Today's vlog answers the question: do I need a villain in my story? 

 I'm always excited to share author Q&A articles with you. I'm thrilled to have another Israel-based writer joining me on my blog. I virtually met Diana after I published my first novel King of the Class and I've been following her blossoming publishing career ever since. I still hope to make it up North to meet Diana in person or to catch...

​THE TRIBALISM THAT REIGNED IN BEIT SHEMESH FOR A DECADE IS OVER BY GILA GREEN I live in Beit Shemesh, the city that made global headlines when a Jewish man spat on a young girl (in December 2011). As a writer I was asked to speak out, to write a blog post or article that would distance "us" from "them." But I felt articles created more hatred, wer...

​Are you looking for a place online where you can find writing advice, read author interviews, watch short and useful vlogs and learn about life in Israel at the same time? You're here. I'm Gila Green, a Canadian author from Ottawa living in Israel. I'm excited to have a new writing space online and I would love to hear what you'd like to see ...

I'm always excited to share author Q&A articles with you. This time stands out because I rarely meet a Jewish writer from my hometown, Ottawa, but I found Brandon on Linked-In in 2013 when my first novel King of the Class was published and we connected quickly over shared writing interests. I'm excited about Brandon's Jewish history reference b...

This week I was thrilled to be a guest on C.S. Lakin's site LiveWriteThrive. Thank you again."The exploding number of flash publication opportunities as a way to break into novel publishing also offers a break for writers who might be burnt out with a novel or short story. Specifically, you get a break from following those longer manuscript rules, and we all need a break from “the rules” once in a while to recharge." Read the rest.

I am always excited to share author Q&As with you. This time is even more of a pleasure because I took a play-writing class with Atar Hadari 11 years ago and before that I attended some of his classes at Bar Ilan University. So, we go way back.  Moreover, Atar has generously honored me with two of his poems for two of my own novels. I'm always thrilled when Jewish writers can collaborate and together extend their own works.  We connected over our love of writing but also over some of our shared background. Atar is a tenth generation Israeli and my family, too, came to Palestine in the 1880s. I've lived in Israel for 20+ years but have not met many people who share this dual background with me. I'd love to meet more if you're out there! I'm excited about Atar's new book "Lives of the Dead: Collected poems...

An excerpt from my young adult novel, No Entry is out. My novel is now signed with Stormbird Press, Australia for a September 2019 release. I'm working on a sequel right now.What's No Entry about?Teen heroine, Yael Yekutiel, signs on to an elephant conservation program and ends up coming face to face with violence, greed and murder. The story takes place in South Africa’s famous, breathtaking Kruger National Park. Yael vows to devote herself to saving the planet from human greed and is set to learn all she can about ivory poaching when she accidentally encounters a murderous poaching ring taking place below the surface of her newfound paradise. She receives a second blow when she discovers her idol Clara Smith, the prestigious and well-respected program director, profits from blood ivory, while preaching about the sanctity of wildlife. Yael is forced to decide on a new mission: expose this poaching ring to...

You can check out Passport Control and please let me know what you think.My October release turned into an August one! As of today it is on Amazon Canada, too.

Imagine a group of friends and relatives coming together throughout the afternoon over food and drink, staying late into the evening to share stories that engender laughter, tears, empathy and admiration. The profoundly satisfying stories in White Zion are rich in intimate detail, peopled with a cast of heart wrenching characters at once familiar and unique, a gathering of personalities that leaves me reluctant to leave their company and eager to revisit them.Pearl Luke, author Madame Zee

Writing Opportunities In Unexpected Places. Being a student has reminded me that if you write, you are a writer; write and write often; and opportunities to write really are everywhere. When I decided to get a MA in Technical and Professional Communication, I felt that I was betraying my creative writing self.   I repeated, "This doesn't define you. You're still a creative writer.”  Even when my professor said in research class, "to not be mistaken, this is a writing class," I still felt like a cheat. After a couple of writing intensive classes, it surprised me what I learned and relearned:  writing practice comes in many forms and still adheres to basic writing rules.   Honor deadlines  There is always a deadline.  That’s frightening when staring at a blank page. Gather research and focus on your writing goal with your deadline mind.Remember the 5 magic wordsAs I freaked about creating a budget...

Out of the Closet, Into the Fire:How I Burned My Old Darlings and Got Back to Writing FictionJoyce Barton (Guest Blog Post)I was coming off of a year of transcription and research for a nonfiction project and feeling ready to get back into fiction, but I was stuck. It had been so long since I’d used that muscle, could I even write fiction anymore?Write something new? What about my orphans, my piles and files of decades-old material—leave no story behind, I’d promised my characters, and myself.Here’s how I burned through my indecision (aka resistance) by feeding some old friends to the fire.State Your MissionI’m a writer, right? I write things down. So it seemed natural to define, in writing, what I wanted and why, when this would happen, how I’d get there, and commit to it—a good old-fashioned Mission Statement. Here’s my ‘Mission Bonfire’:Mission: Go through old files of stories and...

