Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Flag_of_FranceVive la France!

I have France on the brain again. During this past week, the Chief Rabbi of France, Haim Korsia, was visiting New York City, and I had the opportunity to see/hear him speak three times (once, at a session billed “for the French Jewish community in New York” that was held mostly in French; I gamely attended, although I did feel compelled to reassure my table-mates that “je comprends mieux que je parle”). (more…)

Sunday Sentence

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In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

“If we say ‘The attack on the World Trade Center put the Department of Defense at the centre of the country’s defence,’ it makes perfect sense to me and, I hope, to you,” wrote the production editor David Marsh, explaining the policy.

Source: Sophie Gilbert’s “Mind the Gap,” an article in the new issue of The Atlantic

Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

A Fab Week for Fig Tree

One of this week’s projects for me in my job at Fig Tree Books is preparing the February newsletter. (If you’re not yet subscribing to the Fig Tree newsletter, you can remedy that right over here!) A couple of issues, back, I established a new “column” for the newsletter that I’ve dubbed the “Kvell Korner.” It’s a spot where we can share especially good news/press/honors about our authors, books, and company.
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This past week provided some excellent material to be “kornered.” First, from the Jewish press came Sandee Brawarsky’s spring books preview article for The Jewish Week, which opens as follows: “While there’s frequent news these days of bookstores closing and publishers downsizing, the really good news is that two new publishers interested in Jewish literature are introducing their first titles this season.” Yes, Fig Tree Books is one of them! You can find the full article, which also touts two of our forthcoming novels, The Book of Stone and Safekeepingonline. (more…)