Tag: publishing

Starting over, again

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One of the hardest parts about baking—bread, biscuits, cookies, whatever—is trying not to overmix the dough. Knowing when the ingredients have more or less come together and that you haven’t whisked, mixed or kneaded them into stiffness, because otherwise the dough won’t hold its shape properly and might crack in the oven. Then you’re stuck with a final result that doesn’t represent your best work.

Is this a metaphor for writing? Please, everything is a metaphor for writing.

I’ve been wrestling with this dybbuk novel for a while. I switched the protagonist and started over. I lightened the tone. I changed up the plot. And working on it has become a series of aggravations. What did I want from this story in the first place? Why isn’t it there now?

In the meantime, I started playing with this idea for a fantasy story, as though my brain needed a break from horror. (And because of all the “Legends of Vox Machina” I’ve been watching? Maybe.) I rarely write straight-up fantasy, not because I don’t love it but because I loved it too much to write it badly. But every so often a fantasy story sneaks through. So I started writing. And kept writing, and have kept at it for weeks. Figuring out what comes next has been fun and a pleasant diversion from *gestures to all of this, closes news app in disgust*.

It’s a bad habit to leave stories unfinished to chase after the shiny new idea. But sometimes you have to leave a story alone for a while until you know how to write it properly. In that situation, writing something else is better than not writing anything.

So I’ll see where this story takes me, and when I’m ready, I’ll go back to the other story. I don’t want to overmix it, and if the original idea is good enough, it’ll be worth the wait.

Just the words

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Sometimes I think it’s the pen. My favorite for a while was a white pen that said Walt Disney Resorts on it in gold. The pen always wrote smoothly. I’d never run out of words. (It was probably just a white Bic pen in fancy clothes, but I liked to pretend otherwise.)

Sometimes I think it’s the notebook. Smaller is better for road trips. Larger is better for home. A soft cover is great; decorated leather is perfect. Notebooks that are pleasant to look at must also be easier to write in.

Sometimes it’s the time of day, or the amount of doomscrolling I’ve done, or whether I’ve slept enough. But really, I know none of that matters. Magical thinking is fun to indulge in—especially when you’re writing about magic—but it won’t get the story finished. The only thing that does is showing up, day by day, and putting words down. The writing is what matters.

I’ve been batting around this dybbuk novel, trying to figure out the balance of horror and humor, trying to figure out how to play the inevitable scene where I explain Jewish folklore for readers who might not know it. Some days I know what I’m writing next; other days I scowl at the notebook for a while. But that’s the process, and I’ll keep at it.

And frankly, it beats doomscrolling.

Hoping for good things for you this week.

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.

New short stories!

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Sometimes, I get a story published on the first try. Sometimes, it’s more like the eighth. Or more. It’s a little random. I take a boomerang approach to submitting: As soon as it comes back with a rejection, I send it back out there. Boing. Try again.

This story boomeranged out and back a few times, and it’s an odd one so I wasn’t sure I’d find it a home, but I’m glad I did. Especially since it’s all about the importance of home, and being in a place where you’re welcomed and accepted. Even if that place is the ghost of an old house that’s been razed but can’t quite let go of the neighborhood and people it loved. And the only person who can see it is a bullied girl who needs a friend.

Anyway, “The Dream of Home” is live at Luna Station Quarterly.

My Jewish-folktale retelling of “Rapunzel” also boomeranged a bit, and I don’t know if that was due to the (not entirely upbeat) story or how the world is viewing Jewish stories post-Oct 7. Even though I first wrote this story in 2021. (A Jewish folktale may have been one of the earliest versions of “Rapunzel,” and like my story, it involves the Ziz, the enormous bird who rules the skies. See Howard Schwartz’s Tree of Souls or Elijah’s Violin for more.) Fortunately, the story found a home at JUDITH, a new Jewish-focused literary magazine.

Read “When She Flew” here: https://judithmagazine.substack.com/p/when-she-flew

It’s incredibly satisfying to get stories out in the world. Hope you enjoy them.

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

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.

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.

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.

What we’ve accomplished

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President-elect Joe Biden has won the election for approximately the 473897328763287643th time, front-line workers are starting to get vaccinated, snowpocalypse is coming tomorrow. Already it’s quite the week.

For Hanukkah, we did a chilly outdoor get-together with my parents, chatting behind masks until the wind was too much. For Christmas, we’re doing nothing. My in-laws live too far away, outdoors isn’t an option, staying there isn’t safe. It would’ve been nice for the kids to see their grandmother since they lost their grandfather to cancer in April, but that would’ve required more people (not to mention our leaders) to follow virus restrictions this year, wear masks, care about other people instead of blah blah blah freedom, so here we are.

If I sound angry and frustrated, that’s because I am. Those “we’re all in this together” ads have never been true, not once.

Still, those of us who are still here have managed to survive the pandemic and the horrific political climate of the past few years, and that’s an accomplishment.

If you’ve managed to create anything during this year, that’s an accomplishment, too.

In between rounds of edits on my middle grade manuscript, I started writing short stories again. One was published in Daily Science Fiction. Another will be published in an anthology called “Strange Fire: Jewish Voices from the Pandemic,” out next year. A third is waiting in a submission queue (argh).

I haven’t found an agent yet for my kidlit work, but I’m ending the year with two middle grade manuscripts that are stronger than they were in January.

I worked with some wonderful author clients this year on their manuscripts, including one for the second time. My coaching client got another article posted. And I picked up some new freelance writing work.

What about you? Did you create something? Did you make a sourdough loaf? Did you keep your household going despite all odds? All successes. We’re still in the tunnel, but there’s a light at the end of it.

So whatever you celebrate, have a happy, safe, quiet holiday. If you need an editor in the coming year, please do reach out. And go easy on yourself. You’re surviving a pandemic. You’re doing fine.