26 April 2024

Published April 24, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind

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The following is admittedly a seven-year-old rerun. I’ve been extremely distracted of late and didn’t feel I could get away with another “my muse didn’t show up story.”…which she didn’t. 😉

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

FAMILY TREE

“‘And they lived happily ever after.’” Leah shut the storybook.

Shifra’s raisin-brown eyes, round as bottle caps, sparkled. “Bubbie? Did you love Grandpa at first sight?”

“He was only eight when we met. Mama took him in…hid him from the khappers, bad men who snatched little Jewish boys from their homes and made them serve twenty-five years in the Czar’s army.”

“Did she hide him in the closet?”

“No she was smart, my Mama.”

“He was like your brother, right?”

Leah pointed to a tintype on the table of two little bonneted girls and grinned. “More like my sister.“

*****

Below is my first attempt at creating a reel on Canva and posting it to Instagram. It works on my end if I click the picture. Let me know how it works for you.

The ebook can be preordered HERE, HERE and HERE! Release Date is June 4! If you’re not an ebook fan, paperback and hard back copies will be available on and after June 4! 😀

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16 February 2024

Published February 14, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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HAPPY NEWS! We’re in the final stretch of my upcoming novel LAST DANCE WITH ANNIE. Cover soon to be revealed.

Teaser. This is not the cover, but this artwork is used.

So begins another week of Friday Fictioneers. Happy Valentine’s Day. ❤ I have a favor to ask. Since at least four comments came up as “anonymous” last week, could you identify yourself? I’m not sure what’s up with that. Thank you.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

TIME SIGNATURES

“I haven’t seen you practice at all, Oscar.” Fourteen-year-old Daisy scowled at her nine-year-old brother. “How do you expect to perform if you don’t practice?”

“Like this.” He played a Chopin piece without missing a note.

Daisy sighed. After hours of diligent practice, she still made mistakes.

Never a public performer, Daisy Peterson Sweeney passed away at the age of 97. It seemed that all of Montreal turned out to pay their respects. Generations of her piano students sang her praises.

Among her first pupils, Oscar Peterson was hailed as one of the greatest jazz pianists of the twentieth century.

To learn more about Daisy CLICK HERE

To learn more about Oscar CLICK HERE

15 September 2023

Published September 13, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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This weekend is Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year. So it seemed the time to remember.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Word Count: 100

SURVIVAL

Risa kissed her slice of bread before slathering it with butter and taking a bite. She ate slowly, savoring every morsel.

Ten-year-old Aaron’s gaze held her, his brown eyes wide. “Bubbe, why do you kiss your bread like you would kiss a holy book if you had dropped it?”

“Bread is holy and precious. In the camp, a slice of bread could buy a bag of gold. A slice of bread stood between life and death.”

Aaron kissed his toast. “Blessed are You, Adonai our God Who brings forth bread from the earth and saved my dear grandma with it.”

*******

Remembering Food in the Concentration Camps: Interviews with Holocaust Survivors

28 July 2023

Published July 26, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

A NICE JEWISH GIRL FROM BROOKLYN

“Daddy, listen my new song.” Four-year-old Carol’s blue eyes twinkled.

Firefighter, Sid Klein sank down beside her on the piano bench, weary from extinguishing one blaze after another.

He marveled. “I see Mommy’s making sure you practice your lessons.”

“Far from it.” His wife Genie shook her head. “Our baby girl has a rare gift.”

____________

Nearly seventy years and numerous compositions later, Sid Klein’s daughter, singer- songwriter Carole King thrilled as Aretha Franklin belted out “Natural Woman” at the Kennedy Center Honors.

“I’ve had a remarkable life,” Carole told an interviewer “I sum it all up in one word—gratitude.”

Inductee Carole King performs onstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio.

2 June 2023

Published May 31, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

RHINESTONE COWBOY

Nuta Kotlvarenko loved cowboy movies, particularly ones starring his hero Tom Mix.

One evening in 1913, Mama handed a passport to Nuta’s older brother Julius. “Ukraine is not safe for Jewish boys. We’re sending you to America where the streets are paved with gold.”

“I don’t want to go.” Nuta’s eyes stung.

***

Following years of odd jobs, Nuta, now Nudie Cohn, found his niche as the rodeo tailor. Stars from Roy Rogers to Elvis Presley paid thousands for rhinestone-studded Nudie suits.

“Nudie,” asked a fan. “Why don’t your boots ever match?”

“To remind me that golden streets have a price.”

CLICK for all things NUDIE

24 February 2023

Published February 22, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Friction
Word Count: 100

BRIGHT LIGHT

“Besides being the leader in rushing and scoring, he was my friend.” A former football player for Drake University recalls. “There was nobody like him. Next to impossible to bring down.”

Another player remembers October 20, 1951, “We’d heard Oklahoma’s head coach quoted as saying, “We have to get his black ass out of here.

“Ha! Even after Wilbanks Smith busted his jaw, John threw a 61-yard touchdown pass.”

Johnny Bright later forged a brilliant career in Canada as both athlete and educator.

It wasn’t until over twenty years after his death Oklahoma State University issued an apology to him.

