December 30, 2015

more Limmud NY

I promised to share my other two sessions at Limmud NY right away, but they updated the schedule and I wanted to give out the latest information. The two talks I detailed in my previous post were based on my unexpected journey to become a historical novelist, and what I learned while researching "Rashi’s Daughters". These two are based on what I learned about Rav Hisda’s daughter and her two husbands. Assuming all goes according to plan with my upcoming book, which shall not be named [yet], I will probably announce it that Presidents Day Weekend. At least I won’t be keeping it a secret any longer.

"Jewish Sorceresses in the Talmud: Esteemed Professionals, not Back-Alley Conjurers" - Maggie Anton will discuss the research behind her newest novels, Apprentice and Enchantress, which take place in 4th century Babylonia. There the Talmud is being created by the rabbis to innovate and rejuvenate Judaism after the destruction of Jerusalem's Holy Temple. At the same time, archaeological evidence, supported by the Talmud itself, shows us that some women in rabbinic families were practicing sorcery, an esteemed profession in the very land where the word "magic" originated. [Saturday afternoon]

"Ancient Jewish Magic: What is it and How it is still with us Today" - Maggie Anton will discuss the research behind her newest novels, Apprentice and Enchantress, which take place in 4th century Babylonia. She will focus on the latest findings about ancient Jewish magic, including archaeological evidence like incantation bowls, amulets, and magic manuals, plus spells from the Talmud itself. Some of these spells have formed the basis for prayers and blessings found in today's prayerbooks. [Sunday evening]

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December 25, 2015

Jewish magic that works

I saw in LA Times that there's a nasty norovirus going around. So be sure to follow Rav Hisda's daughter's ancient magic practice: after visiting the privy, wash your hands 3x while saying the asher yatzar prayer. Maybe 150 years ago this procedure would have been dismissed as superstitious hocus-pocus, but today we know it is good public health.

Posted by maggie at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2015

Limmud NY in 8 weeks

Limmud NY, taking place over President’s Day weekend, is less than 8 weeks away. I’ve got my plane tickets, a place to stay with old friends in Brooklyn the night before it starts, and I now know the sessions I’ll be teaching and in which order. Here are two of the four [the other two will come in my next post]:

"How I Went from a Clinical Chemist to a Historical Novelist" - Maggie Anton, who grew up in a secular socialist household and knew little of her Jewish religion, never imagined she would write award-winning historical novels about learned Jewish heroines. She will talk about how, after over 30 years as a clinical chemist, she started studying Talmud and became so fascinated with Rashi's daughters that she decided to write about them. Which led her to embark on to an entirely new career. [Friday evening]

"Jewish Women in Rashi’s Community Were Way Ahead of Their Time" - Maggie Anton will discuss the research behind her Rashi's Daughters historical novels, which take place in 11th century France in the household of the great Talmud scholar, who had no sons, but three daughters. Amazing as it may seem today, women in that Jewish community wore tzitzit (fringes), blew the shofar, performed ritual circumcisions, and had aliyot to the Torah. They also appear to have created or popularized the ritual of lighting Shabbat candles and saying a blessing, just as we do today. [Sunday afternoon]

Posted by maggie at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2015

Talmud book progress

I am not ready to "officially" announce my new book, but I can say that it is definitely progressing. For those who missed my previous blog posts on the subject in late October and early November, it is completely different from my previous books. First, it's short, about 15,000 words as compared to my historical novels’ length of over 150,000 words. Second, it’s nonfiction. Third, it will have illustrations/cartoons.

However it continues my focus on Talmud and my desire to write books that both entertain and enlighten. I hope it will again encourage women and unorthodox Jews of all genders to study Talmud.

As for progress – we now have a finished cover design and the manuscript has been sent off for copyediting. Still working on new websites, an Amazon description, and finding appropriate folks to write a blurb. If you think you’re someone whose praise would make an appropriate blurb, and you'd be willing to read an ARC for this purpose, please let me know asap.

Posted by maggie at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2015

Book tour Q&A

After my last post about author book tours, I received some follow-up questions. My answers, briefly, are below:

1. How did you go about developing a list of prospective speaking locations?
A. I maintain a large [3500+] contacts list on Gmail of everyone who has emailed me about my books or came to hear me speak. I sent them 3 e-blasts [timed 6 months, 3 months and 2 weeks before pub date] announcing my new title and asking if they were interested in my speaking to their organization. Also I searched online for leaders of major Jewish women’s groups; their emails are usually on the group’s website. I have both Google and Talkwalker alerts so I know if a synagogue book group is reading one of my books; I add their contact info to my list for future use.

2. Did you contact the organization yourself or did a publicist do this for you?
A. I did this myself, all by email. I prefer to have everything in writing, so even if I do have phone discussions, I always confirm the conversation by email. My publicist arranged media interviews and articles.

3. If you did it yourself, how did you go about pitching your book talk?
A. Along with the e-blast [picture of cover and short description], I wrote, “I would love to speak to your organization about the research behind Enchantress- Talmud, ancient Jewish magic, and women's place in these - during the upcoming year.” Short and to the point, but these were mostly emailed to people who already knew about me and my work.

4. Did organizations always pay for your transportation or were there times you footed the bill yourself? Did your book sales cover your expenses?
A. They always paid my travel expenses, other than local venues I drove to. Book sales were added income.

5. Do you charge an additional speaker's fee?
A. I charge a lot for a scholar-in-residence weekend. For one-time events, I ask if the group has a dedicated fund for speaker fees. If they do, I ask what they usually pay and accept that. Sometimes when they invite me and ask what my fee is, which means that they’re willing to pay one. Then I suggest a small amount, typically a few hundred dollars. My primary goal as an author is to sell books, not to be a paid speaker.

Posted by maggie at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2015

Raisins & Almonds review

Raisins and Almonds (Phryne Fisher, #9)Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood

I found this Miss Fisher Mystery novel even better than the TV version, which left out the subplot of young Zionist men trying to raise money to run guns to 1920's Palestine to establish a Jewish homeland [not PC these days in Australia, I guess]. The author definitely did her Jewish history homework; she also taught me a lot with the various Kabbalah/alchemy texts Phryne studied in order to find the murderer. I thought author Kerry_Greenwood did a great job with all the Jewish secondary characters, capturing their speech patterns sprinkled with just enough Yiddish words to identify their ethnicity but never straying into caricatures or anti-semitic stereotypes. The plot hung together well, and I loved how clever Phryne identified the spy among the Zionists at the very end [no spoiler alert here - you'll need to read it]. Unlike other Miss Fisher Mysteries "Raisins and Almonds” had a bibliography and glossary of Yiddish words in the back. Of course there's a new lover for Phryne, a nice Jewish boy too. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1746187.Raisins_and_Almonds

Posted by maggie at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)