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Marlan Warren is an experienced publicist, writing coach, writer, book editor, journalist, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, blogger, and website designer. Her skills include writing press releases, creating press kits, one-sheets, and launching events for authors, artists, designers, entertainers, and rock musicians. Marlan arranges for clients to appear on TV morning shows, NPR, and local radio programs. Her filmmaking credits include the documentary, What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama's Crusaders (currently in post-production), and the cross-cultural documentary, Reunion (shown at film festivals internationally). In addition, she is a produced playwright/director/actor. Currently, Marlan is on the faculty of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society. Her novel, Roadmaps for the Sexually Challenged is still selling well on Amazon. Her BFA is from the University of Southern California in Screenwriting and English. She created the award-winning educational children's series, Reading Planet, and sold a screenplay (Midsummer Night Cowboy) for $30,000 in a Writers Guild signatory deal with Shadow Hill Entertainment.

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Interview with Judith Fein, Author of THE SPOON FROM MINKOWITZ: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands

How to crack the mystery of who we are, why we love, and where we came from can be the greatest mystery of all. Judith Fein embarks on a quest to call on ancestors and urges us to do the same..

Interview with Judith Fein, 

Author of  

The Spoon from Minkowitz: 

A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands: 

            “Finding roots is the solution for a rootless life.”

 I heard the Eastern European ancestors of many people like me

 calling out. “Remember us. Don’t forget us. Our story needs

 to be heard. Write our story. Write your story."

—Judith Fein, The Spoon from Minkowitz

Title:      The Spoon from Minkowitz:  A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands
Author: Judith Fein with Photographs by Paul Ross
ISBN: 978-0-9884019-3-8
Publisher: GlobalAdventure.us
Paperback             Pages: 256       Price:     $18.95
Discussion Guide Included
Pub. Date: Jan. 5, 2014 (Available in all e-book formats.)
Author Website

Note: This interview was written by Marlan Warren and originally published as a press release in 2014 in PR.com, and picked up by the BBC Record.

     Judith Fein is a travel journalist’s travel journalist. Like a latter-day Marco Polo, she has globe-trotted without maps or preconceived notions from Mog Mog to Vanuatu. By her own account, she has swum with Beluga whales, consulted with a Zulu sangoma in South Africa, and eaten porcupine in Vietnam (“not with relish”). In 2011, when Fein and her photojournalist husband Paul Ross visited Tunisia during the Arab Spring, the French-speaking American Fein found herself on the radio, speaking to Tunisians about Democracy. Her popular travel memoir Life Is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel conveys her need to find out where people of different cultures come from and what makes them act, think, and behave the way they do. After decades of travel, there was one frontier that still eluded the “I-live-to-leave” Fein: the mystery of her own ancestral roots.

     Fein’s book, The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands, takes us on the trip she finally made in 2012 to the shtetl her Jewish grandmother left behind in an obscure Russian (now Ukrainian) village.

     The Spoon from Minkowitz has garnered stellar reviews. Catharine Hamm, travel editor of the Los Angeles Times, found The Spoon from Minkowitz “as tense as a thriller and as tender as a love story.” Zelda Shluker, editor of Hadassah Magazine, noted the book is “unlike any other back-to-roots book…driven by the author's almost mystical quest to recover the past…Her curiosity, openness and passion take us along on a journey that turns out to be ours as well.”

     We had the opportunity to catch Judith Fein for a moment when she was not in perpetual motion to talk about the deeper meanings of genealogy as explored in this book:

For those who have not yet read your book, what is “the spoon from Minkowitz”?

My grandmother was from a village called Minkowitz in what was then Russia. That fact plus five others were all she would ever tell me about where she was from and why she left; she didn’t want to talk about the past. My mother told me virtually nothing.

When I met my husband Paul, we were immediately attracted. But here’s the kicker: when I asked Paul's parents about their ancestral roots, it turned out his father’s family came from…Minkowitz

Okay. So the “spoon.” When Paul told his parents we were getting married, his father offered us the only thing left from his parents’ shtetl of Minkowitz: a soup spoon they brought with them to America. I treasured that spoon because it made our ancient, ancestral connection so real and concrete. We made a place of honor for it under the chupa  (Jewish wedding canopy) on a satin pillow.

You followed your intuition and things miraculously started happening—as you did in Life Is a Trip. Would you call your process “right brain”?

I explored the context my ancestors, and the ancestors of so many others, came from by just showing up and going from town to town looking and learning.

Perhaps it is “right brain.” I prefer to call it “following the arrows.” It’s about keeping eyes and ears open, and following wherever the arrows point, even if you don't know where they are leading or what you will find there. If you trust you will end up in the right place, you will somehow get there. 

This book is like a Jewish Roots, the Alex Haley book that traces his African American family history. And in some ways, it’s like Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated. How would you pitch The Spoon from Minkowitz to a Hollywood producer?

