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Jewish books not in WW2

I recently got a Google alert about a blog that mentioned one of my books. The blogger is purple-haired Tamara Craiu, a "bespectacled, queer Jewish millennial lady with a moon tan and dang proud of it, who is waiting for her moment to destroy an elitist, sexist male nerd with her vast Star Trek and comic knowledge." The post that alerted me [see link to website below] is titled "Books with Jewish Protagonists that are NOT set in WW2." I confess that I too try to avoid reading books about the Holocaust, unless they come at it from a brand new angle, which is highly unlikely after 75 years.

Reading through Tamara's list, I found plenty that interested me, and I think my readers will find some to like as well. Including "Apprentice", the first volume of my "Rav Hisda's Daughter" series, I’ve read eight of her Historical Fiction recommendations and I second her endorsements. As one might expect from a queer book blog, there are lots of LGBT novels in the Contemporary section and plenty more on the subject in Non-Fiction as well.

There are lots of intriguing novels with SciFi, Fantasy and Dystopian themes in the YA section, followed by a minyan of books in the following group devoted to the topic ["The Dyke and the Dybbuk" or "Jews vs. Aliens" anyone?]. I was thrilled to find my very favorite novel ["He, She and It" by Marge Piercy] among the latter. Last are half a dozen graphic novels, one of which, "The Rabbi’s Cat", I’ve both read and seen the animated movie.

To see the complete list click on this link

writing, not blogging

Back to my original subject: why I haven't been blogging so much. The main reason, and I guess the best, is that I’ve started writing my new historical novel. And when I write the first draft I need a minimum of two hours of uninterrupted time to complete a scene; otherwise I'll stay awake at night thinking about it. I mean actually writing, as opposed to outlining and researching. Not that I’ve stopped outlining and researching, which I’ll continue to do until the book is finished. I’m on the last scene of chapter four, out of what I plan to be a thirty-chapter novel. I plan each chapter to contain approximately 5000 words, although that will certainly change.

You may note that I have not revealed the novel's title, location or time period. Rest assured I know these details, but I don't have a contract for this book and the lawyers at Penguin advise me to say nothing about it until I do. At this point the book's future is somewhat nebulous, because Penguin has merged with Random House and my previous house editor has moved on. So while my current contract says that Penguin has rights of first refusal to my future fiction, I would have to find a new publisher if they don’t want it – at which point Random Penguin could step in and say they do want it. Oh well, that’s what literary agents are for, and thankfully I still work with the same one.

What I can tell you is that the story involves women and Talmud study, no surprise there. Of course there is romance and a happy ending as well. It is set in 20th century America, and while most scenes take place within a two-year period, there is also a significant backstory about the protagonists’ parents. As you can imagine, the research involved is more complicated than my previous works. Easier because there is a great deal of information available, much of it literally at my fingertips on my computer. Difficult because of the tremendous amount of information, more than I could sift through in a lifetime. Tricky because there are people alive who would know personally if what I write is incorrect.

I hope to blog weekly while I’m writing the new book, just to keep in touch. I’ll end with a car update. I’m enjoining the Niro and have discovered a couple of cool touches. Very nice that my fanny-pack fits in the center console; I've never driven a car with a specific place I could put my purse, a complaint many women have about car design. Also nice that there is another compartment in the cargo area between the spare tire area below and the carpeted "floor" above. I discovered this hidden area, which is divided into smaller sections, while looking for the spare tire. Perfect storage for towels, tennis shoes, water cartons, a rain jacket, and other items I might need in an emergency. Best thing so far is that the hybrid really does save gas; I've driven 300 miles so far and still have well over half a tank left.

I chose the Kia Niro

Here is part two of my new car search. We subscribe to Consumer Reports and April is the car issue, so I quickly checked their rankings. Check-rated subcompact SUV’s were Subaru Crosstrek, Honda HRV, and Mazda CX3, all three of which would fit in my garage. Unfortunately the Kia Niro was too new and hadn’t been tested yet. Among the compact SUV’s, the Kia Sportage was the only model that was both check-rated and fit in the garage. Goodbye Toyota’s RAV4 and Subaru Forester.

This month's Consumer Reports had a useful article on all the new advanced safety features, with daunting acronyms like FCW, AEB, ACC, BSW and RCTW. The Subaru website let me compare specs on up to 4 cars, at which point I discovered that the HRV doesn’t come with any of these safety features, not even as an option. Our family has driven only Hondas for almost 30 years, but I would now be buying something else.

The Kia Niro test-drive came first, mainly because I really liked the idea of driving a hybrid and not having to buy so much gas. The EX model, whose optional safety package included all the ones Consumer Reports recommended, tested out fine, although there were a few disappointments [only driver’s seat had power adjusting, no way to open hatch door from inside, dark interior]. The Sportage also drove well, but it cost more and got worse gas mileage than the Niro so out it went.

