I spoke to the Qesher Book Club about my book Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria. Qesher features books with Jewish themes, both fiction and history, so the first thing I said to my audience was "You’re probably wondering why a collection of short stories set in Bulgaria would be featured on the Qesher Book Club. I’m hoping that by the end of this evening, you will not only understand why, but you’ll also learn about the fascinating story of Bulgarian Jewry during the Holocaust."
In the talk I told about growing up in Sioux City, making Aliyah, founding Kibbutz Yahel, setting up a home on Moshav Neve Ilan, starting a career in marketing online poker, a job that took me to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, to Macau, and finally to a two-year relocation contract in Sofia.
I spoke about my books and short stories, and how my experiences on a kibbutz led to The Virtual Kibbutz and how our life in Bulgaria resulted in my writing Valley of Thracians, The Burgas Affair, and Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria.
I gave details of my research into the subject of Bulgarian Jewry during World War, and how that fascinating period of history compelled me to write my short story "Forgiveness".
The online talk was attended by 89 people from all over - there was even someone joining in from Bulgaria. After my talk ended, there was time set for questions.
Surprisingly, many of the questions related to my growing up in Sioux City! How did my childhood there influence my writing? How did my parents end up living in Sioux City in the first place? Did I know that was where Dear Abby came from? (And Ann Landers).
I think everyone enjoyed themselves - I certainly did!
