Tag: kidlit

Looking back, looking forward

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It’s been a weird year.

I won a work-in-progress award on my middle grade golem manuscript. I flew to San Diego and gave an acceptance speech, which were both things I’d never done before (I also took my first red-eye flight, which I will try never to do again). I won a partial grant on the same manuscript, then spent much of the year revising it based on all the feedback. This slowed me down in terms of short stories, obviously, but I still got published in two magazines and an anthology.

I also collected a bunch of rejections, including on that same manuscript. Will it ever get published? Who knows? I said to a writer friend the other day, “Getting struck by lightning is not a business plan,” and I’m thinking of putting that on a T-shirt and selling it at writers’ conferences, which sounds like a more solid business plan than writing fiction.

But my writer friends are wiser than I am, and they say the real point of writing is for the joy of it. So I’m looking for joy. I’m putting down the cryptid middle grade manuscript I’m currently wrestling with and reconnecting with the dybbuk novel I’d been ignoring, which maybe had the wrong protagonist all along. I’m catching up on my reading (finally read The Hidden Palace and loved it; next up, The Golem of Brooklyn). I’m taking a deep breath in time for the holidays, literally meaning both holidays at once since Hanukkah starts on Christmas. And I’m holding out hope for the new year, for so many reasons.

It can feel like running in place sometimes, trying to accomplish a goal and not getting there, like no one even notices you trying. But people notice.

My town officials just passed an ordinance that effectively kills the Pride flag raising, which is deeply disappointing considering I planned that event last June. (They have their reasons. I don’t agree. They’ve promised we can do a separate, larger Pride event instead—we’ll see how this plays out.) I spoke at the council meeting where they were about to vote on that ordinance, telling them how this would be seen by the LGBT community, asking them to reconsider. They didn’t.

I was upset after that meeting, feeling like I’d failed. But another community member was at that meeting and heard me speak, and they emailed me afterward to say how much they appreciated it—how brave and confident I was.

I didn’t know anyone else was listening. I didn’t know I was making an impression on anyone.

So here’s my takeaway for the new year: If you keep doing what’s important to you, it will matter, in ways you might not even know about. Just keep showing up and doing the work.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.

Looking for magic

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I’m in a witchy mood. Maybe it was the witch-hat fascinator I was wearing last night to hand candy out to trick or treaters. (Our kids are old enough to go do their own thing, but now I get the pleasure of seeing all the teeny kids in their costumes and they are. So. Cute.) Maybe it was the schlocky horror movies I watched all month. Or maybe it was finally finishing that revision of my middle grade manuscript that maybe, maybe will be the version that gets published.

Here I am, looking for some magic to happen. Maybe I should put that fascinator back on.

At any rate, I have sent the manuscript out to a few places and doubled back on resubmitting the short stories that still need homes, and now that my head is clearer and I am fueled by leftover peanut butter cups, I can get back to writing that MG cryptid story. Or even the dybbuk horror novel, once I figure out where I’m going wrong with it.

Last month felt like a whole year for various reasons, and I’m not sure what this month is going to bring. But the sun is shining and all the Halloween decorations are still up. So maybe we should all hope for some magic.

Enjoy the sunshine, snag some candy, go vote.

Revising the revision process

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So, here’s what I’ve been working on lately.

Magazine articles. Editing projects. A middle grade manuscript-in-progress. But mainly, I’ve been revising.

My MG girl-and-golem-fight-antisemitism story that won the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award also won a partial grant from PJ Library, and I’ve been making changes based on some of the feedback I got. The PJ Library folks have already helped me more than they realized—they asked that I submit an edited version using Track Changes in Word.

The thing is, I love Track Changes. I use it all the time as an editor. But never once did it occur to me to use it when editing my own work. Honestly? It’s a game-changer.

Making changes, deleting blocks of text, or even changing individual words can feel intimidating when it’s just words on a screen. What if I change my mind? What if my computer crashes and I forget where I was? The changes feel so permanent, even if (obviously) they’re not.

With Track Changes, I can see instantly what I’ve changed and where, and if I need to undo something, I can. Using it, I think like an editor, not a writer, and it’s freed me to look at the manuscript in a different way. I’ve made changes I never would’ve thought to make before, revamping or deleting entire scenes. (Though somehow the word count still grew. Sigh.)

I don’t know if this is the version that gets published, but I know it’s a stronger, more cohesive story than it was before, and even the previous version was strong enough to win two different work-in-progress awards. So I’ll see where this version takes me. But seriously, fellow writers, try using Track Changes if you aren’t already. The real writing is in the revising.

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It’s been a scary and sad year for many reasons, and Oct. 7 is coming up. Your Jewish friends are not okay. I’m not asking anyone to state their stance on (any aspect of) the war. All I ask is that people remember what a complex, traumatizing, long-running, maddening topic this is for so many of us, and to be respectful of that. Hoping for better times ahead for everyone.

