HOTEL MOSCOW --The Adventure Continues

Fun literary events:

Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria

 The summer’s most star-studded literary event in the USA must be the East Hampton (NY) Authors’Night. Once again I was honored to be selected among the 100 invited authors to autograph my books. The reception—catered by the best wines and food offerings of the east end of Long Island—was swarmed by a couple of thousands visitors circulating among the celebrity authors and visitors.

Nelson DeMille, who's become a friend

Nelson DeMille, bestselling suspense author, was also honored at a private dinner following the reception, sharing the honor with Dick Cavett. To my surprise and delight, when DeMille rose to speak, he introduced me and talked about HOTEL MOSCOW! (His prior written endorsement is posted on the front cover of the book.)

Book groups are selecting HOTEL MOSCOW

Recording a video for Sutter Home book club

Is it the end of August already? When it came out of the gate, HOTEL MOSCOW was recommended by Reading GroupChoices directory (print and digital) as a book club discussion choice.

Indeed, the first group to Skype with me will so this week. Quite a few others have informed me that they are gearing up for a lively, thought-provoking discussion because the novel’s themes are so varied. (Many book groups simply do not realize that I am available for a phone or Skype participation, so please pass the word.)

A reminder: What is HOTEL MOSCOW about?

Set in Moscow in 1993 during the uprising of the Russian parliament against Yeltsin, the novel is both the story of the valiant Russians going through transition after the fall of Communism and the personal journey of a visiting American woman who teaches the sorely needed business to women. She becomes embroiled in investigating the mafia that controls their ventures, but soon must come to terms with her parents' legacy and her own personal secret that might compromise her future.

            HOTEL MOSCOW is an eye-opening portrait of post-communist Russia and a profound exploration of faith, friendship, and heritage.

Soviet life—before and after communism:

How much has Russia changed? Below is the layout of a typical Soviet communal apartment, where 13 families (20-30 people) share two lavatories, one bath and one kitchen. Millions of Russian still live in such conditions today. Read more about it in the novel.

                                                    A diversion from book tour:

I must share with you my experience of taking time off from writing and public speaking to fly to Berlin to attend the historical event of the European Maccabi Games. This was the largest gathering of Jews in that city since Hitler’s days, and the show of  Jewish power and pride took on a special dimension at the opening ceremony in the arena adjacent to the stadium where he had once banned Jews from participating. You may read more about the event here.

  

A complaint lodged to Amazon:

Rather than be redundant by posting another rave review of HOTEL MOSCOW, I'd like to share with you a fun "complaint":

"Dear Amazon.com;

            I'm writing to complain about Talia Carner's last book.
My husband is riveted to Hotel Moscow, and I cannot get him to come and play with me. In truth I did the same thing to him last month when he could hardly get me out of the bed in the morning because I had read the book half the night.
            This is almost never happened with the same book between us. But at least I don't have to cook, wash, or comb my hair until he finishes.
--- Page-turner widow"

                                             What’s next?

I hope you will all become “page-turner widows and widowers.” If you haven’t yet done so, please get your copy of the book in paperback or digital format by clicking here.

Thank you again, for making the launch of HOTEL MOSCOW a success. Please come and hear me in any of my dozens of speaking events coming up in  NY, CT, NJ, MA, PA, FL and MI.

Yours,

Talia Carner
www.TaliaCarner.com

P.S. If you have missed my previous monthly newsletter (and the interesting photos,) please check them out on my blog, Talia Tells Tales.  

P.P.S. If you’ve read HOTEL MOSCOW, may I ask that you post a comment on Amazon (and/or GoodReads) in the form of a review?  

Give Me A Yellow Star

Yellow Jewish star, which all Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis and their allies.

In a departure from using my own words, I am posting a strong letter-to-the-editor written by an Israeli, voicing my outrage over the new wave of anti-Semitism sweeping Europe and which has long reached USA's academic world.

 DOWN WITH THE YELLOW STAR

By Eitan Chitayat (Edited by Dr. Chaim Bernard)
               

             Give me a yellow star. A dreary, cloth patch sewn in the shape of a Star of David that every Jew was forced to wear in Nazi Germany along with every country the Germans conquered; every country in Europe, some even allied with Germany ; every culture looking to expose the hated Jew.
            A yellow star worn by both my parents, while you, Europe, were standing by. That's what I am to you: The guilty Jew. The filthy Jew. The stealing Jew. The disgusting Jew. The less-than-human Jew. The Jew that can only do wrong – bomb innocent Muslim children - for that is, of course, all we do, all we ever aspired to as a nation, a race.
            The yellow star was forced on us. Rammed down our throats. It stood for dishonor and was associated with anti-Semitism as you probably know. It was to be a badge of shame like Hawthorne’s Scarlet letter. But 6 million times worse.
            Give me a yellow star. I want to wear a yellow star above my left breast where six million of my brothers and sisters were forced to don one. I want to walk around with a yellow star on every solitary piece of clothing I own. On my Armani suit, my Nike sweatshirt, Ralph Lauren sweater, my Champion hoodie, my Diesel jeans, my South Beach biker jacket. I’ll even wear it at the beach on my bare chest if I have to.
            I want to walk down the streets of Paris near Le Marais and be seen by you European anti-Semites. Outside the Great Synagogue of Stockholm, the Torah Center in Brussels, the Anna Frank Memorial in Amsterdam, the Holocaust Museum in Berlin, outside the Sigmund Freud House in London.
            I want all of you to see me with it and hear you say, ‘Hey, here comes the Jew’, he’s not just like the rest of us .
He’s just a dirty Jew.
A mass murderer.
He kills Muslim children and then uses their blood for matzah, just like the rest of the Jews.
They carpet bomb innocent people.
They are useless except for their knowledge, their Nobel prizes, and their success.
They kill children, those Jews.
Don’t you know? It’s the Jews who own Hollywood, the media, the banks.
They’re the scum of the earth.
They steal.
Hitler was right.
Let’s go spray-paint swastikas on his grandparents’ graves.
Let’s go beat him up.
Let’s kill him.
Let’s murder a rabbi in Miami or Brussels.

