An award, and validation

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I’d been starting to wonder if I should keep trying to write for children.

Kidlit can be a tricky industry to break into (along with publishing overall), and sending my work out was starting to feel like shouting into the void: no one was answering. Meanwhile, my short fiction for adults was getting published. Maybe I was shouting at the wrong place?

I submitted my middle grade manuscript to the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award, figuring nothing would come of it, and I went about my day.

… and then I won.

I really wasn’t expecting to win. I’m still pinching myself. It feels amazing to know the committee liked my story, and that this award could help me someday get it into readers’ hands.

Also, I love golem stories! I’m mildly obsessed. See: my current writing notebook. (Not shown: golem pin, golem laptop sticker, golem desk figure, various golem books.) It’s especially great to be recognized for writing about something I love.

Even if it is frustrating to have watched the topic get timelier every year since I started writing the story. But that’s another post.

I thought I needed to stop writing middle grade, but it looks to me like I should keep going.

So if anyone needs me, I’ll be writing.

Reading, not writing

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I was off traveling for a few days, and while it’s annoying that my MdDS symptoms have kicked back up a bit and I’m waiting for the earth to settle, it was also good to get away from the desk and do fun things. I had every intention of writing on the plane, but I also had a copy of Every Heart a Doorway, and sometimes reading > writing. (It’s a gorgeously dark story, read it.)

I actually don’t think it’s bad at all to read instead of write sometimes. How else would we know what good writing looks like? And why would we even want to write our own stories if we hadn’t grown up loving other people’s stories? Every book offers a chance to learn more about the craft. Sure, it’s research. But it’s fun research.

As I traveled, every so often, I noticed someone else wearing a Star of David necklace or a hamsa. I might not have looked for those signs before—not because it wasn’t important, but because I’ve spent so much of my life being the only Jew in the room that I’m used to it. But seeing those little bits of jewelry, quiet acknowledgments that you are not the only one and you are not alone, it gave my heart a lift. I hope they saw my hamsa necklace, and it made them feel the same way.

Now that I’m post-holiday post-vacation, it’s back to writing. I revised my creepy horror-in-a-mall short story, and once that’s back out seeking a home, I can focus on the quirky MG cryptid novel I didn’t work on during my flight. In between finishing up interviews for a magazine article. Here’s to productive days ahead.

***

I can’t tell how much charitable organizations are able to help right now. Some of the groups below haven’t updated their websites since December, or even earlier. But I’m listing them anyway on the chance that they are still getting aid to people in Gaza and in Israel. Please help if you can. Stay well and stay safe.

Project HOPE offers training and support to health care workers and health care services around the world; it’s helping coordinate delivery of needed equipment, supplies, and services to people in Israel and Gaza

The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition that works to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians; it’s creating emergency shelters, collecting donations, and offering support in other ways

The UN’s World Food Programme supplies food and vouchers to people in Gaza and the West Bank

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

On writing short

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There are pros and cons to writing short. Pro: I write exactly what I need to write without excessive wordiness. Con: Sometimes I don’t write nearly long enough.

I had to skip out on two different calls for submissions this week because there was a requested minimum word count, and the stories I had in mind weren’t even close to that minimum. Adding a few hundred words, that I could’ve managed. Several thousand? I think I’d wreck the story.

It’s disappointing, but editors ask for specific word counts for a reason (whether or not they share that reason with us). I can gripe about missing out on a terrific-sounding call for submissions, or I can go find another market for my work. So far, I’ve had pretty good luck with the latter.

Regarding Israel-Gaza: I waited all week to see if the long-awaited hostage releases were about to begin, and seeing them underway lifts my spirits. I’m hoping very much that they will continue successfully.

Charitable organizations to donate to are below; new additions are at the top and this is not in any order of importance. Stay well, stay safe.

