Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Southern California, in the San Fernando Valley. It’s still a relatively calmer, slower-paced section of Los Angeles. I still live in L.A., but not in that area. Reading was always something that I enjoyed, even though I was also interested in a lot of other things. Career-wise, I wanted to do something scientific or technical. Writing was always considered a “hobby,” or “not a real job,” or something mostly for strange people that only a very, very lucky few could do for a living. Still, I enjoyed writing, and got great feedback from others about how good my writing was.
Fast forward a few years, to a time when my kids were very young. It was fun to make up stories for them – bedtime stories, stories for long trips, stories for mealtimes, and other occasions. It felt natural to do that; after all, my father had been a constant storyteller for my brothers and me when we were little.
As of now, I’ve written five books. My first novel, “Yaakov the Pirate Hunter,” was inspired by my son’s request for a story about robots, during a drive to school in the morning. I may have come up with the basic idea prior to that event; I took a correspondence course on writing for children, and wrote a short story that involved kids with robots. Either way, my son’s request definitely got the ball rolling in terms of putting together the novel. I included things were familiar to me and in my “world” at the time: the novel has elements of science and technology, adventure, and our Jewish tradition.
I took a break for a while; I was discouraged, and didn’t have opportunities like Awesome Gang to spread the word about my writing. Eventually, I got back into it and wrote several sequels. The series is titled “Peretz Family Adventures,” and now includes four books.
One confidence booster was finding out that somebody had nominated my third novel,
“Yaakov and the Secret of Acra Fortress,” for the 2017 Cybils Award.
“A Time for Vengeance” is my fifth book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is titled “A Time for Vengeance.”
With my children growing up, and looking to expand my readership, I wanted to write for the “young adult” age group, as well as for younger children. The idea for this novel first occurred to me during my research for the fourth Peretz Family Adventures book, “Yaakov and the Jewel of Jamaica.” I read about a fascinating subject: Jewish pirates during the era of the Spanish Inquisition and the Age of Exploration.
While the Spanish Inquisition raged, a good number of Jews, formerly exiled from Spain, struck back at Spain through piracy. They raided the Spanish ships that were on their way back to Spain with silver and other precious items from the New World. Religious freedom was a rarity in those days. Jamaica was a pretty safe haven from the Inquisition, and the Jews there helped bring the Spanish Empire to its knees. Also, some of the great Spanish explorers, including Cortes, brought Jews on their voyages; for Jews, it was one way to escape the physical torment of the Inquisition and to open new lands where their brethren might live free.
That knowledge served as a great backdrop for “Yaakov and the Jewel of Jamaica.” For “A Time for Vengeance,” I wanted to write something that took place during the Age of Exploration itself. The mid-17th century was also the Golden Age of Piracy. Yet, piracy was not the only way to retaliate. What if a teenage boy wanted to fight back in his own way? What if he had some unusual tactics and resources that gave him a battlefield advantage (admittedly a limited one)?
The popular image of Jews as passive, helpless victims who “wander” through history, letting the world’s powerful empires trample them, is a silly myth. In every generation, Jews have fought back ferociously, on both the physical and spiritual levels, against their oppressors; however, those stories are not told often enough. Even when physical retaliation does get some attention, the spiritual fight is generally ignored. People know about Bar Kochba’s battles against the Roman Empire. People know about the uprisings in Warsaw and Vilna that occurred during World War II. Yet, there was a deeper, more meaningful resistance, as well. The rabbi of my synagogue has often told the story of how his father and others secretly planned and pulled off a Passover seder inside a concentration camp. On another occasion, my rabbi’s father helped some other prisoners to put together a High Holy Day prayer book. Today, that man’s great-grandchildren number in the dozens, and all of them live up to the very ideals that the Nazis tried to eradicate.
For this book, I wanted to highlight the Jewish spiritual resistance to oppression, and to show that thriving and living up to one’s highest ideals is really the best way to win. Initially, the protagonist burns with rage, and responds to his father’s arrest in a raw, violent manner. Yet, as the story progresses, he learns what true vengeance really is.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. One habit is to write very early in the morning. I like to go to sleep before 10 pm, when I can, and to get up before 5 am. I do most of my writing between 5 and 6 am. It’s a time when everybody else is usually still asleep, so there’s not much to distract me.
When still in the pre-production stage, working on an outline and beats, I often squeeze in extra moments to work on my book, using Monica Leonelle’s “8-Minute Writing Habit.” Sometimes that means that, after my long commute to the day job, I’ll sit inside my parked car and set the timer on my phone for 8 minutes. Then, I’ll write in a notebook for those eight minutes before entering the office building to begin the day’s work. Sometimes, I’ll sit and write my beats while eating breakfast. I like to keep that notebook as a pretty constant companion, so that at the end of every day, I know that I’ve made some progress.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
It’s a tough question, because you can learn something from every book that you read – whether it be from the content itself, the storytelling technique, the character development, or some other aspect.
