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How to teach people while you entertain them: Modern-day Moshels
To those unfamiliar with the term, a “moshel” is the Hebrew term for a parable, a story told with the intent to illustrate a lesson (usually a moral or theological one). I equate moshels with the soda...
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Why I think speculative fiction is just SO Jewish (& you should, too)
One of the things I most like to write (and find it hard to sell) is Jewish speculative fiction. Speculative fiction is a wide-ranging label that includes genres like fantasy, science-fiction, and...
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Reading local-to-L.A. authors
One of my favorite things to do is to promote the work of Jewish writers with West Coast connections. Here are a few I’ve read in the last couple months: Hands-On How To’s for the Home & Heart by...
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Save the books for L.A. Jewish kids!
The local Jewish children’s library here in L.A. will be closing in a month and a half. It gets plenty of visitors, but the Federation wants to let the Zimmer Museum (a bigger money-maker) use the...
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It’s the week of Shavuos!
Things have been a bit crazy in the Klempner household as of late. We’re already in the week of the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, the subject of my picture book, A Dozen Daisies for Raizy. A few weeks...
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New Jewish year, new books by Jewish authors!
The new Jewish year is marked this time around with several new book releases that have me very excited: 1) After being mesmerized by The World to Come and In the Image, I can’t wait to read Dara...
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How to optimize your Goodreads “To-Read” list
A few weeks back, I posted about how we select the books we want to read now, next and never. On a related theme, I just spent an hour culling unwanted books from my Goodreads “To-Read” list. Because...
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What? No love triangle? How books for Jewish teens fit into current YA trends
If you ask observant Jewish teens here in the U.S. whether they overall prefer Jewish books or secular ones, most of them will tell you secular books (trust me, I write for teens, so I’ve asked). Sad,...
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In the Courtyard of the Novelist: An interview with Ruchama King Feuerman
I’ve got a treat here today: an interview (conducted via email) with award-winning author, Ruchama King Feuerman. Her latest book, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist, just came out in September as an...
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Save the books for L.A. Jewish kids!
The local Jewish children’s library here in L.A. will be closing in a month and a half. It gets plenty of visitors, but the Federation wants to let the Zimmer Museum (a bigger money-maker) use the...
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When writing shifts from a hobby to a job: my new essay in Tablet
Meow. Last year, I wrote on this blog that I struggled with creating the annual Purim newsletter I co-write with my husband. Well, this year, I wrote an essay about it for Tablet. You can read it here....
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My completely unsolicited review of “Megillas Lester”
After all my recent ranting and raving about Esther in pop culture, I watched a video this afternoon with the husband and kids that made me feel better. I’d first heard about it on Tablet, then on the...
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4 Questions for author Tamar Ansh about her new Passover cookbook
I recently conversed via email with the enormously popular author, Tamar Ansh, about her new cookbook. Let My Children Cook! is her first cookbook for kids, and it tackles a particularly pertinent area...
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Writing for Children: not for those who want glory, fame, or big bucks
Last week’s Hamodia/Inyan Magazine had an article by one of my favorite columnists, Rabbi Fishel Schachter entitled “Guided by Tale Winds.” While today Rabbi Schachter is well-known in the Torah world...
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I Live With My Mommy: new Jewish picture book addresses life with a single...
Today, I’d like to share with you this interview with Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein, the author of the upcoming picture book I Live With My Mommy. This new, groundbreaking picture book for the first time focuses...
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Still need a daisy? 6 years of Raizy
My picture book, A Dozen Daisies for Raizy, has now been out for six years. With Shavuos just around the corner, I know that parents and teachers will be teaching about the holiday –some using my book,...
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The new Tablet story my editor is afraid I’m going to get hate mail for
My newest piece is up on Tablet. When I submitted the pitch several months ago to the Life and Religion editor, Wayne Hoffman, he cautioned me: do you really want to do this? The topic of the essay is...
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The Good News, and the Bad News (No Ugly News, thank G-d)
The Good News: I’m posting at my regular Wednesday time! The Bad News: I skipped the last two weeks, even though Passover was over. The Good News: Glixman in a Fix is officially for sale! The Bad News:...
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New Edition of Mazal’s Luck Runs Out and more
As usual, my absence on this blog means I’ve been busy someplace else. While I’ve been getting feedback on the novel I finished a couple months back, and digesting it, I’ve been completing revisions...
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