Jewish Historical Fiction discussion
giving a reading
date
newest »
newest »
Talk about the source of your inspiration ... Let your passion shine through. Good luck with your book!
I actually make the point when I start speaking that I'm not reading a lot from the book because I personally hate author readings with too much reading when I've already bought the book and begin to wonder why when he/she has told the whole story. You want to tantalize but not give it all away. I DO read from the beginning to set the stage--about 1 page. Then I explain a little about the protagonist (my novel is first person) and touch on the real historical facts and events that are involved in the book, reading a couple of short sections about them. I end with the etiology of why I wrote the book from a story in my family that influenced it. Good luck.
After over 7 years of speaking about "Rashi's Daughters," I've learned never to read from the novels, but rather to talk about what led me to write them and the research behind them, including some of the most surprising and interesting things I discovered. Audiences want to hear the author's passion about what happened during the novel's time period and the characters' lives.Now I'm out on the trail again with Rav Hisda's Daughter, Book I: Apprentice: A Novel of Love, the Talmud, and Sorcery, and my experience still holds. My mostly Jewish female audiences want to know about women's lives, and the authentic sorcery they engaged in; that was something they hadn't heard about before.
Maggie Anton
True, Maggie. I heard you speak, and was fascinated about the sorcery. Well, there's certainly much of interest in RIVKA'S WAR, including the all-female battalion that fought on the eastern front in WWI. It was reading about its commander, Yashka, that got me excited, so I will probably start from there.
If you're going to be anywhere near Port Washington, New York, this Thursday, please join me for the party. Seven o'clock in the evening, May 23, Dolphin Bookshop, Main Street.