Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 22
November 21, 2013
Need a little poetry this holiday season?
Can’t get enough Thanksgivukkah craziness? Tablet just put out poetry inspired by the crazy Chanukah/Thanksgiving mashup. To check it out, clickhere.
Here’s my own contribution:
What shall we do with
Our brand-new menurkey
The other seven days?
November 20, 2013
Can teenagers really save the world? Musings on middle grade and YA lit
I’m completely behind both writing and housework this week due to a bout of strep throat (thankfully, on the mend now due to penicillin). This was the second time I’ve been laid up for several days since Sukkos, so it was pretty much a drag, and I really need to try to wrap up at least one story this week. However, I just feel the need to share this with my readers.
Can three teens really save their airship from pirates? Not sure I buy it.
While lying in bed trying very hard not to swallow (it...
November 14, 2013
Mormon and Orthodox Jewish writers: Does optimism hold back fine writing?
Mark Oppenheimer, in last Friday’s New York Times, posited that the optimistic attitude embraced by Mormons has prevented them from creating literary fiction. Sure, they have succeeded in Sci-fi (Orson Scott Card), fantasy (Stephanie Meyer), and books for teens and children (Shannon Hale, James Dashner, J. Lloyd Morgan). But how many Mormon writer’s have won Pulitzers, National Book Awards, Bookers, or Nobels?
Oppenheimer interviewed a number of Mormon writers for his article, and includes som...
November 11, 2013
In the Courtyard of the Novelist: An interview with Ruchama King Feuerman
I’ve got a treat here today: an interview (conducted via email) with award-winning author, Ruchama King Feuerman. Her latest book, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist , just came out in September as an ebook. Recently, she signed a contract to expand the release to paperback. I became acquainted with Ruchama through Tablet Magazine online, where both of us have published essays. She was gracious enough to send me a copy of her new book and even more gracious to answer a few questions the novel l...
Upcoming Jewish Writers' Conferences & Workshops
Reblogged from The Whole Megillah:
15th Annual Jewish Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Seminar
Sponsored by the Jewish Book Council
Sunday, November 10, Center for Jewish History
Jewish Story
Sponsored by The Whole Megillah LLC in conjunction with the Association of Jewish Libraries
Sunday, May 18, 2014 at Temple Emanu-El, New York City. Keynote Speaker: Peninnah Shram. Panels on children's books, memoir, poetry, and fiction.
While one of these conference...
October 30, 2013
Writers don’t live on desert islands
A couple weeks ago, a writer I’m friendly with asked in passing if I’d finished revising my novel. I told her that I felt like the rewrite wouldn’t happen until I moved to a desert island. Until that point, there would be distractions: carpool, laundry, cooking, deadlines on other writing projects…and more carpool.
Moving to the desert island is no escape
It kinda got me down.
My writer friend suggested that I apply for a writing retreat. Not quite a desert island, but close enough.
But who would...
October 24, 2013
Personal Essays: The Importance of Being Real
While I prefer to write fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy, I do write other genres. This includespersonal essays. I took a little break from writing personal essays over the summer, mostly because writing them can be emotionally draining.
Why writing personal essays feels like a round in a boxing ring
As a writer, I find personal essays emotionally draining for two reasons:
While writing and rewriting the piece, I relive the events portrayed in it over and over again. To risk mix...
October 23, 2013
Is poetry as we know it dead? Goldsmith speculates the “meme machine” taken over.
This week, The New Yorker book blog published a post by Kenneth Goldsmith about the proliferation of rather un-poetic ”poetry” spreading across the internet. He writes:
[T]he Canadian media scholarDarren Wershler…has been making some unexpected connections between meme culture and contemporary poetry. “These artifacts,” Wershler claims, “aren’t conceived of as poems; they aren’t produced by people who identify as poets; they circulate promiscuously, sometimes under anonymous conditions; and th...
October 20, 2013
What? No love triangle? How books for Jewish teens fit into current YA trends
If you ask observant Jewish teens here in the U.S. whether they overall prefer Jewish books or secular ones, most of them will tell you secular books (trust me, I write for teens, so I’ve asked). Sad, but true. (Interestingly, some of these teens will tell you that they wish there were more Jewish books for teens that suited them.) Others will tell you they don’t like either Jewish or secular novels — the former don’t engage them, and latter conflict with their religious beliefs.
Thursday, I c...
October 16, 2013
How to optimize your Goodreads “To-Read” list
A few weeks back, I posted about how we select the books we want to read now, next and never.
On a related theme, I just spent an hour culling unwanted books from my Goodreads “To-Read” list.
Because what good is a “To-Read” list if you don’t really want to read the books on it?
After my very well-intentioned husband took the aforementioned list to the library and returned with many of the books it contained, I discovered few were readable in the land of Mrs. Rebecca Klempner. Three offended my...
