Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Israel, as were my parents. However, my family lived in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) for a year when I was five years old–a year which ultimately changed the course of my life. I currently reside in New York City. I am a Speech Language Pathologist and Audiologist, and have been working with children of all ages for almost 25 years. I also teach internationally to child professionals, present in conferences, edit a monthly newsletter and publish a column in it, volunteer in several committees and love every moment of all of it.
“Outlawed Hope” is my first novel and my first published book. I have published articles before, as well as columns in professional newsletters, and a chapter in one of the most popular books about childhood trauma and dissociation in recent years. I am currently at work on a professional book that I was contacted to write with Routledge Publishers and which is due out sometime early next year, and I am also working on a sequel to “Outlawed Hope.”
I’ve always written. Writing is in my soul.
My professional life is dedicated to optimizing children’s lives and to bridging understanding between professions when it comes to language, early trauma, and development.
Fifth of seven sisters, I am blessed with a very large and very amazing family. I also loves goats and beaches, books, nature, life, words, and the grace of connection.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Outlawed Hope” is my new book, published December 4, 2013.
It was inspired by so many things that it is hard to describe. Mostly I can say it was inspired by life: by societal norms I don’t agree with, by history’s re-writing, by children’s antics, wise women in my life, and many experiences and ideas. On a more practical level, the very beginning of “Outlawed Hope” was inspired by a ‘waking dream’, where the first scene of the book unfolded in front of my eyes and begged to be written. I did, and the two pages sat in my documents for a long while without additional work. Quite some time passed before the images rose in my mind’s eye again, along with the next step of the story, which after that unfurled itself before me as I wrote. Writing this book felt like discovery, rather than invention.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write whenever I can. On whatever I can find. I always had paper and pen tucked in someplace in my bag or pocket, and if not, utilized napkins, re-purposed envelopes, and hijacked back pages of calendars or memo books. I never go away for any length of time without my laptop or kindle, though paper still works quite well …
Not knowing what ‘usual’ writing habits are, I cannot tell if mine are any different than those of others. I could be lying in bed at night, dozing into sleep, when a paragraph comes to mind and spreads wakefulness inside me–I have written into many nights, and sometimes those are the best hours of writing for me. At other times it is the early morning, when I wake with the thread of a dream that wove itself into the continuation of the story. On ‘regular days’ I sometimes write between clients, if I can manage–a paragraph, a sentence, a note to myself. Mostly, time is a fluid thing when it comes to writing. I would not want to change it for the world!
Being ambidextrous means that I can write with either hand, depending on where a flat surface may be most presentable, or which hand happens to be free. That does make things quite interesting sometimes, especially if I switch hands and someone notices …
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I loved and still do Jules Verne, Tolkien, Camus, Dickens, Twain, Hugo, Aesop, Sr. Conan-Doyle, Tamora Pierce, Naomi Novik, and the Fairy Tales of Grimm, Anderson and many others. I’m an avid reader still. I’ve spent my childhood reading books from the library shelf by shelf… I’ve read anything I could put my hands on, many of them Hebrew authors like Shai Agnon, Dvora Omer, and many others. My childhood and adulthood was enriched by all I’ve read.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a professional book for Routeldge Publishers, about communication disorders in children and adolescents who experienced maltreatment and trauma. It is a book that bridges the fields of speech-language-pathology and psychology, and reflects the work I’ve been doing in both those fields for the last decade or more. It is due at the publishers this summer, and planned to be on the shelves by early 2015.
I was invited to contribute a chapter to another professional books, where clinicians from around the world collaborate to collate an edited manuscript about treatment of children and adolescents.
In addition to those non-fiction venues, I am also working on another novel (unrelated to “Outlawed Hope”), as well as on the early writings of a sequel to “Outlawed Hope”.
Aside from the above, I am the long time editor of a monthly professional e-newsletter, and contribute regular and guest columns to that publication and other professional publications, on both clinical and non-clinical matters.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am relatively new to this, so am learning as I go. I have used facebook and twitter, and my friends have shared and posted on their facebook and twitter pages, too. I have a giveaway on Goodreads (only discovered that website recently, too, and I adore it!). My book has been recommended (by readers) to a couple of reading groups, which I hope will increase the awareness to it. I have been asked to consider doing a discussion group about the book to professionals who work with young adults. A friend of mine has connections in the publishing world and in some independent bookstores, and she hopes to have the latter carry the book and sponsor a book signing event.
Mostly, I guess I am doing all kinds of little things, as I learn them. Am always open to new ideas and ways to promote my book, or rather, to raise awareness that it is there, so that people can then decide if they want to read it or not (I hope yes…).
So far the readers came back with very positive reviews, and I hope that those, too, would help spread the word and have others more likely to read it and share it.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being a new author myself, I hardly hold myself an expert to give advice. That said, my advice would be what I would recommend as a way of life, including when it comes to writing and/or publishing: Go with your heart, think about what drives you (wish for fame? need to write? a story that just has to be told? fascinating with the process? the calming aspect of creativity? need for money?) and differentiate needs that rely on others (i.e. money, fame, recognition) from needs and calling that relies on you and comes from within you. Write about what calls you. Do your homework–learn about what you are writing, read others’ work, join with other authors, discuss their process, be brave, accept feedback, be curious.
If this is a truly good advice for authors remains to be seen … given that I cannot show that it indeed ‘works’, but it works for me … and maybe will for others.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be compassionate and kind–to yourself as well as to others. Speak and live truth. Know gratitude. Find joy. Do not plug into what drains you and fill your cup so that you can give from it to others.
What are you reading now?
Several professional books: “Blind to Betrayal” by Freyd, “Language, learning and behavior disorders” by Beitchman et al, “When the brain can’t hear” by Bellis, “A child in pain” by Kuttner.
Also reading: “Cathedral of the sea” by Falcones and “City of Oranges” by Lebor.
For work with my clients, re-reading “The Thief Lord” by Funke, and “The Time Machine” by Wells.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing…
To publish my professional book, and the chapter I’m contributing to the other professional book. There is a dearth of knowledge in that particular field of working with traumatized children and I am excited to be a part of helping to share experience and insight for it.
To publish the sequel to “Outlawed Hope” and the other novel I am writing on.
To keep writing.
To keep having fun.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oy, it is always the deserted Island, never a spa in Hawaii.. 😉
Lord Of The Rings (it’ll last me a while), Grimm and Anderson compilation of Fairy Tales (for bedtime stories and because they are timeless, even if I’m an adult), Jules Verne’s compilation (maybe he’ll give me an idea of how to live on a mysterious island, form a submarine out of seaweed, tame dinosaurs, or find a way out through the center of the earth…).
Author Websites and Profiles
Na’ama Yehuda Website
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