Why is that it’s so much more enjoyable to promote other people’s books than our own? I suppose part of it is that we see hawking our own wares as a necessary chore, while talking about books that we like is just fun. Or maybe it’s just that we can take a vicarious pleasure in getting good stories out into the world. We didn’t put in the work, and yet we get to feel part of the process!
Perhaps the best bit of all is when we get to take part in the process in a small, but meaningful way, such as providing feedback, book coaching, or book design. It is in this capacity that I have the happy privilege of talking up a book that I’ve enjoyed shepherding through the publish process.
By Light of Hidden Candles, by Daniella Levy will be officially released by Kasva Press in trade paperback and Kindle formats on October 16, 2017.
So what’s my role in all this? That’s the fun part! I did the cover graphic, the interior layout, and helped with some book coaching early on. I’ve really enjoyed working with Daniella Levy on getting this marvelous story out into the world.
Here’s the blurb. Read this and tell me you aren’t intrigued!
In a mud hut in the Jewish Quarter of 16th-century Fez, a dying woman hands her granddaughter a heavy gold ring—and an even heavier secret.
Five hundred years later, Alma Ben-Ami journeys to Madrid to fulfill her ancestor’s dying wish. She has recruited an unlikely research partner: Manuel Aguilar, a young Catholic Spaniard whose beloved priest always warned him about getting too friendly with Jews. As their quest takes them from Greenwich Village to the windswept mountain fortresses of southern Spain, their friendship deepens and threatens to cross boundaries sacred to them both; and what they finally discover in the Spanish archives will force them to confront the truth about who they are and what their faiths mean to them.
At times humorous, at times deeply moving, this beautifully written and meticulously researched book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of Inquisition-era Spain, Sephardic Jews, or falling in love.
By Light of Hidden Candles is already available on NetGalley for reviewers, book-bloggers, booksellers, and librarians, in almost-ready-for-publication format. If you qualify, please contact us at info@kasvapress.org for an invitation to download the book. Pre-order now for a 40% discount!
