Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 17

Announcing a class for beginning Jewish writers in L.A.

Do you have a picture book idea?
Have you always wanted to write for the Jewish magazines, but didn’t know how?
I will, G-d willing, be teaching a workshop on writing for Jewish tots, tweens, and teens later this month.

A possible student for my workshop?

Audience: Ladies ages 15 and up are welcome to participate.

Date:May 25th

Time:10 am – 1 pm

Location:Private home in L.A.

Cost:$25, $18 if you refer a friend and they also commit

To sign up: Please fill out the form below.

[contact-form]

Telling kids about storytelling

I’m very excited to be visiting one of the local day schools tomorrow. For a change, I won’t be doing a read-aloud of Raizy. Raizymay not even come up, due to the age of the kids involved.Instead I’ll be talking about “Storytelling,” to coincide with the current unit the students are studying in school.

Fishing for a few stories on this fine morning

Breaking down storytelling in forty-five minutes will be challenging, especially at the upper-elementary school level.After a little intro, I plan...

I Live With My Mommy: new Jewish picture book addresses life with a single mother

Today, I’d like to share with you this interview with Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein, the author of the upcoming picture book I Live With My Mommy . This new, groundbreaking picture book for the first time focuses on growing up in a single-parent, Orthodox Jewish home. I learned about the book through its illustrator, the gifted Dena Ackerman, and upon my request, she hooked me up with Tzvia for a bit of Q & A via email.

I Live With Mommy, Tzvia Erlich-Klein’s new book about growing up with an Orthodox si...

What you got cooking? Making dessert first

So, now that the kitchen is all ready for Passover, I’m on to the cooking. The funny thing I just noticed is that I’ve finished making all the desserts, and even the charoset (also sweet), but have not cooked one main dish, side dish,kugel, soup, or salad.

Why my freezer is full of dessert:

My Passover desserts tend to freeze easily. If I make them ahead and freeze them, they’ll taste just as good. They tend to have few ingredients, and — with the exception of meringues — take very little time...

The Devil is in the details: why paying attention is important

-sigh-

So there I was, patting myself on the back for having a completely kosher for Passover kitchen a full 5 days before the holiday, when I sat down to dinner with the kids for their first dinner cooked in that kitchen.

I’m not so into convenience foods at any time of year, let alone at Pesach, but this year, I decided to get on box of kosher for Passover fish-stick-thingies and one bag of frozen fries. Add some broccoli, and there’s a great pre-Passover dinner, right?

Dinner went over okay....

3 Reasons everyone needs sleep

While completing any major project — whether it’s a writing project or Pesach cleaning — it’s very tempting to burn the midnight oil. Sometimes it’s not the threat of missing the deadline that keeps you going until the wee hours; it’s the simple excitement of the flow state.

Just say no. The writing you do late at night is probably not your best, anyway. It reminds me of being around drunks or people high on marijuana: they think they’re being witty and hilarious, when really they just sound l...

Spending the day on your hands and knees

I spent this morning scrubbing the fridge, stove, and oven. I donned rubber gloves, used multiple cleaning substances — which hopefully will not kill all my brain cells — and scraped mystery goop with a toothpick. I sweated. At one point, I prayed the aforementioned stuff would just come off already!

Work that has meaning

But it was okay. Why? Because it was for a purpose. If I know that I want a kosher-for-Passover kitchen, I’ve got to work for it. If I want it finished before the kids start v...

One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

Here’s today’s teeny post:

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Passover is just a week away, but if you’re cleaning your house like me, scrubbing mysterious substances off of flatware and appliances you intend to use during the holiday, it can get hard to think beyond getting the house chometz-free. To get myself in the mood, I listen to lots of fun music while I clean (Jewish, classical, and jazz) and attend classes about Passover with local rabbis and teachers. I en...

New wacky Passover poetry

I’m not going to have much time to post in length before Pesach hits next week, but I’m going to try to share something small every day to make up for it.

So here’s yourtiny morsel of Passover-related kookiness for today:

(throat-clearing)

You cleansed the windows of mud

And you scrubbed all the toys in your tub

But you still won’t be through

When Pesach is due

If you don’t clean chometz off the rug.

Free writing tip…don’t be afraid to write bad poetry. And if you’d like to share bad Pesach poetry, j...

Ruchama King Feuerman’s latest, now in paperback!

For those of you who haven’t yet read Ruchama King Feuerman’s latest novel (maybe because you were frustrated about its original ebook-only release), In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist is now available in paperback.

Haven’t yet added it to your To-Read list, on Goodreads or otherwise? You can learn more about the book through my interview with her or by reading this great review of the book by Risa Miller (a talented Jewish novelist herself).

I think it’s fascinating that the book’s ebook succes...