follow gila's blog

Really Good Writing Advice

Advice I like

Not a new one but a very good one.  

Love this quote

Quotation

 Wanted to share this quotation I read today from prose editor at Tahoma Literary Review, Yi Shun Lai.  "Years ago, I decided to stop telling young creatives that they should find what they're passionate about. Now I tell them to hunt down what they're willing to work towards. (I stole this from someone on LinkedIn and can't remember who ...

Continue reading

Love getting these emails...

Dear Gila...

Ellen MarcantanoSat, Mar 2, 4:00 AM (1 day ago)Hi Gila,I just wanted to share my fantastic news. The Dime Show Review wants to publish a flash piece I sent to them. There are no words to express my thanks to you because without you this would not be happening. I bow to you my writing Goddess!!You are an amazing teacher and mentor who gave me the co...

Continue reading

Six weeks until White Zion release

Night Jerusalem

White Zion, my novel in stories, will be released mid-April by Cervena Barva Press. I started this collection a dozen years ago and it was almost published a handful of times. Finally, it has found its proper home. So excited! I plan to do a giveaway on Goodreads, so stay tuned for that. Grateful for early reviews: In a journey of generations from ...

Continue reading

What I learned from my Second Book Launch

8-Things-I-learned-from-my-Second-Book-Launch

 In 2013, I published my first novel, King of the Class (KOTC). Three months later, I wrote a post titled, "What I Learned from Publishing my First Novel." It was a necessary integration of what I'd gleaned after three months of full-time, dedicated hard work—the kind of twenty-four-hour work after which you can't even think about the topic. I...

Continue reading

Author interview: Jeff Gerstenfeld

Jeff Gerstenfeld author

​Today I'm excited to bring you an author interview with Jeff Gerstenfeld, a fellow writer in Israel writing in English. While I have not had the pleasure of meeting Jeff in person, I'm so pleased that he contacted me about his new book Downsized and Oversized. Often genre writers get sidelined and it's a great opportunity for me today to introduce...

Continue reading

Roundup: Recent and Anticipated Author Interviews

author interviews

If you haven't had a chance to read my interviews with these authors about their new works, this is a friendly reminder. I'm honored to be able to help spread the word about so much talent and creativity. If you have comments on my interviews or a question you'd like me to ask authors for future interviews, please comment below. ​ Check out my...

Continue reading

Jewish Book Carnival: February 2019

Jewish-book-carnival-Februar_20190214-074313_1 This month's Jewish Book Carnival

I am excited to present this month's Jewish Book Carnival, 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 of each month.  For me February ...

Continue reading

I'm in Canadian Writers Abroad!

canadian-flag Canadian Writers Abroad

 Thank you Debra Martens for hosting me and my dear friend and colleague, Anna Levine, on your site today. It was a pleasure.  Working in silence, alone with your thoughts, writing can be a lonely business. But have you looked at the list of acknowledgements at the back of some books lately? They seem to be getting longer, as if a bo...

Continue reading

Interview with Sharon Hart-Green

Sharon Hart-Green Author of Come Back for me

I'm always excited to share author Q&A articles with you and I'm particularly interested in letting you know more about fellow Canadian, Jewish writers. I heard about Sharon from a mutual friend from Toronto and, as often happens, she suddenly appeared on my Linked-In and we connected right away. Sharon Hart-Green is a Canadian writer and acade...

Continue reading

Looking forward to podcasting

Upcoming podcast interviews Upcoming podcast interviews

Thank you for hosting me. 

Late Night on the Phone

Late Night on the Phone Poem in the Dime Show Review

My poem Late Night on the Phone is out on The Dime Show Review. Thank you again.  Late Night on the Phone by Gila Green I so rarely have time to write poetry, so I'm thrilled this was accepted.  https://www.dimeshowreview.com/late-night-on-the-phone-by-gila-green/

Story Acceptance!

New story accepted for publication New story on the way

​A new short story has been accepted to The Bookends Review.  I have a podcast interview lined up there as well (in August), so stay tuned.  I originally titled the story The Kike Caller then probably in the politically correct climate changed it to Summer Job. Now, I'm unsure. I might change it back to its original title which reson...

Continue reading

You can already sign up for my June classes

Registration-is-open-for-my-online-classes-at-WOW-Women-on-Writing Sign up now

​ I was planning to break until the fall but, due to demand, I am offering two new classes in June:  WRITING FICTION: SETTING AND DESCRIPTION  START DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 2019 DURATION: 4 weeks COURSE DESCRIPTION: Great story has a memorable sense of place. In this four-week course you will discover why setting and description are the...