Project HOPE offers training and support to health care workers and health care services around the world; it’s helping coordinate delivery of needed equipment, supplies, and services to people in Israel and Gaza

The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition that works to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians; it’s creating emergency shelters, collecting donations, and offering support in other ways

The UN’s World Food Programme supplies food and vouchers to people in Gaza and the West Bank

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Journalist Sonia Weiser has launched a GoFundMe to start a Middle East Conflict Reporters Therapy Relief Fund to help journalists deal with the trauma of covering the Israel-Gaza war

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

Letting a story steep

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I finally found my way to a completed draft of that short story this week, and then let it sit a couple days while I played around with another story. Stories definitely need to sit. To steep, like tea. You need to leave them long enough to forget what you wrote, so that when you go back and revise it’s like you’re looking at someone else’s work, and you can be more objective. You’re more likely to see what’s missing—the plotline dots left unconnected, the character you never bothered describing—so that you can deepen and complete the work. (Critique groups help too! They’ll always see things you didn’t.)

Since I’m one of those throwback types who writes longhand first drafts (pretty notebooks are essential, Parker makes the best pens), typing the story into a Word doc also serves as my revision process; what I originally wrote changes as I type it. Your process may vary.

I’m trying to balance doomscrolling the news with staying productive. We’ll see how this week goes.

The weekly roundup, plus a few additional items of note:

Several organizations have teamed up to launch a site where college students, families, or staff members can report antisemitic incidents. And a group of Harvard students are collaborating on a text hotline in which Jews, Muslims, Palestinians, Christians, Israelis, and Americans are answering people’s questions about Israel-Gaza. It’s Harvard-only right now, but I’m including it because they’re hoping to take it nationwide.

Organizations to donate to are below; new additions are at the top and this is not in any order of importance. Stay well, stay safe.

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Erika Dreifus runs the terrific The Practicing Writer e-newsletter for poets and authors; she posted a list of organizations to help. Her post is well worth reading.

Journalist Sonia Weiser has launched a GoFundMe to start a Middle East Conflict Reporters Therapy Relief Fund to help journalists deal with the trauma of covering the Israel-Gaza war (speaking from experience, journalists are frequently underpaid and do not always have great health insurance)

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help, and so does NPR. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

On staying creative

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How do you stay creative during awful times?

I’ll be honest: Sometimes, you don’t.

I’ve been perpetually reading the news (and largely *not* reading social media) for weeks, feeling alternately horrified, furious, and despondent about the future. Feeling nervous about wearing a Star of David in public and then stubbornly doing it anyway. Feeling guilty about being able to do something normal like celebrate Halloween, and then stubbornly doing *that* anyway because the people who hate you don’t want you to be happy. And then watching bad horror movies at night to give my brain a rest. Where am I writing in all this? Not much. Writing generally doesn’t look like “work”; it looks like the writer is zoning out in front of a screen or a notebook. But at some point the writer will tap the keyboard, or grab the pen, and create words. I keep getting stuck in the zoning-out phase, too snarled up for words.

Anyway. I’m not a fan of those writing “rules” in the first place: *You need to write every day or you’re not a real writer, you need to write 5,000 words a day or you’re not a real writer.* That’s nonsense. People have jobs, families, they have to do laundry, they have to feed the cat, they have to go vote, they have to get the car fixed. You write what you can, when you can, and you learn what you can from the writing. I’m not working on much right now, and the short story that would normally take me a few days is taking weeks. So be it. The story will wait for me. It will be there when I’m ready to finish it. So will all the other stories.

How do you stay creative during the awful times? Get through the awful times first. Then focus on being creative.

My updated list of organizations to donate to is below; new additions are at the top and this is not in any order of importance. Stay well, stay safe.

Erika Dreifus runs the terrific The Practicing Writer e-newsletter for poets and authors; she posted a list of organizations to help. Her post is well worth reading.

