It is a blessing to be a historical fiction writer in our day and age. I took advantage of many online resources to help me with my research: I toured the streets of Granada and Madrid with Google Street View; I took a drive from Madrid to Toledo with a YouTube dash cam video (why […]
Making Sense of the Varieties of Spanish in Hidden Candles
The characters in By Light of Hidden Candles speak a few different languages. Most prominently, of course, they speak English and Spanish, with a handful of words and phrases in Hebrew, Arabic, and even Yiddish and Latin thrown in. However, several versions of Spanish are mentioned. What’s the difference between Ladino and Haketía? Castilian and Andalusian Spanish? Let’s […]
Granada, Spain: Birthplace of Manuel Aguilar from By Light of Hidden Candles
One of the main characters of By Light of Hidden Candles, Manuel Aguilar, was born in Granada to a long line of granadinos; he has evidence that his father’s family has been living there since at least the 16th century. A (Very) Brief History of Granada Granada’s history is deeply intertwined with that of the […]
Videos from the FB Live By Light of Hidden Candles Virtual Launch Party
Hey guys! Thanks so much to all of you who participated in the Facebook Live launch party yesterday! Those of you who missed it can watch either the full, unedited 30-minute session, or a 5-minute “highlight reel” below. I read excerpts from By Light of Hidden Candles and talked about the topics of interfaith friendships and […]
The Official By Light of Hidden Candles Playlist
Before I begin: don’t forget that I’m making a complete fool of myself hosting a Facebook Live launch event today–9pm Israel time (3pm EST; we just changed our clocks, so it’s 6 hours’ difference instead of 7)! Make sure to “like” and follow my author page on Facebook to receive a notification when I go […]
Alternate Opening to Míriam’s Story in Hidden Candles (Deleted Scene)
Remember how I mentioned that I originally wanted to set the historical story in Málaga? Below is an early draft of the historical story before I chose Lorca as the location. You’ll notice that in this version, Míriam has two brothers and the background is a little different from the Lorca version. I actually quite […]
Launch Parties & Podcast Interview!
As… um… Manuel informed you, By Light of Hidden Candles was officially released on October 16th, and I hosted a small launch party for family and friends last Monday evening. You can see the full album of photos here on my Facebook page (no FB account necessary to view it). Undoubtedly my favorite part of the […]
By Light of Hidden Candles Is Launching Today!
…and I couldn’t pull it together enough to write my newsletter announcement. So I made Manuel do it. Dear Daniella’s Subscribers, I hope this newsletter finds you well. Daniella has asked me to write it on her behalf, because she, I quote, “can’t handle it aaahhhhhhhhhhhh”. She’s always making me do annoying things. As you […]
The Jewish Quarter of Lorca, Spain
In my previous post, I described how I discovered the ancient Jewish quarter of Lorca, Spain, and chose it as the setting for the historical story of By Light of Hidden Candles. Lorca is a city in Murcia, the region in eastern Spain tucked between Andalusia and Valencia. Its most famous feature is its hilltop […]
Why I Set the Historical Narrative in Lorca
The historical narrative of By Light of Hidden Candles is set in a city called Lorca in the region of Murcia. You might never have heard of Lorca; neither had I! It was never even mentioned in first Spanish Jewish history book I consulted in attempt to choose a good location for the historical story. […]
