In the spirit of Christmas and the Advent Calendar that has been revamped and re-purposed in myriad ways, I have decided to do one of another sort.  Instead of taking one chocolate per day (or wine or whatever goodie is in vogue) or adding one item into a box to donate for a good cause (a very good thing, indeed) I have chosen to send a little love to my favourite blogs.

Now, this is a difficult thing to do as I am only technically allowed to have 24 entries.  However.  My blog, my choice.  There are 31 days in the month of December so, if I feel like it, I can send love to 31 blogs.  Or more.  I shall see.

I have pondered and thought and come up with a list.  It might change as I move forward and remember that I forgot ones that I love because…

Today we welcome Rochelle Wisoff Fields.

Book ‘Em:  Tell us about you and your life outside of writing.

Rochelle Wisoff Fields:  My husband Jan and I have been married for 46 years this November. We raised three sons who are spread from Upstate New York to Chicago to California. Our granddaughter Olive is 6 and her little sister is soon to make her appearance. When life closes in on me, the best way to de-stress is to walk (or drive if the weather’s inclement) to our nearby fitness center and swim laps. Between the fresh air and water, I always come back rejuvenated and ready to be creative. Besides writing, visual art is one of my passions. I was asked in another interview which I preferred, writing or painting. My response was that they’re on equal footing. Not only do I paint on commission, I also sketch and…

As encouraged by Maria, Kelly and Mel when I wrote my first non flash fiction post for my blog, here is a book review… a first for my flash fiction only blog 😱

Please Say Kaddish For Me by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Reviewed by Kelvin M. Knight

The format of a book I want to read is important to me. I reluctantly read this book in Kindle format, on my iPhone rather than on my Kindle because my Kindle refused to download this book or any other book on Amazon for that matter. I say reluctant because I tried purchasing Please Say Kaddish For Me in paperback format from the author directly (so I could get the book signed while hopefully also getting a personal message). Despite Rochelle’s best efforts, the price of shipment from America to the UK was too high for me.

The point in telling you this? Simple…

This blog offers a different type of book review­—one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included here, following a short review, are a few particularly interesting words I found in Please Say Kaddish for Me. The definitions are followed by quotes from the story.

A particularly talented writer, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is also an artist who creates her own cover art.

Please Say Kaddish for Me is the story of a sixteen-year-old Jewish girl who escapes an attack on her home in Russia in 1899. Czarist marauders kill her entire family. Young Havah Cohen barely survives the frigid cold as she runs away in just a nightgown. She fortunately ends up in the arms of another loving Jewish family. But her struggles don’t end as more persecution of the people of her faith reigns down. The story unfolds as Havah builds her physical and emotional strength, learns to adapt to new situations…