Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 28
February 21, 2013
Background on my new story: “Just Perfect” (or why I believe we all live in a Magical Reality)
This week,Hamodia‘s Inyan Magazine published my new short story (and it’s actually for adults!), entitled “Just Perfect.”
The original version of the story was explicitly a piece of fantasy, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I transformed the story into an example of magical realism rather than fantasyin order to address the concerns of my lovely and knowledgeable editor atHamodia.
In the original version, then called “Easy as Pie,” the transformation of Libby’s life occurred after she bum...
February 15, 2013
Lights to the Nations: Two Jewish thinkers release their books for the secular–even non-Jewish–audience
Wow.
That’s pretty much all I could say. I read an amazing blog post by Ann Koffsky this morning (thanks Ann for sending me the link!) where she interviews the unforgettable writer Gila Manolson. The interview is chock full of advice to writers, advice to parents, and other neat stuff. But the biggest revelation to me is that Manolson has created a website to promote her upcoming book–her first book for a non-Jewish audience.
Manolson is not alone. Rabbis Shalom Arush and Lazer Brody just put o...
February 12, 2013
Fans, friends, and trolls–publishing my first piece on Tablet
So, Tablet published a piece of mine this week. It’s been a crazy experience.
In the first place, writing the piece was a bit out of my comfort zone. While I usually write fiction, this is a personal essay. In brief, the story is about confronting my inner teenager as I’m approaching 40 and relates an episode where I thought a younger man was checking me out in a cafe.
Trolls don’t only live under bridges.
The subject matter was outside the editorial policies of the chareidi magazines that compr...
February 10, 2013
The Writing for Pay-Writing for Blog Balance
Lately, I’ve been neglecting my blog. I’m not being delinquent; I’m just being practical. Thank G-d, I’ve been doing a lot of writing in the last couple weeks, writing that is both fun and paying (my favorite combination). G-d willing, I’ll be publishing a short 5-part serial in Binyan in the next few weeks, as well as a few other exciting projects that have been time-consuming.
It’s true that blogging is not independent of my work–I maintain my site largely to create an audience for my writin...
February 4, 2013
Freebies!
As some of you may already have noticed, I’ve done some reconfiguring of my website recently.
Quite a few of of my friends and neighbors have said they hate reading blogs, but that they want to know whenever one of my stories or articles is published. I’ve decided to help them out.
Followthis linkand you’ll see the new landing page for my website. On it, you’ll find a subscription form for anemaillist. This is a distinct list, separate from following my blog through Word Press. Put in your emai...
January 30, 2013
Grandma: A stellar source for writer’s research & just on the other end of the phone line
This grandmother may be cute, but she’s not as awesome as mine! (On the other hand, the little girl is much cuter than I ever was.)
I happen to be blessed with an amazing grandmother. At 92 (she should live to 120!) she’s slowed down a bit, and I wish I could spend more time with her. I used to phone just once a week, but I’m trying to call her more often, as it’s now hard for her to get out and about the way she used to. I fill her in on what’s going on around here, and she tells me what she’...
January 28, 2013
Which part is historical and which part is fiction? My Semi-official 39 Clues Rant
It’s by the fantastic writer Margaret Peterson Haddix. What’s there not to like?
This post might get me in trouble with my kids, but so be it.
In case you don’t know The 39 Clues is a book series for middle grade readers (roughly kids 8-12). I think the initial target audience was older, but that’s who’s reading this series in my neck of the woods.
Kids love these books. They are exciting and are so engaging as to be addictive. Tweens clamor for more titles, which are delivered to bookstores at...
January 26, 2013
How to write funny: what you can learn from Isaac Asimov
A must-read for anyone who wants to write humor
When I first married my husband, I was delighted to discover among his possessions a copy of Isaac Asimov’s Treasury of Humor. I had read the book in high school and enjoyed reading it again, this time discussing it extensively with my husband.
Not only does this book contain jokes–great, classic ones–but Asimov explains why they’re funny, how to tell them, the origin of them, and if there are different versions. He explains the differences betwee...
January 24, 2013
On Writing About Writing: a guest post by Miriam Hendeles, author of Mazel Tov, It’s a Bubby!
Miriam’s Book!
Today’s guest post is from my partner in crimewriting, Miriam Hendeles.
What do writers write about? We write about our lives and our families. Some of us write about our struggles and triumphs. Others write about philosophies and opinions; hope and dreams.
We tell stories, and conduct interviews; we compose lists and craft essays.
We even write about “Writing.” Now what is there to tell, conduct, compose and craft about Writing?
So much. We can write about the writing process, solu...
January 21, 2013
3 Tricks for magazine writers: How to write on a theme and still make your deadline
Before you start to type, you might want to try one of these 3 things.
One of my writing jobs is penning teen and tween stories for Jewish magazines. Before getting this gig, I had to learn an important lesson: most kids’ magazines select one theme per issue, and they are only open to stories on those themes. That means you have to write what they want, when they want it–but you’ve got to still tap into your creativity to make your story fresh, fun, and readable.
NOTE:Writing contests (although...