That'll teach them--to exist.

            I want that yellow star. Europe, to me that yellow star is a symbol of almost everything I stand for. It’s a symbol of surviving evil. It’s heritage and knowledge. Tolerance and optimism. It’s strength and confidence in the face of the weakness and insecurity of those not being taught well enough what their mothers should have taught them.
            That yellow star is education, resilience. It’s right over wrong, and it is life. It is testament to all who tragically died wearing it, so that their future surviving brothers and sisters know to never be afraid of who they are again. To never be silent again, not apologize for surviving. Thanks to them and indeed, for them, this yellow badge ceased being a badge of shame a long time ago. It's my badge of honor. I survived your indifference, your stupidity, your inhumaneness, your hatred, and your ignorance.
            For me, it’s a yellow F**k-You-Europe-Star.
            It’s a star that blinds out any other emblem that preaches hatred. It drowns out the form, shape and color of swastikas, the black flags of ISIS and Al Qaeda, and the green of Hamas or the yellow of Hezbollah.
            Before being herded off to the gas chambers around 70 years ago, Jews wearing their yellow star were hearing ‘Kill the Jews’, ‘Heil Hitler’, ‘The only good Jew is a dead Jew’, ‘Stealing Jew!’ – and all that before being ostracized from their communities, stripped of their belongings, property, identities, humanity and eventually, their lives.
            They were hearing words. It happened in many other countries too. Like my father’s country. A country he was expelled from for being a Jew. For being a dirty Jew. It. Always. Begins. With. Words. The same kind of words we’re hearing now here on your social media. On your streets. At demonstrations. In conversations. Words that have nothing to do with Israel. Palestine. Politics. The Middle East or anything.
            You might not be all too happy with ISIS and Hamas, but if you aren’t trying to expose them for who and what they are, then you’re not part of the solution but part of the problem. You know nothing about your own history, nothing about the Islamic conquest of Europe from the year 626 until this very day – the holy Jihad.
            The world’s abuzz right now with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic words. Anti-Semitic words that Jews like myself are used to. I’m talking to you, Dieudonné. Mel Gibson. Roger Waters. And the rest of you ignorant Jew-haters. And I’m talking to you, Radical Islamic leaders, standing behind your pulpits preaching lies and hate and division in the name of Allah. And to you – innocent bystanders in Europe.
            I’m talking to you, supposedly liberal minded people – friends of mine, even – who spend way too much time talking about Israel fighting for its existence in a defensive war, “disproportionally” ( as if the bombing of Dresden, the killing of Bin Laden, the invasion of Berlin by the Russian Army never happened) but very little talking about hundreds of thousands being murdered in Syria. In Iraq. About people being murdered for being followers of any other religion save Islam. Very little talking about ISIS taking over the middle east and putting heads on spikes, shooting people in ditches by the thousands, beheading a journalist on YouTube. Very little time talking about Syrians being gassed or a semi-literate peasant turned Turkish Prime minister spewing the kind of virulent anti-Semitism which ends with only one thing. And don’t forget 9/11, London’s 7/7, Spain’s Madrid train bombings or the Boston Marathon while you’re at it.
            Take a good hard look at my yellow star. Look at where it came from. Look what was done after we, the Jews, were forced to wear it and then ask yourselves, are we doing the same to others? Us Jews? Us Israelis? Are we Jews hellbent on exterminating people? Is that really what we want? Or are others doing that which you think we’re doing – others you refuse to be vocal about nor condemn with a simple post or click of your Like button.
            Here is what the German cleric Pastor Martin Niemöller wrote: “First they burned their books and their synagogues, and I didn't speak out. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me”. He wrote these lines in 1933 - too late – and he referred to the Nazis. But these words ring equally true in view of over 10% of the Muslim population in France, over 8% in Germany, over 6% in England, the neo-nazis in virtually every European country, or the Nazi Udo Voigt holding a seat in the Civil Rights Commission of the European Parliament.
            I, for one, Europe, am not going anywhere. Never again.Though some might wish it, NEVER AGAIN. For anyone else reading this from afar who might agree with what I’m saying, Jews and non-Jews alike, don’t feel sorry for me, my family, my friends. Don’t feel sorry for us. We’re fine and we’re not afraid, and we're here to stay. Don’t be afraid Europe, because I’m not intending to be a victim. None of us are. And I hope you aren’t either. My yellow star is staring extremism in the face.
           Am I cool with the yellow star? You’re damn right I am, totally.
--Eitan Chitayat

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