My summer guest post series is so successful, I'm continuing this summer.My first guest post is from Andrea Hunter.5 Reasons Why Every Writer Should be on Instagram You don't need me to tell you that social media is a powerful tool. It's evident in the fact that we can upload and share a photo, video, article, message, or opinion - on an ever-growing variety of social platforms - in a matter of seconds. That's pretty impressive in its own right. But the real power comes into play when you consider that the content you just posted has the potential to be seen by literally millions of people around the world.Millions.It's mind-boggling when you stop and think about how connected we are. I won't tell you that social media is the new word of mouth. (It is.)I won't even tell you that almost one-third of the global population is using some form...

I'm excited to share with you that my new story "No Entry"will be published in terrain.org. in September 2018. As soon as it's up, I'll post the link.

I'm thrilled to share with you that my novel Passport Control will be coming out with S&H Publishing October 2018."Many novels have attempted to orchestrate the impossible marriage of politics and human relations in the state of Israel, but few have presided over that perilous ceremony with the grace, affection, and emotional clarity of Gila Green's Passport Control.  A stunning achievement."Steve Stern, author of The Book of Mischief, A Plague of Dreamers, The Frozen Rabbi, and The North of God.What's it about?Miriam Gil flees Canada for Israel when her Israeli dad says he needs more room in their house — for his new girlfriend. Soon at university, living in a dorm with three bickering roommates, she falls in love with Guy, a former combat soldier who dreams of peace. Miriam is caught off guard when her visa and passport application are rejected on the grounds that she’s suspected of being a Syrian Christian. In rapid order, the university...

The Fiddlehead, Atlantic Canada's Literary Journal, accepted my story "Winnipeg 1987."Look for it in the autumn 2018 issue.

My short story collection White Zion is coming out with Cervena Barva Press.White Zion migrates between 19th century Yemen, pre-State Israel, modern Israel and modern Canada. Stories explore racism, alienation within the family unit, and the fall-out after generations of war.In a journey of generations from Aden to Palestine to Ottawa, one Yemenite family encounters new and difficult realities: racism and war, rejection and divorce, resourceful survival and tragic death. With smells of delicious breads wafting up from the page, embroidering detail upon detail in fine literary stitch, Gila Green draws us fully into her narrative, as she generously shares with us the hidden core of family life and the stories she is not afraid to tell. Yael Unterman, author of The Hidden of Things: Twelve Stories of Love & Longing. Voices in the collection include Assaf, a Yemenite boy growing up in pre-State Israel, Miriam, a young Canadian girl growing up in...

Writers must write emotion. That's a given. But many writers lean too heavily on stock emotional body language when they describe their characters: the wink, the nod, the yawn, the shrug and that American favorite, the smile. North Americans smile more than people from other cultures. And we don't just smile (way) more, we smile bigger and brighter. Scroll through a brief comparison of photos of American vs. Chinese leaders and you'll see it, too. As an editor, I don't go more than five pages without spotting it in first drafts for longer pieces and there's a rare Flash piece without at least someone smiling by line four. From the first grin in a draft, it's everywhere, way too much of it. For many writers it is a crutch whose sell-by-date has expired. So short of moving to Russia or Japan and imbuing a whole new body language vocabulary, what's a...

Setting is an often overlooked story element for many writers.  I cannot tell you how many short fiction submissions I've received that take place No-where in No-time. When queried the most common answer I receive from writers is, "this story can take place in anywhere USA." Or, "It doesn't matter. They could be in any modern city." If you've ever sat down to write fiction or non-fiction and used this approach to setting and location it's way past time to stop. This response couldn't be more wrong. There are several key points for you to remember about your story world. Today I will discuss one of them. Remember this: no one has ever been to your story world except for you. Consider the world you live in every day. Who inhabits that world? You do. Nobody else. You have a unique perspective on your world. Not sure? Don't think you're very different from anybody else?...

I took one of your classes and, you may remember, the story (The Storm) I wrote? Anyway I entered it in a contest and placed third which pleased me.Nancy SheltonSpringfield, MO

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 out unintended foreign words from your work.Names. Many writers spend time enhancing their work with thoughtful character names. But when you live in one language and write in another naming story characters can be frustrating. Names from your adopted country often seem awkward in your mother tongue, or worse become words that take the reader out of the story. On the other hand, mother tongue names may appear mundane.Setting. If you choose to write about your adopted country, it may appear too exotic or you may worry you lack the background to make the country come alive. How long do you have to live somewhere to feel you have the authority to write about it, especially if the country operates in a language that...

8 Easy Time Savers

With LoveBy Sari FriedmanIf I’m lucky, something spectacular happens at some point in my writing process. I fall in love. Sometimes I’m in love with my protagonist, but not always— it’s impossible to predict which character, setting, technical aspect or plot sequence will fill me with that combination of tender regard, affection, allegiance and the desire to start writing a sonnet.As I wrote my first novel, which is about a New Yorker who starts to remember her past-life 4,000 years ago in the Land of Canaan, I fell in love with the antagonist’s manipulative pyrotechnics. I loved the technical challenge of revealing the conniving of a hurt-causing personality. I’m not conniving in real life. I'm nurturing and empathic. Strangers have been known to call me “Mom.” But this meant that I’d never understood how a hurtful personality could function. And that led to my sometimes being very hurt. In practical terms,...