good morning. and welcome to mosaic. i'm rabbi weiss. i am honored to be your host this morning. we will have a conversation about people who have written books. it is a fascinating topic to have a conversation about. t ouhow imagination enters into words on a piece of paper and ends up in book form for us to read and enjoy. with us, we have sandra feeder and debra newman who have written wonderful books. and we want to jump in and ask you, what is your book about? >> it is called, davies perfect world. it is a children's book, ages seven up to 10. and the character, daisy, keeps track of her favorite words in

her green notebook that is covered with purple polka dots. and she has a lot of low -- a lot of word lists that she accumulates. it is a character i can relate to. and i wanted to write a book to deal with words. it is not academic. it brings, into literature, a character that is all about language. i find this exciting. >> and deborah, what is your book about? >> my book is called, spirit and nature, teaching judaism and ecology on the trail. and it is really a book to be used outside. and when we wrote this book, we said, we hope that this gets messy and dirty and full of the earth and leaves and grass, because it is a tool that we created -- for jewish educators that did not know about nature. and wanted to take kids outside. and for naturalists, who don't

know about judaism. so anybody can pick up the book and take people outside and teach about jewish themes. >> what i think is fascinating about your books -- a children's book and a book about nature and judaism, is that when we go to a bookstore, or even search the web, and we see a book and a person's name, or a couple of authors, i think we naturally assume that this person is an author in the traditional sense of writing. but in fact, both of you write at a distant -- at a different personal experience. and that way, seek to in some ways educate and expose people to different ideas and understandings. and in some ways, i think break the model of what people think of as a traditional full-time offer he makes a livelihood at patients books. >> i came to this with a background in journalism that has to do with words. but a little different.

i definitely learned about the power and importance that words have in our culture. i have worked for some newspapers in california. and was able to transition into children's books, which has been a real joy for me. and a different format. i feel like the luckiest person. compared to the world of june -- of journalism, where you are making sure everything is accurate, i get to make things up. it is totally delightful and taps into a creative part of my energy that i really enjoyed. >> for me, i used to say i spent more in babysitting fees that -- van i ever got as royalties from the book. i have been working my career for the national park service. i have been working at outdoor cams. now i work for the largest jewish environmental

organization. i was looking for a tool to take children and adults out on hikes. and engage them in learning. the curriculum that -- for that has been in the secular world for native americans. and there was nothing in the jewish tradition. there were no books. i wrote this as a lesson plan, a tool i needed another jewish educators needed. the writing process was more about, what do i do? what do people like outside? how can iraq to this down so somebody can pick it up and use it? it is more totalitarian. >> i think books serve all the functions. i'm sure people enjoy reading it as well as the use of out -- out of it. teachers and librarians can use the book as a teaching tool in many ways. i think that how we teach kids

about words and develop the love of language and reading for children, is so important. for kids and parents and educators. >> deborah, we will take a quick break. and we will come back to mosaic in one moment.

welcome back to mosaic. i'm rabbi eric weiss. i will be your host of this morning. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation with women who have written books about the topic of writing books and the books they have particularly written. and also, what to books mean to us in society. and i'm wondering, as you are thinking of writing the book, and actually what going through the process of editing and working with a publisher, and

seeing it on the bookshelf and the internet, all the different places where people buy books, what were your hopes about what do the reader what actually gets out of what you are presenting? >> that is a good question. it is a long process from conception to writing. and then illustrations. and then holding a book in your hands. for me, since it is a children's book, what i really hope people would get out of it, i hope they would see the cover which i think is fun and delightful. my illustrator did a lovely job. and then be drawn to the character. and want to know more about the character. a friend of mine just sent me the most adorable picture which put a big smile on my face, of her 7-year-old daughter in bed reading my book. and that is what i wanted. i wanted it to be a cook -- a book that kids would take to bed and be eager to read.

