I recently presented my most recent novel, BABYLON: A Novel of Jewish Captivity to a particularly responsive group, made up of a combined synagogue Sisterhood and Hadassah book club. The question-and-answer portion of the talk was extremely lively. Then things got serious: I was asked about being a Jewish author today. The literary community and antisemitism I’m sure people – even many fellow writers – aren’t aware of how much of the literary community have turned their backs on Jewish writers. Many have stated in their submission guidelines that they will not accept work from Zionists or anyo ..read more

Even before The Fruit of Her Hands was accepted by Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books, I took the advice given to me by a writer friend and began writing the next book. I chose the subject matter – the Babylonian Exile of the Judeans in 587 BCE – for two basic reasons. The first was a short story I’d read back in Sunday School, about a boy who was about to return home to Jerusalem after Cyrus permitted the Hebrews to do so – and the girl who remained behind with her parents. I don’t know why the idea stayed with me even while the details blurred, but it did. The second was including the entir ..read more

As many of you are aware, I really hesitated if I should to hold my October 15 book launch at all. I explained my soul searching in greater detail in this blog post, but to summarize, I felt it might be tone-deaf to hold a celebration during these dark days in Israel and Gaza. But in the end, I decided to go ahead with it. And as the following photos show, it turned out to be a wonderful event. I’m so thankful for everyone who showed up for the party – all 40 of you! – and hope those of you that didn’t will enjoy these images. We started off on a somber note, talking about the situation in I ..read more

UPDATE: Since publishing this blog post, Simon & Schuster made the executive decision to exclude distributed titles direct to consumer from their website. I leave this post up as a testament to the handful of days that Babylon was posted in their web catalog. *** Back when my first agent was having difficulty placing Babylon with a major publisher, she said in an attempt to comfort me: “Well, no matter what, you’ll always be a Simon & Schuster author.” She meant that because my first novel – The Fruit of Her Hands – had been published by S&S, that I could always claim that a Big F ..read more

I was buzzing along happily with my novel promotion – lots of events coming up, podcasts, interviews, lots more opportunities in the offing. And then it was October 7. My horror at what happened – and what continues to happen – in Israel and Gaza is present with me almost every moment of the day. I have friends and relatives in Israel who are directly affected by the war. The celebrations of the attack made me physically ill. And the resulting antisemitism throughout the world – the cries to kill the Jews, to shove them back in gas chambers, to discard them like so much trash, to establish a s ..read more

It was in Room 080 in the Prado Museum that I came face to face with a painting that embodied everything I’d been saying about the use of paintings in my research. Just days before, in the distant city of Modiin in Israel, I had briefly spoken about my research process. Of course, I touched upon the books and primary sources I used, both for the events of the time as well as background into the details of everyday life – clothing, occupations, what people ate, what they did for entertainment, and so forth. Then, as always, I added: “I’m fortunate enough to live an hour’s train ride away from ..read more

My mother’s mother – my sabta – died when I was thirteen. My mom traveled to Israel for the funeral – and was shocked to discover that it had already occurred before she got there, due to a wedding in the family which went on as planned. “They told me that joy takes precedence over sorrow,” she explained. I never knew what Biblical or Talmudic authority that expression was drawn from, but I knew, grief-stricken as she was over losing her beloved mother, that this priority devastated her. Yet she always claimed that, deep down, she understood. Right now, during the horrific crisis in Israel, it ..read more

I have heard it multiple times from fellow writers – every new novel makes us doubt our writing abilities. This seems compounded as a historical novelist exploring a new era of history, especially one filled with warring political factions, opposing religious philosophies, bewildering turns of events… need I go on? I have time now to sink into the research process. One novel is in production, another in editing. I’m not currently needed for either. I’m enjoying one of the two long breaks from teaching I get every year. And even the administrative side of managing The Writers Circle has slowed ..read more

Last January, I was in Israel visiting friends and family when the judicial crisis broke. The friends we were staying with attended protests from the very first week. We shook our heads at the possibility of this vote passing, certain that Israel, of all places, would never turn its back on its democratic foundations. Clearly, we were wrong. All hell has broken loose in Israel and it feels impossible to know how the situation will ever be rectified. This crisis has divided the population into two distinct parts, rather similar to what has happened in America between Republicans and Democrats ..read more

When I began working at The Writers Circle, I honestly didn’t anticipate that I’d experience three book launches by my students within the span of two weeks this coming month. Or that one of my students would bag a three-book deal of the historical mystery series she brought to class. Or that another would – at my suggestion – decide to fictionalize her own life and be the first among them to be published. Am I proud of my seven students who have published their novels? You bet I am! And considering how many of them are publishing in the next few weeks – along with others who already had the u ..read more