Talia's 2025-2026 newsletters

July 2026:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-31e1rw--1daswy-m0pqbqi4

January 2026:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-303f22--1c06wr-krqqke25

November 2025:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2zikan--1bf515-krqqke25

August:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2ys6v7--1a8j8k-krqqke24

May:

 https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2xi34o--19wtev-krqqke29

March:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2wnbvc--19d839-krqqke24

February:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2wajke--1949ia-krqqke27

January 2025:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2vy08p--18m52h-krqqke36

Dear Authors' Guild Leadership: Anti-Semitism has "no two sides to the story."

 

              Dear Authors’ Guild Leadership;

         In recent months, anti-Semitism in the USA has reared its ugly head. It has manifested its vile words and actions in every public sphere, and soon found a target in Jewish authors and writers. The calls to ban Jewish authors’ books and to force mainstream publishers such as HarperCollins and Macmillan's to “deplatform” their Jewish authors has been exploding unchecked on social media, such as TikTok, Instagram and X.

            Beyond words, actions have soon followed. Scheduled Jewish authors’ events have been canceled and many venues would not invite them to present. Agents are turning down manuscripts by Jewish writers or are firing Jewish clients whose work they had agreed to represent. These gate-keepers of the publishing world know that acquisition editors will not buy them.  

            The virulent anti-Semitism against Jewish authors in the USA has been documented in recent articles in the New York Times and the New York Post. In the UK, The British Telegraph reported that half of British publishers will not accept manuscripts by Jewish authors. Yet the Authors’ Guild, which should have been the first to raise its voice in indignation over the atrocious hate-fest against a significant portion of its members, has been kept mum.

            Silence is loud. Silence is screaming. The Authors’ Guild which has spoken in no uncertain terms against banning books, which has taken pride in advocating for authors, and which declares in its mission statement to serve as the voice for authors, is yet to issue a statement of disgust and condemnation of the hate speech and outright actions taken against its Jewish members.

            In 1933, in over 20 cities in Germany, fires were set to burn books written by Jews. Those books were the cornerstone of what we consider our Western civilization, written by Franz Werfel, Max Brod, Stefan Zweig,  Einstein, and Freud among them. German newspapers triumphantly reported that “Germany was purging itself of Jews” because silencing and destroying Jewish voices was only an early step to what we all now know came next.

            The Holocaust did not begin with incinerators. It began with words.

            In 2020, the Authors’ Guild passed a resolution against racism. Isn’t the singling out Jewish authors not only for discrimination and scorn but also for actions against them is the ultimate racism? We, Jewish members of the Authors’ Guild—and Jewish writers everywhere—deserve the same consideration, sympathy, and protection that you have generously and rightfully extended to our brothers and sisters who are Black writers and writers of color.

            What has happened to your moral compass that you allow attacks on Jewish authors go on for months without a response?

            Dear leaders of the Authors’ Guild: Anti-Semitism has no “two sides of the story.” It has one side, and it is ugly and dangerous. Unless you speak up, you are taking the position of the evil.

 

Sincerely,

 Talia Carner

Authors’ Guild Member since 1997

www.TaliaCarner.com

           

This letter was sent to Staff@authorsguild.org with the request to distribute it to each person in a leadership, council, honorary, or staff role.  

AN UPDATE: In late June 2024, The Authors' Guild issued a statement:

"The Authors Guild condemns censoring, threatening, or blacklisting authors. We are aware of recent incidents in which presses have refused to publish articles and speaking engagements have been canceled based on the writer’s religious or national identity or their views relating to Israel or Palestine, as well as attempts to “blacklist” authors. We abhor antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry and discrimination intended to chill writers’ freedom of expression."   

 

 

THE THIRD DAUGHTER has reached the top!

The Jewish Book Council announced its winners....

2020 National Jewish Book Award
Finalist

THE THIRD DAUGHTER  reached a finalist spot in the Book Club category. (It's an honor to lose to Alice Hoffman....)

This seal will be appear on the cover of the novel as of the next printing.

In her letter to my publisher, HarperCollins, JBC Executive Director wrote: "We recognize and appreciate your editorial decision to publish a book of such high quality.... one that contributes to informed living, understanding, and entertainment for the entire English-reading world."

Yes, once again with my fiction writing, I've stepped into an arena few have ever dared entered. It took compassion and maturity on my part, but it was my fabulous editor, Kate Nintzel, who has had the courage and wisdom to support the project and then to publish THE THIRD DAUGHTER.


WOW again!

Two days after the JBC announcement, BookMovement, which serves tens of thousands of book clubs, posted its choice of the "Historical fiction of the month!" It has selected THE THIRD DAUGHTER, and is offering a giveaway of copies of the book!

