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 […]
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. […]
