen ad...

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Latest Books

The Inheritance

The Inheritance

This suspense/thriller asks, if you were to walk away from your family, would you ever go back, even if you received a desperate text message?

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Pre-Order from Amazon/Kindle for release: March 11, 2025

With a Good Eye

With a Good Eye

This family drama is part crime fiction and part domestic noir. With A Good Eye will make you question: can you ever save anyone but yourself and do any of us ever really leave home?

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No Entry

No Entry

In No Entry, Canadian teenager, Yael Amar, signs on to an elephant conservation program and ends up coming face to face with violence, greed, and murder and the taste of a very real danger for all of us: elephant extinction.

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White Zion

White Zion

White Zion is a novel in stories forthcoming from Cervena Barva Press (April 2019). The novel takes readers into the worlds of 19th century Yemen, pre-State Israel, modern Israel and modern Canada...

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Passport Control

Passport Control

Miriam Gil knows little about Israel. Her father won’t talk about his life there or the brother he left behind when he came to Canada. Hurt and angry when he tells her to move out to make room for his new girlfriend, she enrolls in an Israeli university. She falls in love with Guy... 

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King of the Class

King of the Class

Eve and Manny are engaged in post-civil war Israel, but Manny has a secret: he’s falling in love with his religious roots and turning his back on moral relativism. As their wedding date approaches...

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