Journalist Sonia Weiser has launched a GoFundMe to start a Middle East Conflict Reporters Therapy Relief Fund to help journalists deal with the trauma of covering the Israel-Gaza war (speaking from experience, journalists are frequently underpaid and do not always have great health insurance)

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

News and updates

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I’ve had the pleasure of being published twice this month, both horror stories. My creepy gardening story “Good Neighbors” is in issue 17 of Dark Matter Magazine, which is unfortunately one of the final issues of the magazine because Dark Matter Media is pivoting to do more anthologies and other projects. They’re lovely to work with *and* they send thank-you notes to contributors, so I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to work with them again.

My dead-kids-in-an-amusement-park story, “World of Fun,” appears in the fall 2023 edition of Fear Forge Anthology. I’m pretty happy about this one because I’ve been trying to get this story published for a while, and I’m so glad people can read it now. Obviously any resemblance to real-life amusement park incidents, say in the 1980s, is entirely coincidental. The editor is a sweetheart and as you can see, produces some pretty nice promo images for her authors.

Why read horror when there’s so much real-life horror out there? Because any fiction is escapism of a sort. Because grim times call for grim entertainment. But mainly because horror stories can offer a weird sort of hope; there may be monsters in the world, but the monsters can be beaten. And maybe the misunderstood monsters can find a place in the world after all.

This is the quote I’m thinking of, and if you’re also a Neil Gaiman fan you’re not surprised. It’s from G.K. Chesterton, and it’s the epigraph to Coraline:

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

***

And now back to real-life horror.

I’m adding a few more groups to this list of organizations helping civilians in Israel and in Gaza. I don’t know the status of Gaza right now, or when aid will be able to get through again, but I’ll keep listing those groups in the meantime because they’ll need the resources when they can get back in.

Stay well, stay safe.

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

How to help, part 2

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I feel like the most useful thing I can do right now is keep posting donation links for Israel/Gaza, so I’ll do that. And another reminder: People who are downplaying or outright ignoring the devastation in Israel so that they can support Palestinians *are not helping*. Please spend some time researching the many nuances of this conflict, and please don’t act like grieving Jews don’t matter. It’s possible to want a better way forward for everyone.

If there are any groups I should add to this list, let me know.

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

Stay well and stay safe.

Unmuting to say …

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I’ve been off social media this week. I know better to expect nuance or thoughtfulness or, largely, support when it comes to Israel. And I can’t see the point of opening myself up to even more antisemitism, especially when my kids were dealing with various antisemitic microaggressions even *before* this past week.

But it shouldn’t be hard to denounce terrorism. It shouldn’t be hard to say that civilians should never be targets. Yes, I mean all civilians.

I’m also not the expert in a country I’ve never been to, so I’ll leave the in-depth commentary to people who do have that expertise. When there’s an attack or a war or a natural disaster, I’d rather look for ways to help; to me, that means giving money or resources to the groups on the ground. This week I donated to the JDC, which helps Jews and others in crisis around the world, and American Friends of Magen David Adom, Israel’s first aid/first responder service. The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza.

Stay well, stay safe, hope for better times.

The state of school libraries

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My latest article for School Library Journal is about book challenges in school libraries across the nation. No, it’s not pleasant. Yes, it’s worth reading. And so are the books being challenged.

Librarians are the keepers of information in our society, and they shouldn’t be harassed and targeted for doing their jobs.

If you’d like to learn more, you can download SLJ’s full Controversial Books Survey. If you want regular updates about book challenges and advice on what to do about them, check SLJ’s coverage or Kelly Jensen’s weekly roundup in Book Riot.

My personal advice? Show up at your town’s school board meetings. You might not have a local newspaper anymore, and you should stay informed about what your school board is doing—and you shouldn’t let them or librarians be bullied into taking actions that would hurt people.

Good luck, and happy Friday.

My Q&A with Super Copy Editors

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Super Copy Editors is where I do a fair amount of my freelance work—it’s a great company, and founder Dave Baker is a pleasure to work with. He interviews one team member every month for the company newsletter, and I enjoyed the interview so much I requested to share it. So here it is, for your reading pleasure. Have a lovely week.