Continue reading

My post on The Creative Penn

I'm thrilled to be hosted on Joanna Penn's The Creative Penn today. Thank you so much for having me on your site.  Writing Tips: Writing Beyond The 5 Senses The most useful way to show what you want to say is to tap into the five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing and get into the 'why' behind each sense. In other words, you must ...

Continue reading

My poem was accepted by...

Poem accepted by the Dime Show Review

California's Dime Show Review! I'm thrilled to share that my poem, "Late Night on the Phone" was just accepted to Dime Show Review for online publication and they are considering it for their three times a year print run. Thank you to editor Kae Sable for accepting my poem. 

How to improve setting in story

How to improve setting in story How to improve setting in story

 In South Africa's Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, I discuss improving setting in your story. 

Best marketing tool for writers is...

Cape Town Best marketing tool for writers

 Enjoy the view. Today's vlog was filmed at Chapman's Peak, a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa.

New resources for Jewish Women Writers

Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa Vlog Time: WATCH

How beautiful are these backgrounds? The cover photo is Cape Town's Table Mountain and this vlog was filmed at Chapman's Peak, overlooking Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.  

Symbolism & Setting

Cape Town's Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens Symbolism & Setting

Symbolism is one of the most underused techniques when it comes to story setting.  There's no better place to talk about setting than in Cape Town's beautiful Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

Viva Literary Magazines

VIVA-Literary-Magazines

I've been publishing in literary magazines since 2005 and, I admit, I'm addicted. I've had four novels accepted for publication to small presses, an offer of a young adult series and yet I always have at least a handful of submissions out there, far beyond what's considered the usual expiry date for writers. I can't seem to stop, though that's craz...

Continue reading

Writing Funny Flash Fiction

Cape Town, Table Mountain Writing funny flash fiction

Today's question is about adding some levity to your flash fiction. You don't want to write an extended joke. What's the difference?  

How do I know when my flash should be a short story?

Cape Town, Table Mountain

Today's question: How do I know when to extend my flash into a short story?  

Remember When?

gabi-4

He sighs and holds his glass up remembering things that happened years ago. I try to diminish myself in my chair, so he'll see his memories and share them instead of seeing me."I begged your father to run away to the kibbutz with me. So many young people were doing it then. There was no food in Jerusalem. But he was the oldest, and he wouldn't leav...

Continue reading

My interview with Novel Kicks, UK

novel-kicks-big

It was a pleasure to talk with Laura Parish, who hosts the fiction readers and writers blog, Novel Kicks. Thank you so much for having me. My first interview of 2019 and my first in the UK! Hi Gila, thank you for joining me today. Your novel is called Passport Control. Can you tell me about it and what inspired the story? Passport Control is a comi...

Continue reading

Jewish Home LA Passport Control Review

Klempner-bi_20190105-164101_1

I'm so pleased to share Rebecca Klempner's review of Passport Control with you.  Reviewed by Rebecca Klempner Gila Green's recent novel, Passport Control, is not light entertainment. But it's perfect for those readers interested in a suspenseful, well-written, and thought-provoking piece of literary fiction that may make them deeply uncom...

Continue reading

Flash Fiction: The Art of Short​ January 24, 2019​ 10:30-14:30​

ethan-hoover-738145-unsplash

Register Now:  Come as you are, with a fifth version of a piece you've been working on since your high school graduation or as a writer who has never heard of flash until you saw this advertisement and rushed to sign up. In the first part of this masterclass, we'll define flash fiction and take you all the way from idea to premise to micro fla...

Continue reading

Great way to start 2019

Guest Posting on The Creative Penn

Thanks Joanna Penn for hosting me this month.  

Another cure for Writer's Block

libraries

​I can't sum up how I feel about libraries better than this. I already have a vlog on writers block. Here's another take. This is my prompt to remind me to write a longer piece on podcasts. For now, This American Life podcast is an excellent cure for writer's block. 

Truth in Fiction

Amy Tan The Opposite of Fate

 "What I draw from is not a photographic memory, but an emotional one."  Thank you, Amy Tan.  I reread that again and again. I must use this as a prompt to write about the truths in fiction.  What is the purpose of fiction? To write what I cannot say. Though I cannot tell you what happened for so many reasons (pain, shame), if I...

Continue reading

Latest Books

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.

Read More      Buy Now

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...

Read More       Buy Now

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... 

Read More       Buy Now

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...

Read More       Buy Now

Forthcoming Books

With a Good Eye <br>Release Date: Aug. 18, 2024

With a Good Eye
Release Date: Aug. 18, 2024

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?

Read More

The Inheritance  <br>Release Date: 2025

The Inheritance
Release Date: 2025

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?

Read More