When I find myself unable to get out of my own head to roll down the embankment into my story, I will recall how lost I felt standing before my blank canvas as if it were the first time, and I will remember what I...
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As a storyteller, I spend a lot of time wondering what’s at the base of our very human struggles. We search for balance in our lives. Purpose. Meaning. We struggle to find, and to hold onto, the elusive awareness that we are okay, at a...
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I’m generally in good health. I eat and live carefully. But the last few weeks have been unusual. It might have been the frightening rightward turn the country is making, or it may have been a short course of antibiotics I was on. Whatever the...
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This past Saturday night I heard a lecture by French philosopher Bernard Henri Lévy about his new book The Genius of Judaism. I attended because he’s the most influential French intellectual alive today, and I wanted to hear his voice. I also went because I...
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A hundred years of history. A lifetime of listening to family stories. Ten years of research. Three years in the writing. On the Sickle’s Edge, my Soviet-era novel, is finally about to be born. Not a moment too soon. The publication date – January 16,...
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The holidays approach, and friends and family begin to gather. In the rush to survive, achieve, and accomplish, we often neglect the weight and stability of community, but at this time of year, it begins to assert itself. We begin to feel the pull of...
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Stories have always been at the center of my world. As a little boy, they were the stories read to me as I curled up on a warm lap. For most of my life, I've depended upon the insight of characters in books to teach...
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In times of turmoil, when we most need comfort and perspective, or an escape from the real world, there’s nothing like curling up with a good book. A book that feeds the soul....
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Here we are on the other side of this heavily contested and deeply divisive election. Civil discourse jettisoned. Threats made that should never be a part of our democracy. Insults and mockery thrown at people based on gender, ethnicity, race and religion. And that’s before...
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Here’s a statement I never thought I’d make because it sounds so trite and ridiculous: The closest I will ever come to giving birth is to hold in my hand a copy of a novel I’ve recently published. And yes, I might be suffering from...
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As I look at it today, the Wang screen is tiny and antiquated, but I will never forget the euphoria I felt at learning how easy it was to write over my own words, to change them without effort, to adjust and edit and rewrite...
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During my father’s rehabilitation for his hip replacement, I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the nursing home floor of the senior residence where my parents live, and I’ve had the opportunity to get to know the staff, the tasks they do, and the...
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