Translators Are Like Ninjas. If You Notice

In Israel, There Is This Reduction Of The Political Discourse To Something That Is Very Limited. It's As If You Have That Pitch That Only Dogs Can Hear. Sometimes I Feel I Speak At Such A Pitch That Very Few People Around Me Communicate With What I'm Saying.

What Connects Me So Strongly To Israel Is The Fact That I'm Second Generation. My Parents Said, "we Have A Place Where We Can Just Be Ourselves And Nobody Says, 'don't Tell Me Your Opinion, You Damn Jew, Go Somewhere Else.'" Then You Go To This Country And Other Jews Tell You To Shut Up. It's Frustrating. I Think That We Have A Bad Government And That Some People Are Fearful. They're Going With The Class Bully. But I Really Truly Believe - You Read It In My Stories - That Deep Inside, People Have Goodness.

It Took A Lot To Understand That The Interest In Both Writing A Story And Reading It Is Not In The Objective Dangers Someone Takes. You Don't Have To Fight Snakes Or Wake Up In A Strange Apartment To Have A Story; It's About What Goes On Inside Your Mind And Soul.

For My Mother, Having A Family Was The Most Important Thing In Her Life. In The Second World War, It Was A Challenge - Surviving Physically And Mentally And Finding Somebody Who You Loved And Who Was Willing To Be With You.

My First And Biggest Love Was Always Fiction Writing. But It Is A Very Lonely Pastime.