Writing A Novel: I'm Not The Only Writer In My Family

This blog is mainly about my writing and my projects, but I'm not the only author in my family. I'm surrounded by many talented people who challenge and inspire me.

My dad also has a science fiction/historical novel up on Amazon called The Lincoln Exchange. It's actually a two-part story, but is a quick read. I'm not a huge fan of alternative history, but read this because, well, he's my dad ... and ended up LOVING his story! Seriously, I was very impressed, both with his writing and with the execution of the plot. He includes so many details and everything ties together in the end. As you can see from the reviews on Amazon, others agree. Now he just has to put his book on Kindle and he'll be all set...

Speaking of alternative history, my husband Jon is working on a series of short stories about Haiti. I'm not going to list them all, but here's one that was published in Lacuna Magazine and here's another. He eventually plans to put them together in an anthology. Meanwhile, he's working on a full-length novel about ancient Minoans called THE BULL AND THE DOLPHIN. He's written a draft and is currently revising it, and will then decide where to place and market his work. Again, this isn't a genre I usually read, but Jon's writing pulls you right into the story.

As for actual history, my cousin Rachael is a personal historian who writes people's biographies. The books that she puts together for her clients are beautiful and her genuine care for her clients come through. You can read more about her work at Life Stories Today.

As you can see I have plenty of people to turn to when I need help with my own writing. I'm so proud to have such creative family members!

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, 4.5 stars on Amazon, now just 99 cents.

Publishing A Book: The Surreal World

Many of my former high school classmates have read BAND GEEK. It's flattering that they're supporting my work, but I think that at least part of their reasons for reading my book are to see if they "recognize" any of my characters.

As I've said before, I did base some characters on real people, though most were a composite of people whom I knew. However, there were a couple of cases where I just out-and-out used a person's name. It's no secret that the character Principal Scott Muller is based on my friend of the same name. It's just a cameo role and I named him after my pal as a little joke; happily, the real Scott is pleased to be "in" the story.

Things got a little weird, though, when I had a discussion with his MOM about my story. I know his family very well and count them among my friends, but still, it felt strange to be talking about Book!Scott with the mother of Real!Scott. She was very encouraging, though, and went out of her way to tell me how much she enjoyed BAND GEEK. I didn't ask her about it or even if she'd read it; she sought me out, which was really sweet. I did ask her what she thought of Book!Scott, though, and she laughed.

I think that most authors name at least a couple of characters after real people in their lives. I'm actually a character in my cousin Barbara's ESL books; she wrote several books that are used to teach English and named her characters after relatives, including me. It's a fun way to give props to the people you care about and who encouraged your writing. I'm just glad that my real-life friends and family -- and their family members! -- like my literary shout-outs.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents!

Random Acts Of Kindness In California

I had an absolutely wonderful time yesterday with my cousin Rachael and her friends. For her birthday, Rachael wanted to perform "random acts of kindness," so a bunch of us met up in a park near the ocean in Long Beach and formed a "kindness mob." We then approached, well, random people and Rachael would hand them a small wrapped gift. She gave a tub of Play-Doh to a mom and little girl and California Pizza Kitchen gift certificate to the man who took our photo, among others. I didn't hand out any gifts, but I liked being outside in the sunshine with new friends.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me was that every person accepted the little gifts without much question. The Play-Doh even got the little girl to stop crying! I wasn't expecting people to be so willing to take things from strangers because we're a pretty suspicious bunch in New York City. We're all, "If you see something, say something," so we'd probably call the cops on someone who as handing out presents. Sad, but true.

However, Rachael is pretty tiny and youthful looking so she hardly looks dangerous. The most suspicious anyone got was the man who took our picture and kind of looked at us like "WTF?" when she handed him the gift certificate. Rachael now wants to hand out gifts in Central Park so she can see what happens. I told her that if she wants to take on an even bigger challenge, she should hand them out while wearing a tinfoil hat.

That evening, we celebrated Rachael's birthday at a garlic-themed restaurant in Beverly Hills called The Stinking Rose. There, I got to meet her uncle from her dad's side of the family (in other words, not related to me), as well as some other friends. What's interesting is that the uncle is also a writer, mainly of short stories. It makes me wonder if certain talents and types of creativity are genetic? It's funny how Rachael and I spent years not knowing of the other, but she, too, is a writer and plays the flute.

Only two more days of vacation and then it's back to the grind -- but it will be an exciting grind since it's the start of my book tour. Woo hoo!

Meanwhile, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Greetings From California -- New Twitter Address!

Hello from sunny California! We're having a great time in Los Angeles. The weather is gorgeous and we're missing the "Frankenstorm" Sandy that's barreling toward the East Coast. Seems like we picked a good time to get out of town.

My cousin lives in a beautiful Spanish-style ranch with nice, open rooms. She and her husband have two dogs and an African Gray Parrot -- and the bird and I are roomies! Their guest room also doubles as the room where the parrot's cage is kept, so I got to sleep with the bird last night (not in the bed; he was safe in his cage). When I awoke this morning, the bird was staring right at me.

Last night, I had a couple of odd experiences. First, I was jolted awake when I heard an electronic voice barking at me from beneath the mattress. I thought tht I was going crazy -- or the house was haunted. But when I woke a bit more, I realized that it was one of those toys that says things. I managed to dislodge it and it stopped talking to me, but man, did that freak me out. I then woke again around 4 a.m. and could see a single bright star when I looked out the window. I didn't expect to see any stars in Los Angeles, so this one was super bright. I'm thinking that maybe it was Venus?

Once we were up for real, we spent the day relaxing, reading, writing and puttering around the neighborhood. We're having a barbecue tonight and I'm going to reunite with a couple of my old pals from Soap Opera Digest. I worked with these guys for 14 years so it's going to feel weird seeing them with me no longer working for the magazine. Still, we'll always share a bond because we went through something together that not too many people can understand. Tomorrow, I'm seeing an old childhood friend who is also in the publishing industry. It's cool to be surrounded by so many other writers.

Meanwhile, some exciting news -- I finally set up an official Naomi Rabinowitz Author page on Twitter, so I'm no longer using my jewelry page for book tweets. My handle is simply @NaomiRabinowitz Check in and follow me so you can get news on me and my book!

And you can still get REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD for 99 cents!

California Dreamin'

Greetings from 38,000 feet! Right now, I'm on a plane to Los Angeles. I've never used in-flight WiFi before and I have to say that it feels weird to be communicating with all of you Earth people while I'm in the air.

I'm heading out to see my cousin Rachael, who, as I'd previously mentioned, edited my final version of BAND GEEK. Since she's my cousin, friend and editor, does that make her my ... creditor? Heh.

I'm excited to meet more family whom I haven't yet met. My immediate family is very small, so it's nice to get in touch with more relatives. It's even nicer when said blood relations become friends.

Rachael has a lot of weird, but fun ideas for us, such as doing a zombie walk and taking dancing lessons. She also wants to do this thing called "Random Acts Of Kindness." I can't wait to see what goes into that!

It will also be nice to take a few days off from the craziness of my book launch. It's been fun, but busy, and it's only going to get more so when I return. Though I will keep blogging and will fill you in on my California adventures.

Until then, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents.