rabbi.author

GUEST BLOG BY F.M. MEREDITH

I’m always thrilled to welcome Marilyn (aka F. M.) Meredith to my blog. Today she is discussing “Choosing Names for Characters and ‘Rules’ I’ve Broken.” 

When I first began writing the Rocky Bluff P.D. series I didn’t know as much about writing as I do now. There are some rules or suggestions about character names that are to help the reader no tget confused about who is who. Some of these include not having names that sound alike or rhyme, not using names with the same first letter—that’s the one I’ve broken the most. Another is using names that are right for the time period. No problem with that since the series is contemporary. Picking names that somehow convey the character—like not naming a strong male character Cuthbert.

With this particular book I had two names I had to use because two people who happen to be friends won a contest to be characters in the book and they requested to be a particular type of person. I’m not going to explain further because I don’t want to spoil anything.

The character who appears in all the books is Doug Milligan. I have a cousin and a nephew with the name Doug and I’ve always liked the name.

I’ve had the most fun with a character called Gordon Butler. When he first appeared, I had no idea he would become so important in other books. The name just seems to fit him.

My first African American character is called Felix Zachary. I don’t remember where Felix came from, but Zachary seemed like the perfect surname for this ongoing character. Chandra Taylor is the new police chief, also African American, and the name came out of nowhere and fits her perfectly.

Sometimes I have to work at finding the right name and for that purpose I’ve hung onto graduation programs over the years, a wonderful collection of first and last names. And of course, if I’m looking for a particular ethnic name, the Internet is a great source.

If a name doesn’t fit a character, I have a hard time remembering it. When that happens, I know I need to come up with a new name.

What about you other authors out there? Do you have a system for choosing names for your characters?

#13 in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Unresolved, by F. M. (aka Marilyn) Meredith

Rocky Bluff P.D. is underpaid and understaffed and when two dead bodies turn up, the department is stretched to the limit. The mayor is the first body discovered, the second an older woman whose death is caused in a bizarre manner. Because no one liked the mayor, including hisestran ged wife and the members of the city council, the suspects are many, but each one has an alibi.

Copies may be purchased from Book and Table by emailing bookandtablevaldosta@gmail.com with a 10% discount and free shipping and from all the usual places.

F. M. Meredith lived for many years in a small beach community much like Rocky Bluff. She has many relatives and friends who are in law enforcement and share their experiences and expertise with her. She taught writing for Writers Digest Schools for 10 years, and was an instructor at the prestigious Maui Writers Retreat, and has taught at many writers’ conferences. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills of the Sierra.

Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com

Blog: https://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/marilynmeredith

Tomorrow, May 4, she answers the question “Why a Blog Tour?” on http://marjamcgraw.blogspot.com/

AWARD NOMINATION 

Yes! I just got an email that YOM KILLER has been nominated for a David Award given at Deadly Ink! (I just wish I weren’t up against so many good authors.) Remember, attendees: Vote early and often. 😉

REVIEW!

Another 5-star review on Amazon for YOM KILLER: 

Another good read!!!

Yom Killer, the latest in the Aviva Cohen series, delves into family secrets, murder and Medicare fraud, yet does so with typical Aviva wit and humor. Going to the aid of her mother ( now I see where Aviva gets her brashness and wit!!!), the rabbi/sleuth/punster slowly uncovers the truth…and has some harrowing moments along the way. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for some intrigue and entertainment!

GUEST BLOGGING

Thanks to Marilyn Meredith for inviting me to be a guest blogger on her site “Marilyn’s Musings.” It’s called “Why I Write: Advice for Newbies.” (Sorry about the old picture – my finger must have slipped when I sent her the attachment.) 

https://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/2017/03/why-i-write-advice-for-newbies.html?m=1

NEW INTERVIEW

Just received: the link to a great interview with me conducted by reporter Rachel Kurland for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.  

http://jewishexponent.com/2017/03/01/new-book-jewish-mystery-trilogy-takes-form-high-holiday-hit-job/

BLURBS FOR YOM KILLER

In case you’re not sure about buying/reading YOM KILLER, here are the preview blurbs printed in the front of the book (the bold faced excerpts are on the back cover):

Loved it!

If you’ve ever wondered where Rabbi Aviva Cohen got her nose for mystery (and trouble!), you’ll find out in “Yom Killer”! Aviva teams up with estranged sister, Jean Meisner, and not-so-estranged ex-husband, Steve Goldfarb, to discover the truth behind the “accidental” injury that sent her 96-year-old mother to the hospital and the sudden increase in deaths in her retirement facility. A witty, engaging mystery and fun read!”

