Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 20
February 3, 2014
Put some funny in your Adar
Purim is still almost six weeks away due to our extra Hebrew month of Adar this year, but it’s not too early to get silly. Writer Libi Astaire posted a hilarious “app” to repair your worst reviews. It’s pretty funny. She invites authors to go to her comment section and apply the app to their own negative reviews. I participated. Head over to her post to check it out.
February 2, 2014
Rehab for my Lame-O story
Last week, I resubmitted the Lame-O story that stressed me out a couple weeks ago. I found an ending that was logical, got some advice from my husband and my writing buddies about how to make the main character more sympathetic, and cut a lot of material that just seemed to distract from the main focus of the story.
I’m hoping the editor will now find it publishable, because I am simply sick of the story.
Good riddance.
I’ve never really felt sick of a story before. I’ve been saddened when a sto...
January 29, 2014
Personal Geographic
Some of my readers know already that I’m a big fan of National Geographic. For someone who studied anthropology for years, it’s pretty much like periodical crack. (Yes, periodical crack can be read both ways.) I dig the magazine so much, that I spend an hour or two every month reading it cover-to-cover in order to scribble over any non-G rated language so that my children can read the magazine and become educated world citizens without losing their innocence. To some people, that last sentenc...
January 23, 2014
My thoughts on Tablet’s article “Do Jewish Children’s Books Have a Problem with Gender?”
Emily Sigalow, in Tablet this week, published an article entitled”Do Jewish Children’s Books Have a Problem with Gender?”
While she does make one point I agree with, that awards committee’s tend to favor Jewish picture books with male lead characters and that the females tend to be engaged in traditional roles, she seems to learn from that that Jewish children’s books as a whole have a problem.
I have to disagree with the overall picture Sigalow paints, though.
January 21, 2014
Ready for me to reveal more embarrassing truths?
I’m making appearance on Tablet again this week. Not being a shirker, I’ve revealed yet another embarrassing detail of my personal life: I am a reverse snob. (This is along with watching Afterschool Specials,being somewhat vain, making choices I can never really take back, and believing in ghosts...I know, I’m a bit of a head case.)
At the time a friend first accused me of being a reverse snob, I had no idea that such a label existed. It turns out that not only does it exist (there are definit...
January 20, 2014
This story does not stop here!
For the last week, I’ve been struggling with a major rewrite of a short story. Basically, the character was not so likeable, her journey was boring, and the ending was very, very lame.
The problems with my Lame-O story:
This was already the third or fourth draft of the story. I’d originally written it for a particular venue, who rejected it. Later, it was accepted for a different one, conditional on me completing a satisfactory rewrite.
The main structural changes the editors asked for were the...
January 14, 2014
Two places to find me in time for Tu B’Shevat!
Hey, everyone.
Don’t forget to eat fruits from trees on Wednesday night/Thursday in honor of Tu B’Shevat!
It’s my not-so-little secret that I’m kinda obsessed with Tu B’Shevat, the minor Jewish holiday known as the “Rosh Hashana of the trees” in the Talmud and colloquially as “The Birthday of the Trees.” With that in mind, it should come as no surprise you can find me in print twice the week of this holiday.
Where to find me this week:
The first place you can find something written by yours truly...
January 9, 2014
Professional empathy: writing and anthropology
The incomparable Zora Neale Hurston
Earlier this week, Google celebrated the 125th birthday of Zora Neale Hurston. Best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching G-d (which has one of the most suspenseful and gut-wrenching scenes I’ve ever read), Hurston was also an trained anthropologist. Much of her non-fiction work consists of the retold folktales she uncovered during interviews in the deep south during the Great Depression.
Anthropologists as writers
This got me thinking about the whole i...
Professional empathy: writing and anthrolopology
The incomparable Zora Neale Hurston
Earlier this week, Google celebrated the 125th birthday of Zora Neale Hurston. Best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching G-d (which has one of the most suspenseful and gut-wrenching scenes I’ve ever read), Hurston was also an trained anthropologist. Much of her non-fiction work consists of the retold folktales she uncovered during interviews in the deep south during the Great Depression.
Anthropologists as writers
This got me thinking about the whole i...
January 6, 2014
Went into exile, but have returned
Quite in keeping with the recent Torah portions, our family went into exile and has now returned! Due to some work on our apartment, we had to move out for most of last week. Where we were staying, I didn’t have my normal computer and internet access. I’m catching up with some work and unpacking the boxes still, so you’ll have to hold on a bit longer for a real post.
In the meantime, my husband just bought me an ergonomic keyboard and therapeutic gloves to counter recent hand/wrist pain. We’re...