Hmmm.. I’d say it’s a female Everything Is Illuminated meets Life Is a Trip.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU LOST YOUR LIFE? - AUTHOR NANCY KING INTERVIEW - "CHANGING SPACES" RECONNECTS THE DISCONNECT

 

For immediate release

Novel Title:  Changing Spaces

Genre:          Fiction

Author:         Nancy King

Pub. Date:    Jan. 1, 2014       Publisher: Plain View Press

Publicist:      Marlan Warren 

Book Publicity by Marlan      E-Mail: roadmap.girl at hotmail

c/o Roadmap Communications

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Los Angeles, CA 90027

NANCY KING RECONNECTS THE DISCONNECT IN CHANGING SPACES

“How is it possible that one minute I’m a wife

and the next I’m a discard?”

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

    Santa Fe author Nancy King’s upcoming novel (due out Jan. 2014, pub. Plain View Press) about a Midwestern runaway soon-to-be-divorced wife who gets a “makeover” in Santa Fe could end up doing for New Mexico what Moby Dick did for whales.

     Changing Spaces grew out of three incidents. “First there was a woman who said to me, ‘That was before I lost my life,’” said King. “Her husband of 40 years had divorced her to marry a younger woman.” The following week, another friend “showed up in tears because her husband wanted out of their 40-year marriage so he could marry his secretary.” By the time Nancy King spotted an Op-Ed about the author of a book that touted the joys of being a stay-at-home-wife whose husband now wanted a divorce after 40 years—she knew she was on to something.

     Into this familiar scenario, King injected a “What if?”. What if a Midwestern 60-year old woman woke up as she always did, made love with her husband of 40 years, and several hours later, learned her husband had fallen for a younger woman and wanted a divorce—and what if—she hit the road and ended up in the healing bear-hug that is Santa Fe, New Mexico?

     As one reviewer put it: “Heartbreak turns to intrigue. A season of grief leads to a wig, a closet, a script, cookie recipes, new friendships, and a wide-open future.”

“Hey, ya got the Santa Fe idea. No need to be who you were.

Be who you want to be.” —Changing Spaces, Nancy King

     In 2001, King moved from New York City “and never looked back.” The decision to leave friends and job would have been bold for anyone, but since 1985, King has been living with a rare form of leukemia known as "hairy cell." 

     “When I realized I had a chronic disease with no cure, I made the decision that it was not going to run or ruin my life. I focus on what I can do; not what I lost or what I used to be able to do. Even when I don’t feel well, I force myself to walk or hike or play tennis because I always feel better afterward.”

     The unsinkable Nancy King has trekked Thailand, hiked the Grand Canyon, and “run people 50 years her junior into the ground,” according to one friend. “She overcame the odds of a disastrous diagnosis.”

Laura tried on outfit after outfit, hoping to alter her personality

from the outside in. She practiced taking bigger steps…

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

     Why Santa Fe? “The nature around Santa Fe is spectacular. Many people find it has a magical energy that renews and regenerates. Even those born in New Mexico talk about this area’s special energy, nature, culture.”

     It’s not unusual for newcomers to experience difficulties. “It’s as if Santa Fe were trying to spit them out. Those who manage to survive their initial problems often experience personal transformations that they couldn’t have articulated before coming.”

EXCERPT & BOOK LAUNCH INFO: CHANGING SPACES BY NANCY KING

Novel Title:  Changing Spaces

Genre:          Women's Fiction (Regional: New Mexico)

Author:         Nancy King

Pub. Date:   Jan. 1, 2014

Publisher:   Plain View Press

ISBN:           978-1-891386-43-5-51895

Paperback   Pages: 420

Price:            $15.95
Website: www.nancykingstories.com

(Nancy King, Ph.D. is also the author of Morning Light, The Stones Speak, Dancing with Wonder, Woman Walking)

This novel will do for New Mexico 

what Moby Dick did for whales!

We are thrilled that Nancy King's newest book will have its Santa Fe launch February 7, 2014 at Collected Works bookstore in Santa Fe at 6:00pm. Nancy will give a talk on the healing power of New Mexico on wounded newcomers who feel they have lost the life they've always known. 

If you are in the area, please join us! 

What if you woke up in your usual life, and 

by the end of the day, everything had changed? 

That's the question Nancy King poses in her newest book, Changing Spaces, as she introduces us to Laura Feldman who suddenly loses the "life" she has lived for the past forty years. When her husband suddenly wants a divorce, shaken-to-her-core Laura embarks on a bumpy ride that takes her away from her black & white Midwestern life to the bold colors of New Mexico. 

In this new landscape where anything might happen—and does—Laura finds inspiration, strength, and transformation in the friendship of Santa Fe women who help her walk the winding road to self-discovery and the home of her heart. 

Advance Praise for Changing Spaces:

“Location. Location. Location. Nancy King gets it right when she explores how a woman radically changes her life by changing her location. A plant can't thrive in any old soil; it has to be the right terrain. Changing Spaces is a reminder that one can leave the past behind, find new soil, and thrive in a different, and better, present and future.”

—JUDITH FEIN, Author of Life Is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel and The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Deep Roots Journey

“Heartbreak turns to intrigue. A season of grief leads

to a wig, a closet, a script, cookie recipes, new

friendships, and a wide-open future.”

