Now that I’m back on US soil, I feel compelled to share a report of the She Writes Press Israel edition tour I did for Accidental Soldier: A Memoir of Service and Sacrifice in the Israel Defense Forces.
General thoughts and impressions: To be at my home country where I did my voluntary service in the Israel Defense Forces after writing about the feelings as a soldier in the States was just too surreal. That in itself gave real “juice” to the author talk about the process it took me to write the memoir.
These 3 tour stops at the AACI (Association for Americans and Canadians in Israel) branches in Haifa, Netanya and Jerusalem had ONE major thing in common: I was speaking to Anglo Saxon Israelis about my IDF experience. It was relatable to them because they all live in Israel and know how important IDF soldiers are to the lifeline of the country.
In all three locations, I opened the talk about how I couldn’t have written this book in Israel and the courage it took for me to write it in the States.
For I didn’t feel I had a strong enough voice to write about it in Israel. The IDF is as common as going shopping at the shuk or market or having a coffee with an old friend.
Case in point: When I stood up at pedagogical meetings at the last high school I taught at back in 2006 to discuss major breakthroughs teaching Israeli matriculating students American literature, not one teacher congratulated or encouraged me. Later, I would come to understand that Israelis do not like to see other people (Israelis) succeed.
This is a cultural thing.
And at the time, it took great courage to stand up and share these successes even though no-one wouldn’t really care.
So to be back again in Israel after a five year hiatus and talk about the memoir writing process, somehow, gave me my VOICE back. The one I thought I’d lost. I’d arrived as an author. A memoirist. I was now an outsider looking in again at my mother culture NOT as an immigrant or an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher but as a published author. And those moments now validated the writing process that I had arrived full circle.
I shared the vulnerability it took to write about an experience that felt scary and important in front of Anglo-Saxons who came as immigrants who wanted to write a memoir and could relate to my IDF experience. One participant called the talk “fascinating,” and another Facebook friend and lecturer at the Technion in Haifa who I finally got to meet in person named Judy Siegel Henn said that “I gave a fine balance between what motivated me to write her ground-breaking memoir, and why I came to Israel to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces, and how I ultimately went about writing Accidental Soldier.” Thank you Judy!!
I’ll be honest: It was intimidating to do this special She Writes Press tour stop in Israel. Memories of dealing with Israelis in the school system threatened me. Even though I knew that Israelis weren’t my primary audience, still, I couldn’t shake off the initial fear. It was only when the coordinator who organized the Haifa event told me afterwards that people came as far south as Pardes Hana and Zichron Ya’acov which is an hour’s drive away that I started feeling emotionally safe. In the end, 22 people showed up for an August event which is almost unheard of. I came back the US with messages from people who wished they knew of the event as they wanted to come… like… wow!!!
I never had 22 people show up for any event in the States. This in itself, was encouraging, validating and very meaningful when you take into account my Israel-USA footprint. I will always consider the AACI Haifa tour stop a great success.
Surprisingly, the other two tour stops at the other major cities of Jerusalem and Netanya weren’t as well attended, but the interest and engagement were high.
In all three cities, I reconnected to the memories of previous visits, but the visit at the Kotel in Jerusalem, was especially meaningful. Seeing all those the soldiers at the Wailing/Western Wall, put me in touch with the memories of what it felt like to be a new IDF foreign recruit. Almost immediately feelings of cultural disconnect washed over me. When I walked into the AACI author talk event the next day, I was already in a Jerusalem state of mind. It was hard to explain to an American who had never visited Israel, just exactly what this moment meant to me.
The conversations and discussions with the participants were culturally rich and dynamic. In the end, I walked away inspired knowing I’m on the right track to write book #2 of the Accidental Soldier series, which you can read more about here.
And Now… A BIG Request for YOUR Help!
I’m just FOUR reviews away from reaching the magic number of 50 for Accidental Soldier. Please, if you’ve read the book (and liked it) could you hop over now and leave a short review over at Amazon? Feel free to write just a sentence and the words “engaging” and “relatable” will be fine.
Once I reach the magic number of 50, magic things will start to happen. There will be more visibility and impact from Amazon on how they choose to market and distribute the book.
Click here to leave a review~!
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