In which I win an award

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Last week, I flew to San Diego to officially accept the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award for my middle grade novel at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual conference. I had a great time! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, my speech went over well (after a lovely introduction by incoming Manuscript Committee coordinator Talya Sokoll), the panels I attended were really interesting, and several of the attendees told me they hoped to see my book published. Plus name-checking Lord of the Rings in my speech prompted a couple of librarians to nerd out about Tolkien with me afterward.

I also got to meet a number of authors in person I only knew online or had interviewed by phone for my SLJ article, which was a lot of fun.

I’m not frequently in a space with a lot of other Jews at once, so I appreciated that—especially seeing how inclusive a space it was, from observant Orthodox Jews with their hair covered to more secular types like me (and my not-Jewish husband). There was a space set aside in the hall for people to ritually wash their hands and say the blessing over the bread before dinner, but that was optional, not required of everyone. (Many Jews will say the blessing over the bread to include the entire meal, before they touch any other part of the food.)

I’d been worried about the safety of the event, given current events, but there were security guards everywhere at all times. Should any gathering of Jews need that much security? No. Was it reassuring to see them? Yes. Plus they were super friendly.

And we even got in some sightseeing before we headed home. Pics below, from the awards night and from playing tourist:

During my speech.
Posing afterward with Talya.
At the Air and Space Museum.

Around Balboa Park.

What I’m up to

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I only make chicken soup once or twice a year. It isn’t hard—it’s just tedious, if you do it the traditional way. Boil the chicken in the pot, skim off the fat, skim off more fat, sheesh didn’t I get it all yet? Then add the other ingredients and simmer. Make the matzo balls in a separate pot, then drop them in. Haul out the chicken, leaving some bits for the soup, trying to get all the bones out. You won’t get all the bones out. Eat carefully. But also eat a lot of it, because homemade chicken soup is amazing, especially my mother’s recipe.

We hosted my family’s Passover seder this year, which meant I guided ten people through my slightly abbreviated version of the Haggadah and then served them soup, among other things (did my sister think my mother had made that soup? Yes she DID). It went pretty well. My other sister brought gefilte fish, which I am happy to confirm I still loathe, but my parents and sisters love it so it got eaten.

There was some debate in Jewish publications about whether it was appropriate to celebrate Passover this year, given the state of the world. I respect the thought process behind that, but here’s the thing: During the pandemic, we didn’t see people. Not for Passover, not for Easter (we’re interfaith), not for Hanukkah or Christmas or anyone’s birthdays. My father-in-law died on Easter Sunday 2020 and we couldn’t hold a memorial service for a year. If we’re lucky enough to be able to celebrate events in person now, we’re going to do that. And we’re going to hope for better, calmer days ahead for everyone.

So, here’s what I’m doing lately. I do the occasional fan panels for an all-virtual con called ConTinual and it’s a lot of fun. Here I am talking about Buffy Season 2 and about Good Omens. My next published short story will be in an all-dragons anthology from WolfSinger Publications, and I’ll update that link when the pub date is official. And I’ll be officially receiving the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award at the AJL conference in June.

Also, I’ve started volunteering for Strong Women-Strange Worlds, a regular virtual showcase for female/nonbinary/underrepresented gender authors of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It’s a really nice group, and if the above describes you, sign up to do a reading! They’re always looking for more people.

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World Central Kitchen is back in Gaza, so it seems like a good time to give them a donation. Other suggestions follow, in no particular order:

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

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 and mental health needs in Israel and in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to advocate for hostages still being held in Gaza

Why I talk about antisemitism

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A few years ago—pre-pandemic—I attended a workshop on diversity in children’s literature. Before the workshop leader got started, she had us write down and then share the parts of our identities that made us “diverse,” I think to prove the point that we’re all more diverse than we realize. I hesitated before writing down Jewish. Did that count as diverse? I wasn’t sure. Judaism, or religious minorities generally, never seemed to be part of these discussions, and I hadn’t quite gotten to the point of writing Jewish characters in my fiction. But I shared it anyway.

I don’t remember much of the workshop, except that she said diversity was important, which seemed like a pretty basic thing to agree with. Afterward, I was handing in the post-workshop survey when the leader and I got to talking. She remembered I was Jewish. And she started complaining to me about the Hasidic Jews in Rockland County, NY. Oh, they’re so rude, oh they’re so pushy, oh they’re so etc.

I stood there in shock. What was I supposed to say? Was she telling me this because she expected me to agree with her, or to apologize to her on behalf of “my people”? And hadn’t she just run an entire workshop on the importance of diversity?

I got out of that conversation in a hurry. My only takeaway from that workshop is that I wasn’t supposed to be included in it.

Antisemitism can look a lot of ways, which is why it can be hard for people to recognize it when it’s staring them in the face. One way is to see a secular Jew, think “Hey, she’s one of the cool ones, I can say stuff to her,” and say mean things about more religious Jews. Yeah … please don’t do this. Hasidic Jews, or ultra-Orthodox Jews in general, lead very different lifestyles than I do, but they’re still my fellow Jews and I support them. Especially since they’re a much more visible target for harassment or abuse than someone like me.

