Thursday, February 5, 2015

Blog Tour for Tucson Jo!


So I've been on a blog tour for Tucson Jo and really really enjoyed meeting the bloggers, answering their questions and sometimes being forced to think about things I hadn't considered because of the questions!

Here are the links:

 Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb

Jewish Books for Kids with author/blogger Barbara Bietz

The Canadian Balance with author/blogger Anna Levine

The Whole Megillah by author/historian Barbara Krasner

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Tucson Jo named a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist for Children's & YA Literature!

Firstly, I have to say that when the general email blast announcing the awards came through on my email I didn't even check to see if Tucson Jo had made the cut. I have never been honoured with this award, and didn't think that was about to change.

My daughter called five minutes later to ask if I had seen the news. That's when the screaming started. My publisher and best friend Morri Mostow of Fictive Press was out at an aerobics class so I had an agonizing couple of hours before I could share the news with her. And before she could share the official letter she had just received from the Board of Directors congratulating her.

For those of you who have followed my blog, you know that this book was special—although all my books are special to me—but this one in a different way. First of all it took over eight years to write— not continuously, of course, but on and off between other projects.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

19th Edition of Jesper from Edebe!

Wow! 19. That's quite the number. The 19th edition of Jesper  -my book about The Danish Resistance in World War 11 -
just arrived in the mail. The coolest part? The publisher is Edebe from Spain! So in Spanish translation...

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Tucson Jo Book Launch!

What an evening! The really spectacular thing, outside of a fabulous turnout at McNally Robinson's Bookstore, was to have two very special guests, my best friend and my publisher, Morri Mostow, and the head of the Simonsen Foundation in Denmark Marianne Olsen.
We weren't sure how a dual launch would go - me talking about a children's book and my husband Per talking about a book he had translated of a Danish Jewish philosopher, Andreas Simonsen. But funnily enough it seemed to all fit together. I spoke first and talked about the writing of Tucson Jo, then read a chapter. Per talked next and read the forword from the book and then described each chapter. We took questions and the questions overlapped in interesting ways. Tucson Jo is about a Jewish family, so there were a lot of Jewish themes in the evening, and Tucson Jo also asks some big questions so it all seemed to fit together. In this picture Marianne is beside Per and that is Morri beside me.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Writing a first Draft/ Tucson Jo

Writing a first draft is so different for every writer. Some take years to fine tune every sentence as they work. Some take months or years to prepare, detailing everything in a long outline. For me. the process has always been the same. I have a rough idea, maybe a few paragraphs long, the beginning, the middle, and an idea of where it might end. If it is an historical I take as long as needed to do the research which could be months or years! Plus never underestimate the thinking time involved in writing. Walks, showers, staring into the distance, all times when the "little grey cells" are working are the most important time for me - the time before the writing starts. That's when the themes of the book take shape, the characters start to emerge, and finally, that most important thing- the first sentence. When I have my first sentence- which often changes as the book changes- I am ready to start writing. And then the first draft goes fast. Maybe 3 weeks tops with no interruptions -  that's when all things domestic seem to get ignored and we have to hope the water doesn't get turned off because I've forgotten  to pay the bill! Oh- but did I mention the procrastination that comes just before the first draft starts? That's when all things domestic get done! The house gets a spring cleaning, drawers that haven't been looked at in years get organized-all because I feel like I will never start the book, it is too difficult, I can't write it - for various reasons depending on the project-  etc.
I love the first draft process. It's like running a marathon maybe- not sure since I've never run one, but it is all encompassing and really hard work, and somehow full of elation.
And working this way tends to banish writers block because I don't give myself time for doubt. Or more accurately I try to pay doubt no attention. So when that little voice says to me " This is rubbish" at the end of the work day, I ignore it and keep on writing the next day. It also helps that when I tell my husband it is all awful he reads it and disagrees and that helps me to keep pushing ahead.
The second draft and sometimes up to 20 more? Well, that's another story. But when you write this fast on the first draft there is bound to be lots to fix on subsequent drafts. And I know that and expect it.
Except for my book Lisa which came out just about as you see it on the page...
Tucson Jo had so many drafts I've lost count. Actually I have tried to count and it is well over 30! And that isn't just changing a word here or there that is changing major characters, adding new ones, subtracting ones that aren't working, even changing plot lines. OK. Enough of this- must get back to reading over the first draft of my new science fiction book.