Category: Characters – Ashes and Ruins
Thugs in the Street: What was the Nazi SA?
Recently I read an article comparing ICE today with the German Sturmabteilung (SA) in the early years of Hitler’s Nazi government. (For the link, see below.) The content of the article was chilling, and I see the parallels clearly. After reading the article, I wondered if my readers were fully aware of the role the…
Hooray! I am celebrating!!
Ashes and Ruins hits the shelves of bookstores on January 31, 2026. I’m pleased to announce the release of my latest historical novel. Based on a true story, Ashes and Ruins brings readers the full story of Clara and Edith, characters introduced in Immigrant Soldier. In the new stand-alone novel, mother and daughter come alive…
Why Did Jews Stay So Long in Nazi Germany?
READERS OF MY HISTORICAL NOVEL, Immigrant Soldier, have asked me why the two main characters remained in Germany after Hitler came to power. Indeed, along with a few kind words, one reader wrote in a review, “I really didn’t like Clara, because she stayed too long in Germany. Why didn’t she leave earlier?” This is…
The Memory of Smells
PETER NOTICED THE SCENT of lavender first and looked up from cleaning the meat slicer. The young woman peered into his glass case. Under her loose dress, her pregnant belly was noticeably bigger than the last time she came into the shop. “Please, Mr. Whitacre,” she said. “I’d like two of those lovely white chicken…
Finding My Jewish Story
I EXPERIENCED EUROPE for the first time on a family trip in the summer of 1960. My seventeen-year-old romantic heart fell in love with Venice with its pastel buildings, sparkling water, twisting alleyways, and spires gleaming in the sun. Even the presence of my mother with her rules and judgements and my little sister with…
Creating a Book Cover that Works.
MARKETING A BOOK is probably one of the most difficult, complex, and challenging things a self-publishing author must tackle. An important component of the marketing effort is the book cover. As readers browse shelves or scroll on the web, a book has only a few seconds to catch their eye and make them reach for…
Finding the Women’s Story Buried in Immigrant Soldier
A Mother and Daughter Relationship Revealed. ________________________________________________________________________________________ I WAS COMPELLED TO WRITE my first novel, Immigrant Soldier, because the true story of my uncle’s role in Patton’s Third Army grabbed me and would not let me go. Herman’s Jewish blood branded him in Nazi eyes, forced him to flee his homeland, and landed him in the…