Three Milwaukeeans recently have published first books. Although the works are in three entirely different genres, all touch on Jewish themes and all three authors hope to inspire readers to discover their inner strengths.
Neil Farber is a physician at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, a motivational speaker, a martial arts instructor, an active member of Milwaukee’s Jewish community (see his article in the December 2009 Chronicle), and a dad.
His new self-help book, “The Blame Game. The Complete Guide to Blaming: How to Play and How to Quit.”
He said in an interview that he has always wanted to write a book and has had many ideas for books that he never finished or published. He had a manuscript on the power of positive thinking nearly ready for publication when two other well-known writers released books on the same subject.
Rather than blame them, he decided to make a positive out of the situation and write a book about blame. His goal was not only to prove to himself that he could write a book, but also to inspire others.
What distinguishes his book from others on the self-motivation subject, he said, is that he explores the history of blaming, from its role in international wars and current events to casual or subconscious blaming in daily life.
Farber discovered in trying to pitch his book that agents and editors don’t accept authors who lack a platform, so he sent his manuscript to recognized professionals in the psychology and self-help fields for their expert advice.
One important endorsement came from Stephen R. Covey (“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”), which helped persuade Bascom Hill Publishing Group to accept his manuscript.
Farber said a portion of the proceeds from the book’s sale would be donated to medical missions for children.
When asked what advice he could give to aspiring writers, Farber said, “know your subject” and “write about what you love.”
In 1983, now-Shorewood attorney Lisa Paul, who is Catholic, was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota. She enrolled in a Russian history class that eventually led to her involvement with extraordinary people and events.
She decided to major in Russian studies. During her junior year, she was working as a nanny to an American family in Moscow and studying with a private Russian tutor, Inna Meiman, who became a close friend.
Paul learned in time that Inna was part of a network of Soviet Jewish dissidents including Andrei Sakharov, Yelena Bonner, and Anatoly — now Natan — Sharansky.
Inna had been fired from her position as a prominent English professor in 1979 because of her husband Naum’s involvement in the Helsinki Watch human rights group, and she was denied a visa to leave the USSR for life-saving cancer treatment.
By the time Paul graduated, she had gone on a 25-day hunger strike, given press conferences, and become Inna’s champion on Capitol Hill. She finally managed to secure Inna’s release in 1987. Three weeks after arriving in Washington, Inna died.
In 1988, Paul wrote an account of the entire story so she wouldn’t forget. Then she pursued a career in law, married, and had two daughters.
Not until 2007, when she saw the film “The Lives of Others,”did she begin to think of publishing the story as a book, she said. Paul felt “a great sense of purpose” to share Inna’s remarkable story of courage, hope, and determination in the face of brutal repression.
The book, she said, could inspire readers as it had inspired her and give them hope and “a path through the challenges in their own lives.”
She began work in 2009 to turn the story into a book. She also attended a writers’ conference and researched the demands of the publishing business and agents. Senator Gary Hart, who had helped persuade Gorbachev to free Inna, suggested a publisher.
Paul secured a publisher only through “incredible luck and a lot of hard work.” In February 2010, someone from Skyhorse Publishing approached a friend of Paul’s who was reading her manuscript. Upon learning about the story, the publisher asked Paul to send a query and then the manuscript.
Over a few months, Paul and her editor fine-tuned the book, and she will launch it this February under the title “Swimming in the Daylight: An American Student, a Soviet-Jewish Dissident, and the Gift of Hope.”
Mequon mother of five, Deborah Lakritz, who has a master’s degree in social work, writes for a very different audience, including people who are too young to read.
Her new picture book is “Say Hello, Lily,” published by Kar-Ben and illustrated by Martha Aviles. It is the story of a shy preschool girl who visits a senior citizens’ home called Shalom House and learns to get over her shyness.
Lakritz said she was inspired by an incident in her own life. As she was moving her mother from Skokie, Ill., to the Sarah Chudnow Community, Lakritz was concerned about her own youngest daughter’s adjustment.
Contrary to the opinions of many uninformed people, publishing children’s fiction is not easier than publishing adult fiction. In today’s economy, with bookstores closing and editors losing jobs, even veteran authors are getting rejections.
Lakritz knew that Kar-Ben specializes in books for young Jewish children, and she knew the subject of grandparents would only become more consequential as the baby boom ages. The editor, when they first spoke, thought the premise for the story was one no author had addressed before, Lakritz said.
Yet Lakritz and her editor worked together for almost a year before Kar-Ben agreed to take on the manuscript, and it took the better part of two more years before it finally appeared in print.
Since the book’s launch, Lakritz has been touring, speaking, signing, blogging, and granting interviews.
Milwaukeean Susan Ellman, MLIS, has taught high school history and English composition, and is a freelance writer at work on a historical novel.
Loading ...