Next was Subaru, where the Crosstrek driver’s seat was so uncomfortable that I didn’t even bother to drive it. The salesman encouraged me to try the Forester, which was Consumer Report top pick, so I did. The seat didn’t hurt my back/neck and the test-drive went so well that we chalked out how it would fit in the garage when we got home, and my original conclusions were sadly confirmed. Plus its gas mileage was about half what the hybrid Kia got. Off to the Mazda dealer, where I knew from our chalk marks that the CX-5 would be too big, so it was down to the CX-3. This one test-drove okay, but the driver’s seat could only be adjusted manually, which made it not as comfortable as the Kia's. Another drawback was that the cargo area behind the back seat was only 12.4 cu ft while the Kia’s held 44 cu ft. I liked that the Mazda offered cream-colored upholstery, cooler to sit on; every other car’s interior was either black or dark grey. But none of its good points could outweigh its crummy storage area and comparatively poor gas mileage.

Bottom line: we bought the Kia Niro [pronounced "nilo" in Korea] with optional advanced technology package. Here’s the LA Times review.

time for a new car

Another activity that has kept me busy recently, one only peripherally related to Judaism or my book biz, is deciding to buy a new car. For years my family has been urging me to replace my 1994 Honda Civic, also known as Bubbi’s piñata car because of its many dings outside and goodies inside. But it only has a little over 150,000 miles on it and still gets 35 mpg, so what’s the hurry? In the past I drove a car until somebody crashed into it and the insurance company declared it totaled, at which time I would quickly replace it with a new model. Of course as my cars grew older it didn’t take much more than a fender bender to “total” them, which is what I assumed would eventually happen to my Civic. But it didn’t.

I started thinking about a new car after my husband passed his 2005 Accord on to our son and got a 2014 model. I saw firsthand how auto technology had improved, not only that he could play podcasts from his iPhone via the car’s audio system, but also the impressive new safety features. Slowly but surely, when I had to drive more than 60 miles to a book talk, especially at night, I drove his car. I didn’t mind too much when my Civic’s radio sometimes cut out, but then it began needing expensive repairs: replacing a cracked radiator in 2015 and the rack & pinion assembly in 2016.

I got further encouragement from the media. Consumer Reports wrote how the new small SUV’s were becoming popular among seniors because the higher seat both gave drivers a better view of the road and was easier to get into. Plus the hatchback saves your back from bending over to get heavy stuff out of a trunk; important for someone often shlepping 30-pound boxes of books. Then the LA Times favorably reviewed the new Kia Niro, a small SUV hybrid that got 50 mpg. After measuring what size car would fit in my garage, I decided to test-drive models from several manufacturers, something I’d never had the leisure to do before. I’ll detail the test-drives and how I made my decision in my next post.

upcoming book tours

Besides preparing to lead services, I’ve been busy organizing three upcoming book tours. I’ve been working on a 2-week October trip to Chicago since March, plus a weeklong Texas trip in November since May. I have to start that early because many Jewish groups plan their entire year’s calendar in the preceding spring. When no one organization in Chicago stepped up to pay my airfare, I figured that if I got 10 different groups to invite me, then it shouldn’t cost each one more than $30. Thankfully I have a good friend there who is happy to host me, so I don’t have to arrange different lodging for each night like I’ll need to do in Texas. But at least the Texas venues have no problem paying my travel expenses.

Many people have asked who sets up my book tours and are both astonished and impressed when I reply that I do it myself. Yes, it is time consuming, but I don’t trust anyone else to do it right. I start by searching my emails that are labeled ‘speaking’ to see where I spoke in a particular community in the past. I send each of these contacts an email announcing that I’m coming to their city at certain time and ask would they like me to do a program for them while I’m there. Next I search my emails labeled ‘potential gig’ to find groups who asked me to speak, but for some reason it didn’t work out. I send them a similar email. I ask all of these to let other Jewish groups know that I’m planning a book tour.

A few venues reply quickly and, since the early birds get the worms, they get to pick their preferred dates/times. Some reply that they’re interested but need to get approval, and sadly, a few say they’re not interested. For my Texas tour, I was able to finalize the entire trip from that first batch of emails. However, I needed to send out a second round of emails after Passover to those in Chicago who hadn’t chosen a date or rejected me, letting them know which dates were still available and urging them to make their decision soon. Eventually most of the available dates were spoken for, and those who contact me now have to be very flexible. In case you’re reading this post and live in the Chicago area, the only dates still available are Oct 15, 22 [afternoon or evening], or 25.

My third book tour is to Colorado at the end of July. This came about quickly with an email out of the blue from the rabbi of B’nai Vail, inviting me to speak there with all expenses paid. In addition the rabbis put me in touch with some other synagogues along Interstate 70, and they asked me to speak to their congregations as well. My husband rarely accompanies me on book tours, although he has joined me for a vacation on occasion when my trip is over in an especially nice area. Which is how we came to spend a week driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, a week snorkeling in the US Virgin Islands, and a week celebrating my 65th birthday at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This summer we’ll be staying a week in Vail and doing day trips to surrounding cities like Aspen and Evergreen - hiking, biking and river rafting in the scenic Colorado Rockies.

For details on my upcoming schedule see my website