The First Picture Show

A Literal Literary Loser Looks... OK

When I first started writing about being a Literal Literary Loser a little over a year ago (October 14, 2021, to be precise), I had no idea that, in November of 2022, I’d be celebrating the upcoming release of my November 15, 2022 historical fiction, “My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region,” with a book launch sponsored by UJA Federation of NY’s Former Soviet Union division.

The night was a fundraiser for Ukrainian relief, and other worthy UJA causes at home and abroad. After agonizing over what I should wear, how I should look, and what should I say to sound semi-coherent (intelligent was too much to hope for), here are some pictures of how the night turned out:

Me with History Through Fiction’s publisher, Colin Mustful:

Me with the event’s incredible moderator, Alex Zeldin:

My 15 year old daughter, who was in charge of photographing the event, informs me that I am incapable of speaking without making strange faces, thus it is impossible to get a picture where I “don’t look weird.” To whit:

Thank you to all who came by, said hello, and got their books signed!

My name up in lights… kind of…

My eternal gratitude to all of you who started on this journey with me over a year ago, who listened to me whine, who read about my setbacks, who cheered my progress, and who have stuck it out this far.

Of course, as we all know, getting a book published and out into the world is just the beginning. As always, I promise to keep you posted on everything that happens next! The good, the bad, and especially the hilarious!

Stay tuned, my friends!