Because antisemitism is hard to recognize, I think people don’t always realize how widespread it is. A few months ago, I was at an event chatting with someone who also happened to be Jewish. We started comparing notes on our childhoods, in completely different areas of New Jersey: Oh, you had pennies thrown at you? Me too. Yeah, the kids called me names too. The third person in our conversation, who wasn’t Jewish, listened with increasing astonishment. How did we have such similar experiences? She’d never heard of this sort of thing happening before. Why would children do this?

And because people don’t see this particular form of hatred, it festers and continues.

It’s a fraught time to have this conversation, given current events. But we always need to have this conversation. There will always be another reason, as Dara Horn says (read People Love Dead Jews if you haven’t already), that we need to justify our existence to people.

I started writing my middle grade manuscript—about golems, and magic, and a couple of neurodivergent kids dealing with antisemitism—around 2019. It’s been immensely frustrating watching the manuscript get more relevant every year. I would’ve preferred that it become outdated, and that my kids not have to deal with jokes about Hitler or overhear comments about how “Judaism isn’t a real religion!”

I’d rather not talk about these things. But someone has to talk about these things. Naming problems is the only way to solve them.

Thanks for listening.

***

There are various groups trying to get aid to people in Gaza and in Israel; I don’t know how successful they are right now, but it’s worth helping them. 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 and mental health needs in Israel and in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to advocate for hostages still being held in Gaza

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

In person, again

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I thought I’d remembered everything about in-person writers’ conferences. Bring a scarf or wrap. Wear comfortable shoes. Bring a notepad and pen for when you get good advice or when inspiration strikes. Caffeinate regularly. But nope, I forgot that the air conditioning would also be intense enough to affect my feet. I spent half the day thinking sandals, ugh, where are my sneakers? Listen, it’s been a few years.

I’ve spent most of this year feeling like we were finally easing back into something more or less resembling regular life. We restarted our annual Super Bowl party. I started leaving the house without a mask in my bag. We hung around older family members without worrying about anyone’s exposure levels. And NJ SCBWI held an in-person conference again.

I’m glad there are more virtual options out there now for conferences, workshops, and webinars. They’re a lifeline for people who can’t travel, who need disability accommodations, or who are immunocompromised. But I never feel fully connected to people through a screen. I’m the sort of introvert who works best in one-on-one interactions, where I can see the other person’s face and hear their voice. Without that, I feel like I’m missing vital information. With that—well, every writer friend I have is someone I met at a conference or other event. One of those friends led me to my critique group. I’ve gotten editing work through writer friends, I’ve gotten feedback that helped me improve my own work, and I hope I’ve helped other people improve theirs. More intangibly, I’ve developed a sense of belonging. When I walked into the conference building, I saw people I knew, people I hadn’t seen in person in years. It felt like a homecoming. And that alone was worth the price of admission.

So thanks to NJ SCBWI for putting the event together (standouts for me: Andrea Loney’s “Creator Care” presentation and Yvonne Ventresca’s workshop on revision tools and techniques), and thanks to Montclair University for hosting. I was really grateful to be around my fellow creatives again. Even with cold feet.

(But please keep the coffee coming next time! I really do caffeinate continuously.)

All the new things

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I hate to be one of those people who starts off a post with “This is why I haven’t been blogging lately,” but … this is why I haven’t been blogging lately: I recently switched from freelance back to full-time. I’m editing for a company that supplies web content to software development companies. It’s been a really nice adjustment, but it has been an adjustment.

In the meantime, my fiction is now featured in three anthologies! The current release, “Clearing the Field,” is in “Stories We Tell After Midnight Volume 3.” It’s about a young Jewish ballplayer who finds a way to fight back against the spectral Nazis haunting her baseball field—which was previously the site of an American Nazi camp. The anthology was released just in time for Halloween, but hey, horror is year-round.

Also out is “In His Name” in “Strange Fire: Jewish Voices from the Pandemic,” about a young woman’s attempt to outwit the Angel of Death and save her dying father, only to discover that you can save someone and lose them at the same time.

And preorders are up for “Dark Cheer: Cryptids Emerging”: Volume Blue is out in December, and my volume (Silver) is out in February. “Leviathan” is a modern-day retelling of the Biblical legend of the Leviathan—the king of the seas—mixed with a dash of “The Fisherman’s Wife.”

I also recently had the pleasure of attending the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature One-on-One Conference, which is application-only and competition is fierce. I got some great feedback on my MG girl-and-golem-fight-antisemitism novel, so I’m hopeful for the next round of queries.

(I will also be so much happier when events like this can be in person again. I miss my writer friends! I hate how I look on Zoom! The cat tries to break into my office!)

Everyone in this house is now vaccinated, and I hope you are too. Hoping you have a close-to-normal Thanksgiving, and if you also celebrate Hanukkah, hoping you squeeze in enough shopping time because argh, it’s early this year.