J Is For Jewish Stories

Jennifer reviews a Hanukkah book…

Some of the contemporary romance I write involves Jewish characters. I’ve spoken before about the need for diversity in romance (as have many others) and why I choose to sometimes write Jewish romance. There are many other authors who have echoed my thoughts and in fact, there was an interesting article in RT Magazine about this very subject. While I didn’t agree with everything the author said, I’m glad the discussion is occurring—we all benefit from discussions of diversity, whether it’s regarding religion, skin color, culture or anything else.

Sarah Wendell, known for her amazing blog, Smart BitchesTrashy Books, also wrote a Jewish romance, Lighting the Flames: A Hanukkah Story, revolving around Jewish summer camp and Hanukkah. I read it and thought I’d post about it here.

Amazon

Blurb:

Genevieve and Jeremy have known each other since they were seven, and have been summertime best friends at Camp Meira, a Jewish overnight camp in the mountains. As campers, and then as staff, their friendship was a constant, something neither wanted to change, no matter how tempting those changes might be.

Then, last year, with little warning, Jeremy left camp early. After that summer, Gen left the country on a graduate fellowship.

Now, a little over a year since they were last at Meira, Gen and Jeremy are back together to help run a special Winter Camp during Hanukkah. Any water under the bridge is frozen this time of year, and with so much left unspoken and unexplained, this week may be their chance to rekindle their friendship, or turn it into something new.

The book was a lot of fun to read. Although I never went to a Jewish summer camp, my kids did and my husband is involved with it and I loved how the experience was portrayed. She did a great job capturing the intensity of relationships that develop at camp, as well as the “weirdness” of trying to maintain that relationship outside of camp. The characters were well developed and the story was enjoyable to read. If you’re looking for a story where the religion and culture are woven in seamlessly, this is a great place to start.

4 Hearts

Q Is For Questions

Jennifer tries different ways to answer reader questions…

When I write my Jewish romances, I’m very aware that many of my readers are not Jewish. Therefore, while I might understand the meanings of certain Yiddish words or phrases, my readers might not. In addition, my characters might be practicing certain customs that make sense to me, but are confusing to others.

Most of my critique partners are not Jewish, so they catch what I miss, but while I’m writing, I try to make sure I’m being clear about everything. And there are three methods I typically use.

The first is what I call “the CSI method.” CSI started the forensic science trend on TV and needed to make its viewers understand what it was doing and why. So the characters would explain what experiments they were doing as they were performing them. When my characters are prepping for a holiday, for example, I will often have them discussing what they’re doing and why with another character. The risk I run is making their discussion believable, and not turning it into a lesson, which would be overly obvious and not a discussion that two of my characters would typically have. In general, my Jewish characters know why they’re doing something and wouldn’t need to explain it. So the explanation has to be subtle.

The second method I use is translation. I typically pepper these books with Yiddish words and expressions because they’re used in my own every day life. Some words are known by the general public, but many are not, so when I use them, I try to include either a synonym nearby or make it obvious from the context what my characters are saying. I don’t want to use a dictionary in the back of the book because some people find it takes them out of the story.

And when those two methods won’t work, I fall back on the kids. Most of my stories include children, and they are very useful for asking questions and getting answers so that the reader knows what’s happening.

What do you think? Are there other methods I should consider?

Internal Dialogue

Jennifer gives voice to the “inner voices” of her characters…

Have you ever had a silent conversation with yourself? That’s internal dialogue. We all do it. Whether it’s a running commentary of what you’re going to do (“I’m going to make myself breakfast, then do the laundry.”), a commentary about what’s happening around you (“What a beautiful sunrise!”), or comments about other people (“I can’t believe she’s wearing that.”), there is usually a voice running in our head.

Sometimes it serves as our conscience (“Be nice.”) and sometimes it helps us to calm down when we are emotional (“Breathe.”).

Our characters can have an internal dialogue as well, and it’s often a useful tool to show what’s really happening with them. We wouldn’t want an entire book of it, but as one method of showing, rather than telling, it can be effective.

In my current WIP, my hero is having a phone conversation with his mother. She’s...difficult and he has a variety of ways of showing his frustration, including internal dialogue. Here’s an example:

“Wait, Jacob, are you trying to tell me you’re gay? Because it’s fine if you are, but you need to tell your mother these things.”

He was going to lose all the hair on the back of his head. Did men lose hair there? He’d have the reverse “monk” look and it would be ridiculous. Especially since he was Jewish.

“No, Ma, I’m not gay. But thanks for being supportive.”

“Are you sure? And don’t be lippy with me. I’m still your mother.”

He swallowed. There was not enough oxygen in the world for him to breathe through all his frustration. “I’m positive. I like girls. I just don’t have time for a girlfriend right now.”

“But you would if you had one.”

“Huh?”

“You’d have time for one if you had one. You’d make the time. Which is why I’m going to introduce you to the daughter of a friend of mine.”

“What? No! You can’t do that.”

“Of course I can, sweetheart. I have to.”

“No, you really don’t.”

“Jacob, it’s a mother’s job to make her son happy.”

“But I am happy.”

“Don’t lie to your mother. You need a girlfriend.”

She was killing him. “Uh, I, kind of already met someone.”

“What?”

Jacob pulled the phone away from his ear. On a good day, he could hear his mother through the phone when it was sitting on his lap. Right now, with that shriek, well, he couldn’t hear anything, but when his hearing returned, he’d be able to hear her across the room.

“I said I already met someone.” He wasn’t lying.

“When? Where?”

“Last weekend at a speed dating event.”

“Speed dating. Hmm, we’ll talk about that later. In the meantime, tell me about her. What’s her name? What does she do? What’s she like?”

“Her name is Aviva. She has very short brown hair, a great sense of humor and she’s very smart.” So far, so good.

“What does she do?”

Crap. “She’s an escape artist.”

His mother was silent on the other end of the phone. That was not a good sign.

“Jacob?”

“It’s a joke, mom.”

“Is Aviva a joke?”

“No, she’s real. I was just teasing you. I’m sorry.”

“Well, stop teasing me and tell me about her.”

He started pulling his hair again. His description needed to be perfect so that she would leave him alone. What was his ideal woman? And what kind of woman would his mother think was perfect for him? “She’s pretty and she lives with her parents. She’s going to cooking school and learning to be a chef with the hopes of opening her own restaurant. She has a good sense of humor and she loves animals and kids. She’s athletic and likes to travel and she plays the piano.” Oh man. He was totally lying. To his mother. Thank goodness she’d never meet her.