On the other hand, fans of time-travel, reincarnation, Jewish mysticism, feminism, the publishing industry and lovers of a really great story that’s NEVER been told before will really enjoy this novel!
Raven West – 23 October 2023
The Back Flap
After a mysterious manuscript titled Vashti’s Daughter appears on her desk at her office twenty-nine-year-old book publisher Anna Steine is haunted by dreams where she is living in 366 BCE. With the help of reincarnation experts, archeologists and a Kabbalah astrologer, Anna discovers she is, in fact, Adara, the reincarnated daughter of Queen Vashti, the first wife of King Achashverosh of the Book of Esther.
Risking her company and budding relationship with book’s author, Dr. Nathaniel Braverman, a Middle Eastern Studies professor at Brandeis University, she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfil a vow she made centuries ago before her 30th birthday in the present, that will finally bring her true happiness and change the world’s view on a biblical heroine.
About the book
What is the book about?
The Book of Esther, also known as the Megillah, is one of the five stories in the Writings section of the Old Testament. It is a story well known to both Christians and Jews as the tale of the heroic Esther who saves the Jewish people from annihilation by the evil Haman.
The festive holiday of Purim is celebrated every year in the Jewish community with costume parties, parades and special fruit-filled tri-corner pastries called Hamentashen.
But before Esther, there was Vashti, the king’s first wife. Her defiance of his order to debase herself for the amusement of his cronies led to her being banished from the kingdom. This paved the way for Esther to take her place, and Vashti was never heard from again.
Until now.
Throughout the centuries, Vashti has been both vilified and praised. She’s portrayed as the bitch of the land, or hailed as the first Feminist. The argument has been raging for decades.
Vashti’s Daughter definitively ends this debate.
Actual events and locations both from the past and the present, plus several actual religious, astrological and reincarnation authorities, lend credibility to a fictional story that could very well be real.
After a mysterious manuscript appears on her desk and at her home, Anna is haunted by dreams where she is living in 366 BCE. With the help of reincarnation experts, archeologists and a Kabbalist Rabbi, Anna discovers she is, in fact, Adara, the reincarnated daughter of Queen Vashti.
Risking her company and budding relationship with book’s author, Dr. Nathaniel Braverman, a Middle Eastern Studies professor at Brandeis University, she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfill a vow she made centuries ago, before her 30th birthday in the present, that will finally bring her true happiness in love and change the world’s view on a biblical heroine.
When did you start writing the book?
That’s an interesting question. I originally came up with the idea for a story about two people who knew each other in a different time period. At the time it was going to be a short story to add to my erotica collection! BUT, in 2013, I decided to go in a different direction and signed up for the NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month), where I’ve been a member since 2008 (and won the 50,000 challenge twice!) However, life got a bit chaotic and I only ended up writing just under 3,000 words for Vashti’s Daughter… where it sat in my computer for the next seven years!
How long did it take you to write it?
Since the story has a PURIM theme, it was always my goal to have it completed for the holiday, but I kept missing the deadline every year until COVID cancelled my (as well as everyone else’s) life! It was a great motivator to FINALLY reach my goal of completing the first draft which I did on PURIM, March 16, 2022! Start to finish was 11 years, but the actual completion was only about a year and half.
Where did you get the idea from?
This is a bit personal, so I’ll leave out the intimate details. (As I said, the story was going to an addition to my erotica collection.) I knew this guy from high school. We were just friends, until we weren’t. Our affair was so unique, I truly felt we’d known each other in a previous life. When I finally ended the relationship, he was really hurt and said to me (yelled, actually) “You will never know another love like mine in this life and all others to come.” The line was so good, I knew I HAD to put it into a book… which I did! Unfortunately, he passed away three years ago and will never know the influence he had in the story.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
I probably spent way too much time on research, but I tend to do that with all my books, which can be a bit too much! The details about the Syracuse basketball and Israeli basketball scandals, Wilt Chamberlain at Kutchers, and how all of this fit into my story wasn’t part of the original plot, but that’s what happens with writers!
What came easily?
The Jewish mysticism side was very easy. I studied Kabballah, numerology and astrology and have been a Tarot card reader for more than 50 years. I also had great help on the reincarnation aspect from two experts; Walter Semkiw, MD, – President Board of Directors of the Reincarnation Research and Professor Jim B. Tucker, M.D. Being in the publishing industry since 1999, there was a lot of my own experiences I drew from with the protagonist being an owner of a publishing company.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Unlike my three other novels, First Class Male, Red Wine for Breakfast and Undercover Reunion, who have many “real” people in them, the characters in Vashti’s Daughter are all fiction. Some of the text came from real people who are all mentioned in the acknowledgments, but there isn’t anyone in the book who is based on a real person.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
WAY back in the late 60’s a wonderful writer, Joyce Elbert, wrote The Crazy Ladies. Her writing was amazing. Many years ago we became friends, although she lived in Florida and we never met. She passed away at the age of 86, such a loss, but what a great inspiration she was to me. Of course Ayn Rand, who could ever come up with a four word sentence opening line that would spark an entire political movement the way she did. “Who is John Galt?” FANTASTIC!
Do you have a target reader?
Age wise, I’d say 12 years and up. Most of the novels about Purim are written for children.
This is one of the few, if not the ONLY novel written for adults. At the core, it is a “spin-off” of The Book of Esther, also known as the Megillah. One of the five stories in the Writings section of the Old Testament. It is a story well known to both Christians and Jews as the tale of the heroic Esther who saves the Jewish people from annihilation by the evil Haman.
But I always considered Vashti to the true heroine of the story. If not for her refusal of the king’s command to dance naked for his friends, Esther never would have been a mention. SHE gets an entire story, Vashti only got three paragraphs. I took care of that mistake BIG TIME when I wrote Vashti’s Daughter.
So, on one hand, the target could be Judeo /Christian religious scholars who discuss the various aspects of the characters, (Search “Vashti” on Google and you’ll receive over 2,950,000 results!)
On the other hand, fans of time-travel, reincarnation, Jewish mysticism, feminism, the publishing industry and lovers of a really great story that’s NEVER been told before will really enjoy this novel!
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
Because I work full time, M-F 6 am – 2:30, I take Saturday totally OFF – no phone, no computer, just vegg on the couch with a glass of chardonnay and watch shows on the ACORN and Britbox networks all day.
Sunday is my writing day. The process is pretty simple, really. I sit at my desk, turn on PANDORA, and start typing.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
Yes and no. I actually start my novels with the ending and work backwards. First Class Male started out as a 2,000 word short story for a romance magazine. When I submitted it to the editor, she said it was a great first chapter for my second novel. !!!??
When I thought I’d finished it at the end of part two, I realized the beginning didn’t make any sense, SO, I had to write another part… that little 2,000 word short story became a 96,000 word novel! The outline changed many times.
I’ll start with a loose preliminary outline, but the characters very rarely stay on course!
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I did the edits for First Class Male one chapter at a time because I was working with my “anonymous source” who was a postmaster at the time. He (and I) wanted to be certain that all the facts in the story were U.S.P.S. accurate.
The other three novels were edited and re-edited, and re-RE-edited ad nauseam in their entirety.
Did you hire a professional editor?
At first, I did hire on a trial basis a few professional editors, but they all wanted to change the story, which I will NEVER do! I ended up purchasing a year subscription of ProWritingAid, which caught most of the typos, misspelling and grammar errors without altering the text, at a fraction of the cost to hire someone.
Do you listen to music while you write?
Funny you should ask since at this very moment I have PANDORA through my computer speakers. My stations are all hits from the late 60’s early 70’s and 80’s, and a few from Frank (Sinatra!) The very first book I started in high school, I was playing my 45 Temptation Eyes, I have no idea why!
Since Red Wine for Breakfast takes place at a Los Angeles radio station, and I worked as a DJ for WELV in 1975, I absolutely need music to help my creative process.
If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
Eye of the Tiger – by Survivor Just as long as it’s just my finger tapping and I don’t try to SING along… my husband would divorce me!
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I can say that the publishing industry has changed drastically since I wrote Red Wine for Breakfast way back in 1996! I had an agent then, who mailed the physical manuscript to all the publishers who are no longer in business! Doubleday had it for six months before they decided to pass, but I did receive some great rejection letters!
