A Glimpse into a Writer’s Life: Summer 2022

Incident on Lake Balboa

With the pandemic slowly receding, it’s nice to get away from my iMac and meet old friends. On one occasion, my friend Joe and I met at Lake Balboa for a run and kayaking adventure. Twenty minutes into the kayaking, I leaned to the right to see what my friend was saying when the kayak flipped over tossing me into the treated sewar water. I was weighed down by wet shoes and clothes. I looked around, but everything was blurry. Damn. I lost my glasses. I yelled to Joe, “Get help from the lifeguards.” If Joe had known even a little ASL, the incident never would have happened. 

I’m sure Joe said something, but I couldn’t hear a thing. Fifteen minutes later a rescue boat showed up and two lifeguards pulled me in like a beached whale. My rescuers talked to me, but my lipreading skills are poor. The lifeguards were helpless in their communication efforts, and in a few minutes, we were docked. 

What’s the purpose of this story? If you have a deaf or hard of hearing friend or family member, I strongly suggest you learn the deaf alphabet and a few basic signs to make communication with your loved one easier. In this way, you’ll avoid your own Lake Balboa incident. 

The Lip Reader

In 2004 I wrote an inspirational essay about my fiancé, Jila. At the time, I had known her for five years and was impressed with her loving nature and devotion to family. Growing up deaf and Jewish in Iran would have been difficult for anyone, but Jila didn’t become bitter or angry. She provided love and guidance for her younger siblings and a trail of friends and relatives who respected her. The essay reported on all this and the hardships Jila faced and how she persevered. I entered the essay into the 74^th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition and won first place and $1000. 

I knew there was a novel ready to jump out of that essay, but it would have to wait. At that time in my writing career, I was writing articles for magazines, developing the Koolura Series, and working on a book that one day would be entitled, Goodbye, Tchaikovsky, a novel about deafness. It wasn’t until after her five-year battle with colon cancer and Jila’s death did I think about writing her life story. 

Finding an agent is like trying to find a nugget of gold in the flood control channel known as the Los Angeles River. After contacting close to 75 agents and rejected by 35 of them (the others didn’t bother responding) I looked for a publisher. I lucked out when I found Paper Angel Press. Their email acceptance explained why they gave the nod to The Lip Reader:

Their Acquisitions Editor wrote: “It’s so vivid, so earnest, so honest, so full of love and luminous intelligence, so lacking in mean spirit even as it treats some of the deepest horrors of life with total clarity and resolution. I’m not ashamed to say that even this much-scarred, stoical woman is weeping freely. The world must have this book.”

I haven’t met this woman yet, but when I do, I plan on giving her one of Jila’s famous hugs. 

The Lip Reader was published by Paper Angel Press on November 1, 2021, and the reviews have been amazing. Bolstered by such positive support, I entered the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. To my surprise, The Lip Reader won first place in its division: Inspirational (Fiction).

The Lip Reader, a 57,000-word novel, is realistic fiction based on actual events, but reads like a memoir. The novel is about Zhila Shirazi, a deaf Persian Jew. Set in Iran and later in Los Angeles, California, Zhila tells her story about growing up in Iran and feeling like an outsider. She does not allow adversity to stop her from reaching her dreams—improved communication, a meaningful profession to support herself, and a man to share her life. Disgusted with the treatment of Jews by the new Islamic government, Zhila immigrates to the United States for a better life. At the age of forty-nine she meets Mickey, her beshert or soul mate. After the two are deeply in love, the scourge of cancer threatens the couple’s life together. Mickey takes the role of Zhila’s primary care giver as the couple grow closer to fight the disease. Throughout her life, Zhila Shirazi shows her caring nature, innate intelligence, and will power to overcome almost any adversity. 

If you haven’t read The Lip Reader, this is a good time to purchase it on Amazon. Its price is at an inflation fighting low. Take advantage of it now. And when you’re done, please leave a review. 

Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf

Like many synagogues and churches, Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf has been having its services on Zoom, which I really don’t like. I prefer the personal touch of physically being at the event. Virtual events, not so much. When the pandemic receded and groups could meet again, I returned to my temple’s services. 

In January, our president, Joseph Slotnick retired after holding the position for 30+years. Before resigning, Joe recruited me to take his job. I agreed to do so for several reasons: As a newly deaf person, it has been difficult to get acceptance in a community skeptical of outsiders. I believe my near fluency in ASL helped me a lot, but as president of TBS, I’ll have greater opportunities to meet and establish positive relationships with other Deaf Jews. 

More importantly, is my focus. TBS is slowly dying. I can’t allow a jewel in the necklace of Judaism to fall. My primary concern will be building membership. We cannot permit the first deaf synagogue in the world to disappear. I talked to a Jewish Journal columnist, Tabby Refael, who connected me to writer Ari Noonan who came to my Encino home to interview me about TBS. The resulting article, “The Sound of Survival: A Look at Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf”was published in their August 5-11, 2022 issue. (Note the headphones I’m wearing in the picture was to better understand Ari. They are connected to a pocket talker that amplifies sound and directly sends that sound to my ear. It’s a lot better than hearing aids.)

If you know of anyone looking for a synagogue like TBS, have them email me at [email protected]. 

Below you’ll find a list of my published novels with purchase links. 

Goodbye Tchaikovsky: Twelve-year-old violin virtuoso is plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to a new culture and language to survive. (Now in its second printing.) {Warning: Only buy from the publisher. The listing on Amazon will rip you off.}

The Legend of Koolura: Like many preteens, Koolura has doubts about herself. She and her father have relocated so often that she has few community ties. Now, at her new school, she begins feeling “right at home” for the first time, ever. Soon she’ll find out she has KOOL psychic powers. These allow her the ability to dematerialize at will and reappear wherever she chooses. She can move objects with her mind and even defy gravity. Will these powers be of any use in stopping Neb, a stalker, intent on her destruction? Neb wants the KOOL and he won’t hesitate hurting Koolura or her friends if they get in his way.

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: Koolura can teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback she wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers? As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls must deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge but problems escalate as lives are threatened. Will Koolura and the Chumash Girls solve the mystery at Camp Saddleback?

Koolura and the Mayans: Koolura is off to Mexico for her father’s wedding with pal Leila where the girls uncover a mysterious device at a Mayan archeological dig that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time? 

Gold medal winner – 2018 eLit Awards Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction; Second Place winning title in the 2016 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards.

The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: A high school track star is abducted by aliens, explores strange worlds, uncovers genocide on a planetary scale, and is thrust into extraterrestrial politics that decides the fate of an Earth on the brink of war or unification. The Abduction of Joshua Bloom tells the story of a teen and his alien abductors who justify their act in an attempt to save their people. Joshua finds himself in a world dominated by women, and men are subjugated to their whims. He travels to a dinosaur world, visits a water planet, and a world doomed by a star about to nova. Space exploration and time travel are just two elements science fiction junkies will love about this original space opera by award winning author, Michael Thal.

Current Project

Because The Lip Reader has been doing so well, readers have been clamoring for Mickey’s story. In the novel, Zhila’s husband is Mickey. What was his life like before he met Zhila, and what happened to him after her passing? All these questions and more will be answered in The Lip Reader: Mickey’s Story. I started writing the book in December and have completed eight chapters. I will keep you posted on its progress. 

Stay healthy and vibrant and unlike me, stay out of the cesspool called Lake Balboa.