 – Amy M. Bennett, author of the award-winning Black Horse Campground mysteries 

***

Anyone who has dealt with the health care needs of the elderly will identify with Rabbi Aviva Cohen as she fights for her mother’s welfare. Only her mother’s problems are tougher than those faced by most elderly – like the murder of her friends, her attempted murder, fraud, and robbery.

This is the best in this series. As usual, Rabbi Aviva Cohen is feisty, honest, and funny. The author’s experience ministering to the elderly is apparent. This cozy rings true.

 – J. L. Greger, author of the award-winning Science Traveler medical mystery thrillers

***

If I’m ever in trouble, forget the marines.  Send in the rabbi!  In Yom Killer you’ll have a great time watching Rabbi Aviva Cohen shedding light on the shadiest hospital in New England. This is Schneider’s best yet.

– Robert Lopresti, award-winning author of Greenfellas

***

Yom Killer is a heartwarming tale of murder and Medicare fraud.

– Jeff Markowitz, author of the Casey O’Malley mysteries and of Death and White Diamonds

***

When I finished the last of the twelve Rabbi David Small mysteries (That Day The Rabbi Left Town ), I experienced the sense of loss anyone who enjoys series feels when there is not a next one. Now, twenty years later, I have discovered the Rabbi Aviva Cohen series. The David Small character was rabbi for an orthodox congregation. Aviva Cohen’s congregation is not orthodox, and no one would describe her as orthodox, religiously or otherwise. She [Rabbi Aviva Cohen] is brash, funny, nosy, and blunt. In a word, meshuganah. But she is every bit as captivating and the mysteries every bit as much fun as Kemelman’s work, the first of which won an Edgar. Maybe Rabbi Ilene Schneider will win one as well. From my lips to G*d’s ear, I can hear her saying.

– Mike Orenduff, author of the award-winning Pot Thief Murder Mysteries

***

A heroine who loves Mel Brooks, Milky Ways and matzoh balls – what’s not to love? Rabbi Aviva Cohen is back in action trading quips with her quirky relatives and besting bad guys when a series of mysterious deaths at a senior facility strikes perilously close to home. Great fun – and as the saying goes “you don’t have to be Jewish…”

– Rosemary Harris, author of the Anthony and Agatha-nominated Pushing Up Daisies and The Bitches of Brooklyn

Of YOM KILLER and the New Year

Began the day with finding my new book YOM KILLER for sale on Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/jmd44oh.Ending) it with finding a new 5-star review of my 2nd book in the series, UNLEAVENED DEAD, also on Amazon.  I hope it’s a good omen for 2017, not just for me and mine, but for you and yours.

THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTMAS ON CHANUKAH

For those of you who have yet to check out my other website WHY NINE CANDLES FOR CHANUKAH: QUESTIONS YOU NEVER THOUGHT TO ASK (www.whyninecandles.com), here is Chapter 10. It is particularly relevant for this year when we light the first candle of Chanukah on Christmas Eve.

74. Is there a connection between Chanukah and Christmas?

     A: The only connection between the two holidays is in the mind of Americans. The holidays could not be more different: Chanukah is minor; Christmas is major. Chanukah commemorates an historical battle, Christmas the birth of the Christian messiah. The only things they have in common are that they both are celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of their respective months, both include the exchange of gifts, and both use lights as a symbol.

75. Why is the twenty-fifth day of the winter month important?

     A. Several traditional Jewish sources, both historical and religious, including the Book of Maccabees I and II, Josephus, the Midrash, the Mishna, and the Talmud, cite the 25^th of Kislev as the date of the rededication and repurifiction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The decision to place the birth of Jesus on the 25^th of December, however, is not based on contemporaneous sources, nor is it universally accepted by all Christian sects. The Eastern Churches (Greek and Russian) did not adopt the Gregorian calendar and celebrate Christmas on January 6 or 7, which corresponds to December 25 on the earlier Julian calendar.

The first instance known of Christmas being celebrated on December 25 was in 336 CE, when the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine declared the holiday. The date was codified a few years later by Pope Julius I. The reason had to do with the tradition that the Annunciation, when Mary was informed she was carrying the child of God, occurred nine months earlier, on March 25.

The  Romans believed the Winter Solstice, the day with the fewest hours of sunlight, occurred on December 25. The first few weeks in December were an important time for pagans throughout Northern Europe and Scandanavia, where it was called Yule.  In Southern Europe, December 17-23 marked the Roman Festival of Saturnalia, which honored Saturn. In Mthraism, a cultic religion originating in Persia and practiced in the Roman Empire from circa 1^st to 4^th centuries, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti,  the “birthday of the unconquered sun,” celebrating the birth of the Sun God Mithra, took place on on December 25.