Click here to enter BookMovement giveaway for book clubs.
(And please don't forget to mail me a photo of your meeting for a monthly drawing of a beautiful shawl, replica of the one worn by the protagonist on the cover--at AuthorTalia@aol.com .)

 

After months and years of toiling alone, it's such a pleasure to share my work with you....

 
 After spending long days, weeks and months ladling words out of an ocean of emotions and empathy, it’s a great feeling to take my work to the public and to discuss the social issues that fire my imagination--and to find such receptive readers.

* I Skype with book clubs, joining the second part of the meeting, after members have had a chance to discuss the book, to exchange opinions and even to disagree. That's what makes a meeting more thought-provoking. (Please contact me to check my availability to Skype at AuthorTalia@aol.com, not this newsletter gmail account.)
* My book tour is in full swing, with over 30 keynotes and presentations in the first part of 2020 alone!  (Please join me if you can.)
* I have given numerous written interviews.
* I have spoken at radio and podcasts. (Please listen to one broadcast here.)
* Most importantly, I get to educate readers about sex trafficking, and through the humanity of the protagonist, to gain understanding and compassion. In a call for action, I direct audiences to my activism page and show them what they can do to fight this scourge in their own backyard.

 The shameful secret readers are most surprised to learn.... 

 Set in the late 1800s in Buenos Aires,  THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a story of a young Jewish woman lured under false promise of marriage from Russia to South America, where she's forced into prostitution. With faith and fortitude, she struggles to free herself, while trying to bring down the powerful traffickers' ring.

Historically true, THE THIRD DAUGHTER was inspired by Sholem Aleichem's short story, The Man from Buenos Aires,  that appeared in the same collection as Tevye the Dairyman. I invented the story of one of Tevye's daughters after the family flees a pogrom (--a sequel to Fiddler on the Roof.) They meet this mysterious, shady man, who lures the daughter from Russia to Argentina with a false promise of marriage--only to force her into a brothel. 

Zwi Migdal was a legal union of traffickers headquartered in Buenos Aires, that operated with impunity for 70 years. THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a tribute to the estimated over 150,000 Jewish girls and women whose haunting voices impelled me to tell their truth....

But as the iconic  Phyllis Chesler writes in her endorsement, the novel has "a satisfying, redemptive ending!"

And readers echo it:  "This book will be on my mind for the rest of my life, "The best book I've ever read," and "I can't begin to describe how good it is...."
(Please click for more reviews.)

On the personal side....

More often now interviewers ask me “Who are you?” “What else do you do besides writing?”  They read my [extensive] bio on my website, yet still wonder about me.

Yes, there is life outside writing, publishing, activism, and book touring. In fact, I have a very large family—a husband, Ron Carner, and four grown children, all married with kids of their own…. We all love to spend time together, and make a point to do that often, but are okay when we don’t, when each goes their own way, involved in their own busy lives. Ron and I are very proud that our children are all well-adjusted, productive adults that carry our Jewish values forward.

The 19 of us, with me on the top step next to Ron

Ron and I travel internationally a couple of times a year. This spring it will be France (where I am researching novel #6,) and in the Fall it will be Japan. We have a busy cultural and social life of theater, concerts and friends.

I study French online daily, and exercise most days (jazz dance alternate with weights or Pilates.) When my schedule permits, I join a Mah-Jongg game. I particularly like nature walks, and whether in New York or Boca Raton, I always find a park or a nature preserve to listen to the birds….

How do I find time to write? I don't require a lot of sleep....

Please join me for an engaging literary event:  

In my presentations, I do not do "readings," but rather deliver thought-provoking talks about the social issues behind each of my novels. Audiences and event organizers find them "enriching," "extraordinary," "engaging," "superbly performed," "eye-opening," and "unforgettable." 

In the coming months you'll find me in New York area, New Jersey and Florida. Please check my Book Tour page and meet me there!  
 

Hadassah Cascades (FL) January 2020

 
I would like to single out one upcoming event, my presentation about sex trafficking on Friday, March 20th, at the UN, at the Commission of the Status of Women. For the second time I get to broadcast my novel's message on the international arena. (The previous presentation, on March 2007, was about infanticide in China and its platform was my novel, CHINA DOLL.)

To schedule an event with me, please contact my event coordinator, Lisa Bernard at MecoxHudson@gmail.com or (203)919-8406 

Thanks--and more....   

Thank you all for your interest and support.

I would like to ask you to help spread the word. One way is to post a review on Amazon and/or GoodReads. Even a couple of lines will do, but it helps to get the word out.

Thank you for your friendship in the real and cyber worlds--and I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Talia

www.TaliaCarner.com



P.S.  You may read the first chapter of THE THIRD DAUGHTER on my website--and of course, order at your local indie store, on B&N,  Amazon, and iTunes.

P.P.S. The novel is available also in LARGE PRINT!

