The March/April issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine isn’t on the stands or online yet, but I got an email from my publisher, who then posted the news on Facebook:
Just got the news that UNLEAVENED DEAD was reviewed in ELLERY QUEEN Mys Mag!!!
“….a solid, funny mystery that provides an insider’s look at Jewish life.”
— from Billie Johnson, publisher, Oak Tree Press
Billie Johnson, my publisher at Oak Tree Press, is still trying to get the Amazon problem solved. It makes no sense that the out-of-print edition is still being listed, while the 2nd edition, with a new publisher, ISBN, and copyright date, is not.
In the meantime, however, there is a way other than Amazon to order not only the trade paperback of the second edition, but also a large print edition. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/kuhchcw and scroll down to CHANUKAH GUILT. (And it’s at a discount!)
WARNING: Okay, it’s not catastrophic; just info. But I wanted to get your attention.
For some reason, a few days ago, Amazon decided not to list the new edition of CHANUKAH GUILT. Not sure why; maybe because they still have 1 copy of the original for sale. But they also deleted the Kindle version of the original. The 2nd edition will be uploaded to Kindle soon. OTP is working with their Amazon rep to figure out why only the original edition (all 1 copy of it) is still there and the new one isn’t. Please be patient. (And no, you can’t read the new alternative solution without re-reading the book; I rewrote sections so the alternative and the original endings would both make sense. Sorry.)
The new edition of CHANUKAH GUILT (including a bonus alternate solution) is now available from amazon. The kindle edition, however, is still the original. (There’s a glitch uploading the 2nd edition.) Buy early and often.
Okay, let’s try it again – this time with the final (rather than penultimate) cover:
A few days ago, I posted my first big announcement that the second edition of CHANUKAH GUILT will include a bonus, an alternate solution. Now here is my second announcement: in two weeks, I will change my FaceBook status to “retired; self-employed author.”
I received my Medicare card in the mail a few weeks ago, stared at it a while, and thought, “Now, what do you really want to be doing?” My first thought was “Write full-time.” (Sleep late and go birding were close seconds.)
A SECOND EDITION OF CHANUKAH GUILT! WITH A BONUS SECTION: AN ALTERNATE SOLUTION!
Why a second edition? Glad you asked, as it gives me the chance to show you a sneak preview of the preface to the new edition:
Why a second edition? Unfortunately, my wonderful original publisher, Swimming Kangaroo Books, had to close its doors Even though owner Dindy Robinson was still supporting the books she had published, she was no longer able to accept new manuscripts. And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure just how long she would be able to supply the distributors with the print copies.
Fortunately, my current and also wonderful publisher Billie Johnson of Oak Tree Press published the second Rabbi Aviva Cohen mystery, Unleavened Dead. Reissuing Chanukah Guilt by the same publisher would mean a single source for both (and, I hope, all future) books in the series.
But also, a new edition would give me the chance to fix those pesky typos and continuity errors that sneak through no matter how many people proofread, no matter how carefully they do so, and no matter how many times. Chanukah Guilt had been available for several months and I had presented several readings when I suddenly realized that there was a major (to my mind) error in a section that I had read aloud probably a dozen times: Aviva calls 911; the dispatcher answers, “Evesham Police.” The problem is that even though I live in Evesham Township, Aviva lives in the fictional town of Walford.
And I now had the opportunity to edit references so the book does not seem too dated. I eliminated mentions of stores that no longer exist, to movies and TV shows that root the book in a particular time, and to technology that is now outdated. Aviva is no longer going to the movies to see The Two Towers or shopping at Borders, for example, and her PalmPilot is now a generic cell phone.
After Chanukah Guilt was published, I began to have second thoughts and wonder if I had chosen the wrong ending. “Perhaps it would have been better if …” So, in the tradition of DVDs that include extras such as director’s cuts and commentaries and outtakes, I have appended an alternate solution. In this way, you can decide which works better.
Thanks to Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz for posting an interview with me on her blog: http://www.pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/2013/12/ilene-schneider-chanukah-guilt.html
This year may be the first time in many that Thanksgiving and Chanukah have begun on the same day. However, in 2002, Chanukah began only two days later, on the Friday night after Thanksgiving. I know this fact because I set CHANUKAH GUILT, the first Rabbi Aviva Cohen mystery, at that time. Stay tuned for more info soon (I hope) on the release of a 2nd edition of CG – complete with a bonus surprise – from Oak Tree Press. And for another, more life changing (for me, anyway) announcement.
On Wednesday, it was my turn to answer “The Dames’ Dozen” on Dames of Dialogue: http://damesofdialogue.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/cozy-mystery-author-rabbi-ilene-schneider-answers-the-dames-dozen
Check it out and leave a comment – or even another question.
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on December 24, 2013