People were already celebrating during this time of the year, so it is reasonable to think that the religious authorities would reinterpret the pagan rituals to become Christian ones.

76. Why are lights important to both holidays?

     A. In Judaism, the candles are lit to commemorate the relighting of the eternal light on the menorah in the Temple, and to celebrate the miracle of the one-day supply of oil that lasted eight days.

Lights as a symbol for Christmas did not begin until the 17^th century in Germany when trees were decorated with candles. Because of the fire hazard, it wasn’t until electric lights became generally available that the custom of decorating with colored lights became more widespread.

But the symbolism of lights in the midst of the shortest days of the year goes back to pagan times. The hours of daylight dwindled. How to bring back the sun? With the use of sympathetic magic. Light fires and the sun will be rekindled. And it worked. Every year, the sun’s power was restored after fires were lit.

77. Why are gifts given on Chanukah?

     A. Gift giving on Chanukah was never part of the tradition of the holiday, except for small presents of candies or nuts or coins to children. It was, however, traditional in many Jewish societies to give money to the poor. As discussed above (question #16), the emphasis on the exchange of presents on Chanukah has been in response to the influence of Christmas and its prevalence and importance among many Christians. The tradition of giving presents on Christmas originated with the Christian belief that the Three Wise Men brought gifts to the infant Jesus.

78.  Are there ways to avoid the gift-giving frenzy?

     A. With peer pressure, constant bombardment of toy ads in public spaces and on TV and the internet, and the desire by many American Jews to assimilate and not be seen as “other” by the majority of Americans, it is very difficult to avoid the competition to give bigger and better gifts. But gift giving can be minimized. Children can become involved with tzadakah, charity, giving away one old toy for every new one received, volunteering on Christmas day at food banks or hospitals or other places so Christian workers can be home with their families. Gifts do not have to be big, nor numerous. There is no reason for a child to receive, for example, one gift every night from all the relatives. Even if children receive one present from each set of grandparents and from the parents on every day of the holiday, they will have gotten a total of 24 gifts. And that does not include gifts from aunts, uncles, cousins, friends …. Limit the number and extravagance of the gifts, and teach selflessness. Unfortunately, such value are easier to eludidate than to implement.

79. Are there any other gift giving holidays in Judaism?

     A. Yes. On Purim, it is traditional to engage in shalach manot, the sending of gifts, usually small gift boxes or bags of hamentaschen (triangular nut or jelly filled pastries said to resemble Haman’s three-cornered hat, nuts, raisins, candies.

80. What kinds of Chanukah decorations are there?

     A. The only decoration needed is the chanukiah. But that has not stopped American Jews from adorning their homes with blue-and-white lights (the colors of the Israeli flag and symbolic colors of the Jewish people) or hanging cutouts of Jewish stars, chanukiot, dreidels, and other Jewish symbols in their windows.

A more recent personal decoration, in a nod to our Christian neighbors’ ability to make fun of themselves, is the ugly Chanukah sweater.

There are also hybrid symbols, combining Chanukah and Christmas symbols into one, as in chanukiot depicting Santa and the reindeer.

81. What is a Chanukah bush?

The tradition of decorating with boughs of evergreen trees has existed since pagan times, when they would adorn their homes with branches as reminders of the coming spring. In some pre-Christian cultures, these plants that did not lose their leaves even in the depths of a cold winter were good luck symbols.

There is no such tradition in Judaism, although there is a late winter-early spring minor holiday, Tu B’shvat (question #14), called the “New Year of the Trees.”

A disturbing trend is the idea that the chanukiah should be displayed in places that have a Christmas tree. The chanukiah is a ritual object; the Christmas tree is a secular symbol. It would be far more appropriate to use the dreidel. Or even more appropriate would be not to try to make an equivalency between Christmas and Chanukah. They are not parallel holidays.

YOM KILLER COVER

To be released soon – hoping within the next week.

FRONT COVER

BACK COVER

TALK DIRTY YIDDISH UPDATE

FYI to fans of TALK DIRTY YIDDISH: I have had the rights to the book returned to me. It will still be available online until the inventory is sold out. (And, of course, in stores that carry it and haven’t sold out, but those stores won’t be able to order additional copies.) At the moment, the major site that still has copies for sale is Barnes and Noble (http://tinyurl.com/zygmobv).

I plan to edit the book (and delete a repeated paragraph that snuck into the original, despite professional editing), and add an index of words and phrases at the back. (The publisher didn’t allow one because it didn’t fit with the formatting of the other books in the series.)