>> i would say the jewish environmental movement has so many aspects to it. i'm involved with a lot of food work and climate change and alternatives to transportation. at the time of writing this book, i was into into, how do you take people into the wilderness and have them appreciate the glory and beauty and connect with god? when i saw the cover of the book, it was so much more beautiful than i had imagined it to be. i had this great experience of the book being published a while ago. so i meet young adults like gardeners and nationalists, who i meet and go, that is a great book. and i think that was the intention. it is something that people will find useful. to help them connect jewish people with the outdoors and the majesty of the wilderness. >> one thing that has come out of my book that has been fun is -- my character creates word

list. one of the things is making up words. i saw on the internet, you are talking about how it is so wonderful we are all connected now. a little girl in canada reviewed my book. and said that one shank -- one thing she liked about it was making up words. she put her favorite made-up words in the review. i thought that was delightful that there was a worldwide connection with something i put out there. >> there is so much conversation about the impact of the internet and technology on the way we think. and the way we interact and communicate. and there is a lot of conversation these days about the impact of the internet, on the way we actually read. and how somebody reads on a computer screen. and how somebody reads a newspaper. or a book on a piece of paper. i'm wondering if you can share your experience with how these sorts of things interact with the context of your book. >> i have to admit that i'm hoping children's books will be

still that book that you hold in your hands. and having something physical to hold and look at together. of course, we are transitioning into an internet and electronic age. and e-books are a big part of that. and there is a whole new generation that is learning to read on ipads or things like that, and developing a love of reading in a different way. i do think one of the great things that technology has brought is that -- things get out there in a bigger and faster way. and you tend to hear back -- feedback, and people feel connected around the literature of what we're putting out into the world. that is really exciting. >> i think that e-books -- the environmentalist in me, is that we are not needing so much paper. and you have this trip -- this electronic tool and you are downloading 50 or 60 novels onto that. and you can borrow books from the library onto your ipads and

those sorts of things. on the other hand, certainly the book that i wrote was supposed to be taken out on the trail. so you don't have computers or connectivity. at least that is the hole. if you are in yosemite, you can pull the book out of your backpack. as an educator, we download the writing and we take it with us on a piece of paper. it is hard to read from. i think a book holds together better. some of these books, i think are hopeful -- like children's books, were you hold it in your lap. or mine, were you take it outside with you. >> i know that you also work with a particular environmental agency that is an important one for people to know about. wondering if you can let them know about it. >> it is the largest jewish environmental organization in the country. we do a lot of work about sustainable behavior. to create sustainable competed -- computer -- communities and the jewish

world. working about sustainable food. and what is fit to eat. and we're hoping to change this to involve an environmental ethic. and change our behavior for sustainability, from generation to generation. >> thank you so much. if you would like to have any information, you can go to the website at havon.org. or contact deborah at her website. or give a call at 415-397-7020. >> sander and deborah, thank you for being with us. we will say goodbye to you and welcome other authors. in the meantime, thank you for sharing your books with us. and your thoughts. please join us in one moment

back here on mosaic.

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welcome back to mosaic. i'm rabbi eric whites. i am honored to be your host this one. we're in the middle of a wonderful conversation about books. about how an imaginative idea becomes something on a piece of paper with words, on the internet, and enjoyed by so many different readers. we're joined by david pearlstein and jennifer fielding. welcome. >> the two books that are very different, and yet connected. the first is nonfiction. gods others, inter- a lot -- israelites. these are 25 stories about non- israelite characters in the bible who have encounters with god, either direct or historically. and they range from, abraham,

to job, who was not an israelite. the other is a novel, slick. it is a contemporary jew political satire of the middle east. and it ties in to the protagonist being jewish. although he never found that out until he was 40. >> jennifer. >> my book is a memoir. and it is -- have poetry and have personal story. i am honored to have been published by capra press. it started in 1969. and they are just relaunching with my memoir. and my memoir is divided into seven sections. what i call, family -- family of origin. marriage, children, body,

faith, outside of the outside world, and work. and then there is a prologue and epilogue that sort of cup it. it is a book about love. it is a book about thankfulness. and it is a book that explains very specifically, what the title means. because when i was 17 years old, and a freshman in college, i was taking a shower and had this very terrible real feeling that i was going to not have a good life. and this book is an extended idea of my surprise and gratitude and hard work. and in fact, creating a good life. receiving a wonderful life. and having the blessings of truly a beautiful family. >> wonderful. it seems -- jennifer and

david, that on the faces of your respective books, seem so different. but on the other hand, all three books seem to have a theme of what it means to grow as a human being. and what does it mean to interact -- and have relationships in the world that have growth and meaning. and that allow for leaps of faith. and otherwise, leading into a good life. if we can use that term. would you say that those are some of the themes you are thinking of when you are writing your respective books? >> the biblical story involves that growth. how do we live? how do we live the right kind of life? how do we become the kind of human being god has intended us to be? but given us a choice, in terms of how we live. so far, gods others, that is a natural. and the stories and their

explore that. slick is something else. it is set in a contemporary middle east. and presents the store -- the struggles we're going through now, that we see societies going to. a struggle between two brothers for power. and the protagonist trying to make sense of all of this. somebody that is a retired army special forces officer. he has been there and done that. and yet he finds himself in draft in force is greater him. and it really is -- about his growth. trying to discover who he is, as a human being and as an american. and even as a jew. >> since my book is a memoir, it is literally about my life. it sort of explorers -- explores how i started as a child. now i am 62 years old.