I’m not so sure in today’s digital world an agent is really necessary, and yet there are SO MANY OF THEM! Fiction is so much more difficult to sell than non-fiction. Unless you ARE a famous person, are married to a famous person, killed a famous person, or just slept with one, it’s very difficult to go the traditional route – no matter how long you’ve been in the biz. Then, there’s the money factor, the percentage they take, and the author is still left with the great job of marketing, which is an entirely different animal.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher?
Experience! Red Wine for Breakfast was, if you can believe it, published by NINE different publishers! Read History of an Unpublished Novel.
That novel and First Class Male were published by Lighthouse Press. We did some great events, the BEA in NY and L.A., the Times Festival of Books, (all of which I write about in Vashti’s’ Daughter), book signings and the like when they were still around, but the company eventually went out of business and I regained my rights and “published” the novels with Amazon’s Create Space, Smashwords.
Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
I tried going the traditional agent/publisher route with Vashti’s Daughter. I gave myself the goal of 200 rejections before going the self-pub route.
I received 2 “We LOVE it” from what is now called hybrid publishers, one who sent me a contract for “only” $10,000!!! I passed. I did NOT just fall off the author’s wagon!
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
ABSOLUTELY professionally done! I’m NOT visually creative at all, even my stick-figures are lopsided! I hired Ghislain Viau of Creative Publishing Book Design
He was FANTASTIC!! Turn-around time was about 2 weeks, sketch to finished cover and his price was very reasonable. HIGHLY recommend him for anyone who needs a great cover designer.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
A RAVEN does have wings, but I do have a plan!! This interview is a great start!
I’ve emailed review requests to 15 sites and just received a fantastic 5 STAR review on GOODREADS.
My daughter Michelle W. Malkin hosts a Jewish podcast, It’s Who You Know she “promised” to promote my book, but with a full-time job and two little boys, it might be awhile. Her husband Barak (yea, that’s right.. Barak and Michelle!!) also has a podcast Torah Smash, for Nerdy Jews he promised I’d be a guest… he’d better or else I’m going to kidnap my daughter and bring her back to California! (They live…if you can call it that… in New Jersey!)
Since the holiday of PURIM isn’t until March 23, 2024, the bulk of my marketing plan will be targeting Jewish institutions and websites starting in February of next year.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
If you love to write… just WRITE! If your goal is to become a “rich and famous” author you’re in the wrong business. Enjoy your small victories… #1 YOU FINISHED A BOOK! That’s huge. Open that bottle of champagne and celebrate!
Rejection is part of the process, just put it aside, pick up a few “spin” lines and move on.
Remember, best sellers are not necessarily well-written. (Think 50 Shades) They are HYPED, Marketed, and promoted everywhere. If you have extra $$, hire a good publicist. Do your research.
If you EVER receive any responses from publishers or agents who ask for money… RUN!!!
About You
Where did you grow up?
I was born and grew up in the village of Ellenville in the heart of the Catskills in upstate NY. I wrote an article “Ellenville Always” which will be framed to hang in the Borscht Belt Museum, scheduled to open next year in my home town!
Got very tired of shoveling snow, so after graduating Syracuse in 1976, I packed up my life in the back of a Honda and drove to California where I’ve been ever since. Still a YANKEES fan even with the Dodgers in first place.
As my mother said, “You can take the girl out of NY, but you’ll NEVER take the NY out of the girl!”
Where do you live now?
That will depend on how strong hurricane Hillary will be! I might be blown into the next state! I live with my husband Bill of 43 years (YIKES he’s OLD!!) in Camarillo, California. We’re about 45 minutes from downtown Los Angeles to the south and about 45 minutes from Santa Barbara to the north.
What would you like readers to know about you?
My #1 rule of life, (and the one ALL my protagonists also have) is to keep a bottle of champagne in your refrigerator because you never know when you’ll have something to celebrate and you do NOT want to be without champagne!
What are you working on now?
I’m currently participating in the Reedsyprompts weekly short story contest. Haven’t won yet, but it keeps my writing/creativity process flowing and the chance to win $250 for only $5.00 contribution, it’s worth it.
End of Interview:
For more from Raven West visit her website and check out her blog.
Get your copy of Vashti’s Daughter from Amazon US or Amazon UK.