My beloved aunt, writer Carmel Berman Reingold, passed away this weekend. I found this interview and wanted to share:
http://www.shefolk.com/creatorinterviewsrss/2015/3/14/interview-with-writer-carmel-reingold
Albert—The Interactive Children’s Musical (based on the book by Donna Jo Napoli) was a fun experience. Performed by Omar Prince and Alex Ishkanian (who cowrote it with Scott Test), it’s a story with a powerful lesson about fear and transformation.
Yes, I went. No, I didn’t bring any children. In my opinion, everyone should attend puppet theater. It’s a chance to be reminded of a simpler way of having fun and learning a message or two. Add in a strong actor who can sing well and a puppeteer with the ability to bring multiple characters to life and it’s a good experience.
But I had to make a decision. I could either be a spectator, snapping pictures and trying to get the best shots for this entry, or I could just take a few and immerse myself in the show. I chose the latter, which is why I don’t have any photos of one of the best (and funniest) characters in the show—a black cat with a sense of entitlement every cat owner would recognize.
Audience participation was expected (this was aimed at young children but I think the grownups enjoyed dancing in their rows just as much) and I admit to yelling out answers right along with everyone else.
You can find out more at AlbertTheChildrensMusical.com.
Albert, by Donna Jo Napoli, with illustrations by Jim LaMarche, is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I’m not a vegan, but I was looking for something different, something tasty and out of my comfort zone. So off I went with a friend to enjoy a dinner that was developed and executed by chef’s-training-program students under the supervision of Chef Elliot Prag at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City.
No, I’m not kidding. It took me two weeks straight to pull every final detail together so that I could get my book ready for publication (final proof, formatting for ebook and then reviewing them both) and I was wrecked at the end. Not to mention starting the process to make my ebook available on other venues and begin the process for audiobook. But that’s a different story.
Get a massage. Today I took my own advice and splurged on an aromatherapy massage with reflexology. Ninety minutes of bliss. I had no idea how tense and stressed my muscles were but now I know how my cat feels after I’m done massaging him.
Okay, it doesn’t have to be a massage. But you finished a gigantic project, a unique piece of work that no one else has done. Reward yourself with something meaningful, something that lifts your spirits after a job well done.
You can find it here at Amazon: http://myBook.to/MagicalTies
My urban fantasy novel, Magical Ties, will be available at Amazon.com this Thursday. It will be available as both ebook and paperback. Check the News section here on Thursday for the direct link.
Chapter One is available here.
Happy reading!
Last night I went to my first roller derby games with friends at the Abe Stark Skating Arena on Coney Island. Gotham Girls! Manhattan vs. Bronx, and Brooklyn vs. Queens. (Manhattan and Brooklyn won.)
Later on in the second game, we left our seats in the bleachers and stood on the floor where the game was being vigorously fought:
I admit, it took me until the second game to get an idea what the rules were but I was willing to wait and watch until I understood at least some of it. (Some of it I still don’t understand but that’s all right.)
And when Brooklyn won, we surged onto the floor and stood in a line while both teams high-fived us all. I couldn’t help thinking, this wouldn’t have happened at Madison Square Garden. 😉
Afterward, we headed out to a carnival atmosphere of rides and food as people swarmed the streets. How could we skip Nathan’s? We didn’t. The others were amused at my food choices. Since I no longer eat meat, I ordered a hotdog bun with mustard and sauerkraut along with fries and a soda and enjoyed myself immensely.
Will I ever use this in a story? Who knows? Sometimes the point of new experiences is just to enjoy what’s happening and figure it out later.
If you want to know more about Gotham Girls Roller Derby, you can find them at gothamgirlsrollerderby.com/. And yes, I bought the tee shirt:
Swords are sharp and strong and you need to cut every single word that doesn’t help your story. Start off with bold, sweeping cuts, then change to a knife to give it the fine tuning it needs. What’s that? You’re publishing indie? Well, it’s true that there’s no publishing house ready to cut your darling words to shreds, so that means you can write whatever you want, right?
Wrong.
If anything, you need to be even more ruthless with your prose. This, by the way, pertains to all writers, even traditionally published ones. I once read a book that included a wedding scene so long and detailed, I felt I had been there but hadn’t gotten anything to eat. More to the point, the scene didn’t serve a purpose. Yes, I was waiting for those characters to wed (it was book four, after all), but that didn’t mean I needed to sit through it in real time.
So, cut. Slice every single word that doesn’t serve a purpose, that doesn’t move the story along, and that wouldn’t be missed if you removed it.
You’ve done that, you say. And then you went over it a few more times and cut even more. Great. Now hand it to an editor. And be prepared to be shocked. I suggest keeping a supply of high-grade chocolate nearby when you get the corrections back. Because there will be corrections despite your best efforts.
I can hear the howls when those pages return to you. It’s as if that sword sliced through you instead of the work. Walk away and take deep breaths. Vigorous physical activity can help. When you’re calmer, return to the pages.
Be honest. Read the sections and leave out the parts the editor suggested you cut. Did you even notice they were missing?
Because it’s indie, you will have the final say. You might agree with some cuts and ignore others. That’s fine. It’s your story. Just make sure it’s the very best it can be.
The other day I was in a friend’s garden and was entranced: She had created fairy gardens in pockets of the land. I hadn’t realized that what I absolutely needed was to be near a fairy garden.
It will be available on Amazon as both an ebook and paperback.
Copyright © 2026 J.M. Levinton. Theme customization by il.lustr.us Media