and bold that continuing thread and that enormous disjuncture as well. and i have said in the prologue that i was born with a loving heart. that life really -- at times, shatters one's heart. so this book, i think is about putting it back together. and creating a mosaic almost. something that also has air and space and mortar between the pieces. my hope is that, in my life, in the experience at the readers have, that it is about an inspiration to speak words of love, words of kindness. words of gratitude. words of sincerity and honesty. words that are positive. because i believe that we are

born with so many of them. and it is our role in our lab, as they grow, as we build, as we develop and deepen, to focus on that, which is positive. a lot of literature is about the negative. about the heartbreaking. but my hope -- though this book has those elements, is that the reader will come out feeling stretched as i did. >> jennifer and david, we need to take a quick right. please join us in one moment back here on mosaic. music track ♪

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proudly supporting the men and women of the united states coast guard and their families. find out how you can help at rescue the rescuers dot org welcome back to mosaic. i'm rabbi eric whites. and honored to be your host this morning. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation with david pearlstein and jennifer fielder about the books they

have written. david and jennifer, it seems to me that people who write all the time -- people might write a letter or note, or even a grocery list. they my write and elaborate e-mail. people who write all the time, it seems to me, the distinction between writing for publication and writing otherwise, is when you actually end up looking for a publisher. and get into the nitty-gritty of all of what that means. i'm wondering if you can just share that piece of -- of the behind-the-scenes process. how was that, david, to think of a publisher or look for a publisher? and to make that decision about how to have your book published? >> the looking, is not that difficult. the finding is difficult because it is a business in which there seems to be everybody in the country, who is writing. i independently published both books through -- a print on demand company.

the advantage there is -- not only does the book get out fairly quickly, but i had complete freedom to do it the way i wanted to do it. nobody told me, no, you can't do it this way. you have to do it that way. there are a lot of quality books, being independently published. slick just earned a star from a review, as a book of remarkable merit. very few books published independently or by publishers earn that. so i think that is a testament to the fact that the publishing industry is changing. and others today have many different ways to go. >> my book was published as a paperback book. i wanted it to be published by a publisher -- i was so honored to be selected by capra press. it was a complicated process, as i think they always are. i was approached by capra press, that they wanted to consider publishing my manuscript.

then we ran into some difficulties. and i was actually rejected. but i thought, i want to be published by them so badly, i am going to take whatever criticism they gave me and listen to them. and i think i improved the book. and then december 1, we published about 800. we're about to go into a second printing. what is intriguing about this book is that it is not available on amazon or barnes & noble. it is only, at this point, available to independent booksellers and bookstores. that will probably change with subsequent printings. but i am a librarian by training. and i think i simply can't get past that love of a book in my hand. >> it is so wonderful for anybody out there listening, who is a 16 or considering writing, to know that the two of you have published -- what one might think of in nontraditional ways. >> this is part of the wave of

the future. standard publishing is not going out of business. but so many options have been opened up to writing -- so that if you want to write, you can do that and have a book in your hands. slick and gods others is available digitally also. something jennifer said i think is very important. is the need for every writer, to have an editor. when i was riding gods others, i had people looking at it and got a lot of help from a former senior rabbi here in san francisco. and in writing slick and the other fiction i am working on now, i have had the help of terrific writing coach and teacher -- down in palo alto. and having someone who can step back and say, i like this. but i think you need to do this or consider that. >> david and jennifer, we have

come to the end of our time together. thank you so much for being with us this morning on mosaic. and thank you so much for joining us. have a wonderful day.

welcome to bay sunday everybody. i am your host frank mallicoat. we begin with the weekly pitch. if you have a show idea, we would love to hear from you. go to kpix.com and click on the kpix5 logo. scroll down to bay sunday. hopefully we can hook up and chat. >> we get you out to the gate with a little laughter. in oakland person who lives in fremont, double majored in business and mathematics, so he can be a comedian. he is 27. taking the comedy circuit by storm. refreshingly intelligent. he is inspiring. he is great. he is on his way up. by the way, he is a few days away from a thousand consecutive days of comedy. let's chat with h.