One of the memorable series from my youth was “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” by Douglas Adams. There was a zaniness to it that appealed to me. It was also liberating in another sense: it gave me permission to write long, wordy, complex, descriptive sentences containing numerous clauses. One of my English teachers criticized that me for doing that, and wrote “awkward and wordy syntax” in red ink on my schoolwork; I didn’t care. The series also had an audacity that gave me permission to go wherever I wanted with my writing.
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien excelled at world-building (as did Mr. Adams), and I think I learned a good deal from them. In writing the second through fourth books of my Peretz Family Adventures series, one of my goals was to expand the fictional world that I had introduced in the first book.
When I was younger, I discovered William Gibson and Isaac Asimov, two authors whose science fiction I enjoyed and who inspired me to write in that genre.
I read a number of Robert Ludlum thrillers, back in the ’90s. At the time, I don’t think I aspired to be a novelist, but I did learn to appreciate the rapid-fire action. More recently, Daniel Levin wrote a fast-paced thriller, “The Last Ember,” which reminded me of that writing style. In the second Peretz Family Adventure novel, I aimed to pick up the pace, and it’s something that I tried harder to do in Yaakov and the Secret of Acra Fortress.
As an adult, I devoured a kids’ book called “The Wall and the Wing,” by Laura Ruby. It was nice reminder of how to be a kid again and how to delve into the world of an inquisitive, daring child. So, it helped me to write the character of Yaakov Peretz, the hero of my series.
In a similar way, Neal Shusterman taught me how to write my way into the head of a young adult. His “Unwind” series did that in a fascinating way (although the books are kind of creepy).
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m dreaming up ideas for a sequel to “A Time for Vengeance.” I definitely want to write one, and want to set it in a country that only existed for about 24 years. Once I’ve fleshed out the concept, I’ll be able to get to work.
I’m also thinking of writing novel set it in Los Angeles, about a young man who plays the accordion in a band and dreams of making it big. In a sense, that’s about me, a side of me that still deserves some exploration.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have a great answer to that question yet. Amazon ads have sometimes been pretty good for me. I’m starting to get more involved in cross-promotion with other authors, where each of us promotes the other’s books to his or her email lists. I want to pursue that method further and see where it leads.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep producing content and don’t get discouraged. If you want to be an author, then you absolutely need to write books. And you need to find a consistent routine that works for you. It may take a while, so experiment. Take some time to test out which place and time are most enabling. For some, it may be in the late afternoon at the local coffee shop. For others, it may be at the kitchen table.
Get yourself into a routine; just show up at your designated time and place and write. Pretty soon, you’ll have a book.
Also, avail yourself of the many, many resources for writers. Some great books are “Prosperous Creation” and “Write Better, Faster” by Monica Leonelle, “Story Engineering” by Larry Brooks, “Book Launch” by Chandler Bolt, “Mastering Amazon Ads” by Brian Meeks, and “Newsletter Ninja” by Tammi Labrecque. There are courses and podcasts by Nick Stephenson, Mark Dawson, and Joanna Penn, all worthwhile, with very valuable knowledge and advice.
Definitely join a community of like-minded individuals. It will help keep you focused and empower you to reject the discouragement you’ll get from most people when they hear that you want to write. The support that you get from other authors, who are all in the same boat, will be critical to your success. There are online groups, forums and the like, as well as in-person groups like critique groups.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Eliminate distraction from your life and focus on what’s important. Focus on things that you can actually control, and aim to the best you can there. It will help you to be the best person you can be. Things like the news and politics are basically mindless entertainment that add little or no value to your life; forget about that stuff and pay attention to your own health, character, family, friends, and community.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading “Tevye in the Promised Land,” by Tzvi Fishman. It’s a sequel to Shalom Aleichem’s “Fiddler on the Roof,” with the main character, Tevye, expelled from his Russian village and on a journey to the Land of Israel. The book develops Tevye as a bold, confident, assertive man who stands up for what he believes to be right, rather than letting the world pick on him.
As of now, I’ve only read about 10% of the book. I’m finding it quite enjoyable and entertaining.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I would like to write a sequel to “A Time for Vengeance,” continuing my Chronicles of Simon Mendez series with a further development and maturation of Simon’s character. He’ll continue to a new phase in life, with facing new challenges that force him to grow in new ways.
I’m also toying with the idea of writing a novella that explores Lucinda’s side of the story. Lucinda is a relatively minor character in “A Time for Vengeance,” who reveals a bit about her experience. There may be more to her story, which occurs at the same time as Simon’s.
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?
I would have to bring the Torah; as a Jew, I’m obligated to study it every day. I also highly enjoy studying it. For a (hopefully) short stint on a desert island, the Stone edition, published by Artscroll, will do.
I would bring “Life Hacks,” by Keith Bradford. It contains a lot of great information in the form of concise, easy tips. I’d have to make life on the island as easy as possible.
Since I’d want to eat well while on the island, I’d bring “Desert Island Dishes: Recipes from the World’s Top Chefs.” I wouldn’t pay the $1,649.95 Amazon price for it, though; a used copy would be just fine.
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