Book Tour Reaching New Heights

(If you’ve missed my previous newsletters detailing my journey

through the release of HOTEL MOSCOW peek behind the scene by 

scrolling down, or clicking on the right bar by month.

And you may read the first chapter of HOTEL MOSCOW on 

my website or download a free sample digitally.)  

Readers’ frequent question: What has changed in Russia since 1993? 

   

In the new Russia, young people enjoy new business and career opportunities, while restaurants are now store-front (formerly hidden in basements or second floors and accessed only by a code knock.) Businesses cater to consumers' needs--an unheard of concept before 1991. Yet, dozens of industrial cities are as bleak and hopeless as before. Even in the beautiful St. Petersburg, millions of Russians still live in the iconic Soviet kommunalka, the communal apartment, where a family of three may occupy a room as small as 7 x10 ft.—and shares a toilet, bath and kitchen with five to ten other families. (Photo: Notice the bed hung under the ceiling.)

Professor Terry Walker

News!!!

 1) HOTEL MOSCOW is being taught at a university in Brazil, at an English-language business class. The professor explained his choice: “The novel covers both the cultural nuances of doing business

abroad while it gives a fresh view of a country going through the upheaval of transition from communism.”

2) Broward County  library, (FL) has selected HOTEL MOSCOW as its March reading at all its 7 branches! At each such meeting, a leader gives a talk about the background of the novel or reviews the book. When I Skype into the meeting, I am fascinated by their professional take and must remind myself that I had written this book they analyze and praise.

With organizers
and author David Greene,

3) I’ve had the honor of being the very first author at the very first literary event at the first year of the Collier County (FL) Jewish Book Festival. I’ve been to many similar events, and I must say that this one was so well organized it was hard to believe that they worked without a prior blueprint.  

4)  Two more blogger interviews were just published. In the changing world of publishing, the aggregate of bloggers have replaced mainstream book reviewers with their collective impact. Each gathers followers who share similar tastes, and the questions 

they pose in their interviews reflect the readers’ curiosity. Read Mercedes Fox and Sylvie Books & Film (and check for more Q & A on my website.)

My pleasure of meeting other authors

With Sonia Taitz

Where do authors hobnob? While most of my appearances are keynote speeches where I am alone on stage, I greatly enjoy events I share with other authors. Sometimes it’s consecutive presentations, other times we share a panel that focuses on specific topics. It’s my chance to connect with other authors.

Three such events are coming up—two panels in Tucson Book Festival, and a panel I will be moderating in Long Island, NY.  Don’t miss them.  

 

Book groups’ reactions to HOTEL MOSCOW:

o “What a meeting we had! The terrifying portrait of a nation in transition from Communism came to life in the novel of a world superpower undergoing a profound and violent change.”

o “We hadn’t imagined the misery of life under Soviet totalitarian regime. It was even harder to grasp the nightmare of waking up one day to a world where all laws have been obliterated.”

o “HOTEL MOSCOW taught us all lessons about humanity, about what we, as people, are capable of.”

Please contact me to join your meeting via phone or Skype.

  

My Personal corner:

Readers and interviewers often ask: What do you do besides writing? The answer is: A lot. Here are a couple of items:

1) Toastmasters:

Being a member of Toastmasters—the organization that teaches public speaking engages me through

the three separate clubs to which I belong. While I continue to perfect my speaking skills through specific assignments (there are various manuals to choose from, each focuses on different skills,) Toastmasters offers me an instant community wherever I travel—also  internationally. I am proud to say that I’ve just finished two manuals and achieved Advanced Bronze Communicator level.

I often listen to people in business or leadership deliver well enough, yet they are unaware how much they could still benefit from feedback. I suggest you search for your local clubs and come as a guest. You’ll be hooked. 

2) Study French:

In my youth I attended a French high school in Tel-Aviv and was fluent in the language—I even wrote French poetry. However, I gave myself a virtual lobotomy when I moved to the USA and immersed myself in English.

One day, though, Esther, the protagonist of JERUSALEM MAIDEN ran off to Paris, and I had to follow her. Unlike my many visits to Paris since my youth, this time I had to research libraries and interview historians. Now I make time to recoup my lost French through an online program, Frantastique, that is both humorous and effective. (Try it for a free trial month at any level.)

 

 Thank you again for sharing this publishing journey with me. I hope to see you in any of my upcoming dozens of events, or via Skype at your book group meeting.

Wishing you all a the best,

Talia Carner
www.TaliaCarner.com

P.S.  If you’ve read HOTEL MOSCOW, please post a review on  Amazon or GoodReads. (Even a line or two would suffice--unless, of course, you want to articulate more.)

P.S.S. If you haven't read the novel yet, here are links for both the trade paperback--about $11--or the digital format for under $10.