Actually, it has been ages since I last posted a blog. After Daisy and Mitzvah went to play with St. Francis in pet heaven, I did not have the heart for it . . . not to mention the pandemic. But this blog represents a fresh start for me, as I am excited to launch a new version of my website, Prescottbooks.info. Many thanks to the talented team who created the website. I was not sure how to manage my two disparate writing interests—the era of Nazi Germany as well as my love of pets—but the team found a way.
Taken Away, my first novel, was finally published this spring after many delays. I was inspired by the plot and characters that Don Butler and I created for our play of the same name. I invited Don to join me in writing the novel, but he declined, saying that his passion was for writing plays. I thoroughly enjoyed writing the novel. A novel's expanse allowed me to show, month by month in a pivotal year in pre-war Nazi Germany, how the Jews were systematically ostracized and how “Aryan” youth were groomed to embrace prejudice.
My near future looks promising. My next book should be published by the end of the year. That book is a creative nonfiction biography of Willi Graf, who became active in the anti-Nazi, nonviolent resistance group known as the White Rose. The play that I co-created with Don Butler, A MITZVAH FOR DAISY, will be revived this fall. If you are near the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts between November 10-14, please call for tickets! Moreover, several future writing projects are simmering in the brainstorming stage: a children's picture book about my remarkable foster dog, another nonfiction book about Christian resistance to the Nazis, and, fingers crossed, a play with Don Butler about Willi Graf and the White Rose.