As a Kansas City area resident (and native) you might guess I was glued to the TV Sunday Night, February 12 for the Super Bowl. How ’bout those Chieeeeeeeefs! With most of our best players, including MVP Patrick Mahomes, being black, what Mr. Bright went through is unfathomable.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AN AMAZING HUMAN BEING

If you have six more minutes, this video says what my 100 words could not.

17 February 2023

Published February 15, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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CALLING MY CAMERA HAPPY FICTIONEERS!!!

PROMPT PHOTOS NEEDED! SOMETHING INTERESTING! SOMETHING INTRIGUING! MY ONLY REQUEST IS THAT YOU DON’T SEND PICTURES OF ANIMALS OR STATUES. ONTO THE PHOTO BELOW. THANK YOU, LISA!

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I enjoy February for all the forgotten remarkable people who come to light each year.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

DOCTRESS OF MEDICINE

Rebecca sniffed the tea her aunt had brewed and grimaced. “What is it?”

“Willow bark to bring down Miss Addie’s fever.”

Miss Addie recovered and lived a long and healthy life thanks to Auntie’s wisdom and skill.

Rebecca paid close attention to her aunt’s remedies and the kindness with which she administered them.

Determined to follow in her footsteps, Rebecca became a nurse to ease human suffering. However, it wasn’t enough for the tenacious young woman.

In 1864, the only black face in sea of white, Rebecca Lee Crumpler M.D. received her diploma from the New England Female Medical College.

Chances are this is not a photo of Dr. Crumpler as my resources say there’s no known photograph of her. To learn a little more about the first Female African American physician CLICK HERE.

16 December 2022

Published December 14, 2022 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

BEAR 55PB

“What do you think, Tante Margarete?” Richard Steiff held up a stuffed bear. “His arms and legs move. He’s soft and cuddly mohair.”

Richard’s creative aunt who’d been paralyzed by polio as a toddler had against all odds, founded Steiff Manufacturing in 1880. Her felt elephants and other animals were favorites of thousands of German children.

She took the bear in her arms. “He is darling. But will he sell?”

“May I enter him in the Leipzig toy trade fair?”

“Viel Glück.”

Margarete’s question was answered in 1903 when an American trader ordered 3,000 bears and renamed them Teddy Bear.

*viel glück – good luck in German

Conflicting stories abound when it comes to the Teddy Bear named for President Theodore Roosevelt. This one seems feesible to me. CLICK HERE to learn more about this remarkable woman.

CLICK HERE if you’d like to read the other side of the Teddy Bear’s history. I don’t propose to know which story is true. One thing is for sure and certain and that’s the popularity of the Teddy bear.

9 December 2022

Published December 7, 2022 by rochellewisoff

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81 years ago today, December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed it a “date which will live in infamy.”

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

Click below to hear the author (me 😉 ) read:

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

A few flakes floated by the window and colored lights reflected in the glass. Dennis Day sang a romantic tune on the radio. Laura sipped hot chocolate and read Fred’s letter at least a tenth time since it arrived Friday.

“November 26, 1941

My dearest,

Happy Thanksgiving from the USS Arizona! I sure do miss your cooking. I swear our gravy was mixed with fuel oil.

I hope my presents get there on time. You’d love Hawaii. The flowers. The beaches. But, golly, it won’t seem like Christmas without snow and my best girl.

“Ladies and gentleman, a special announcement…”

*No, it wasn’t happy news. There were a total of 2,335 military personnel killed, including 2,008 navy personnel, 109 marines, and 218 army. Added to this were 68 civilians, making the total 2403 people dead. 1,177 were from the USS Arizona.

4 November 2022

Published November 2, 2022 by rochellewisoff

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November 9–10, 1938, Nazi leaders unleashed a series of pogroms against the Jewish population in Germany and recently incorporated territories. This event became known as Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) because of the shattered glass that littered the streets after the vandalism and destruction of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes. This was only the beginning of one of the most barbaric and vicious times in recent history.

We say “never again.” But...

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

THE SPIRIT NEVER DIES

With eyes that pierced her soul, Dr. Mengele told 16-year-old Edith, “You’ll see your mother soon. She’s just going to take a shower.”

That same evening, he forced her to dance for him.

For decades she grappled with guilt. “Why me? Why did I live?”

When her patients, Vietnam veterans, would ask her the same question she realized, as a clinical psychologist, she’d never found the answer for herself.

In 1990 she returned to Auschwitz where she allowed her mother’s final words to heal her soul. “No one can take away from you what you put in your own mind.”

If you have a few minutes to spare, you can listen to Dr. Eger’s story in her own words. HERE

***

HAPPY NEWS!

My work in progress, LAST DANCE WITH ANNIE, is under contract with Ozark Hollow Press!

Short Summary

Elise, a military spouse and mom in the throes of midlife, dances three times a day with the most relentless partner, her secret nemesis she’s nicknamed “Annie Wrecks-Ya.” Will Elise’s strive for perfection kill her, or will she learn to let go and face the truth: she’s an addict. At the same time, her devoted husband Tony feels helpless to save her as he battles demons of his own that followed him home from war.

Can Elise and Tony join forces and defeat these threats to their lives and their marriage? And can Elise learn to dance again, this time with the carefree joy she experienced as a child.