   —JEANNE MURRAY WALKER, Author of Geography of Memory

================

Changing Spaces

©Nancy King

 Summary of Story's Opening Scenes:  

Laura woke up one morning happily married. By evening, her husband had told her he wanted a divorce. After a week of emotional rollercoastering, she fled to a grant- development conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Unwilling to return home to a place that no longer felt like home, she went to the airport and reserved a seat on the first shuttle leaving, which happened to be going to Santa Fe.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 Excerpt:    

     Feeling the bitterness of heartache and anger and self-pity take hold, Laura opened her eyes and glanced at the passenger sitting next to her. Despite the dim light Laura could see she wasn’t young, although how old she was, Laura couldn’t tell. The woman was large and sat comfortably across two seats, her long purple skirt flowing over her feet. Her turquoise blouse was rimmed with purple thread that didn’t quite match the purple skirt. She had rings on every finger and large earrings dangling from her ears; a silver and turquoise necklace covered most of the front of her blouse. A stole, which looked handmade, was draped comfortably around her body. Her head was against the window, her mouth open, her eyes closed. Laura wondered what it took to dress like that. Did she dress like this all the time? Where had she come from? Who was she?

     “So, do you like what you see?” asked the woman, her eyes still closed.

     Embarrassed, Laura didn’t know what to say. How could the woman tell she was looking at her if her eyes were closed? Laura turned away, as if this might block the woman’s vision, but the woman’s scent, patchouli and some kind of spice and lemon, was comforting, and she felt like nestling closer. She moved toward the far end of the seat but was so uncomfortable she had to move back.

     “Moving away won’t solve anything.”

     “I beg your pardon?” Laura responded, not sure she’d heard her correctly.

     “You can beg my pardon all you like. It’s about you, not me.”

     Laura wondered if the woman was crazy. Maybe going to Santa Fe wasn’t such a good idea, although the other people boarding the shuttle had looked normal enough.

     The woman laughed a deep throaty laugh. “Bet you’ve never been in this part of the country before.”

     “No, I haven’t.”

     “So what’d you come for?”

     “I don’t know.” Laura wished she weren’t in the back of the van.

     “That’s all right. Lots of people come thinking they know what they want but they don’t and then get themselves into all kinds of trouble.” She chuckled, as if remembering something amusing, then turned to look at Laura. “How long you planning to stay?” She sighed, “Doesn’t matter. Plans don’t mean shit in Santa Fe. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about.”

     Since Laura had no idea what the woman was talking about she said politely, “I’m sure you do.”

     “What makes you so sure?”

     Startled, Laura mumbled, “You sound sure.”

     “You always go by what you hear?” When Laura did not respond the woman laughed again.

     “What’s so funny?” asked Laura, more than a little discomforted.

     “It’s much too easy to discombobulate you.  Fight back, for godssake.”

     “Don’t have any fight left in me.”

     “What are you doing tomorrow at three?”

     “Seems my dance card is empty.”

     “Not any longer, Babe. My name’s Bountiful Sunshine. What’s yours?”

     Laura decided the woman had made up her name, so she could, too. “Melody Fine,” she said. Where had that name come from? She hated to sing and she wasn’t fine.

     “Pleased to meet you, Melody.” The woman’s voice was low and rumbly, soothing to Laura’s jangled nerves.

     “What brings you to Santa Fe?” asked Laura, wishing her name were Melody.

     “Been here all my life. Why?”

     “Just wondering.”

     “What else are you wondering?”

     “Who I’ll be now that I’m no longer Mrs. Zachery Feldman. How I’m going to live. “Oh, what Santa Fe is like.”

     “Depends. It’s different for everyone. Always has been. Not an easy place to live.”

     “So why do you stay?”

     Bountiful laughed, “’Cause I’m difficult. Suits me perfectly.”       She looked more carefully at Laura, who wondered what she was seeing.

     Laura could imagine what she looked like: A tight, tense, frightened woman holding herself together. One tap and she’d fall apart. Disappear. The melody would definitely not be fine.

When the van reached the corner of Sandoval and Water Streets, her stop, Laura hesitated, suddenly exhausted.

     “No sense postponing the inevitable,” said Bountiful, just behind her.

     Laura wanted to throttle her.

     “Easy does it, so go easy,” laughed Bountiful.

     Laura could not think of a quip biting enough.

     The van pulled away. A red truck pulled up. The driver, a fiftyish woman with a waist-length salt and pepper braid hopped out. She was wearing a long denim dress and a leather vest.  

     “Bounti! Long time no see.”

     “Yeah, I know. You come to meet Melody?”

     The woman frowned. “I think her name is Laura.”

     Bounti grinned at Laura approvingly. “Hey, ya got the Santa Fe idea. No need to be who you were. Be who you want to be.”

About Nancy King, Ph.D.

Changing Spaces grew out of a conversation 

Nancy King had with a woman who said:

“That was before I lost my life.”

Nancy King's novel The Stones Speak has been Boptioned for a film, and won first place in the New Mexico Presswomen’s Communications Contest. A prolific playwright and essayist, King has also written seven nonfiction books—most recently Dancing With Wonder: Self-Discovery Through Stories—an exploration of her writing and drama workshops in the US and abroad. 

She feels fortunate to be privy to the stories people share. 

Nancy King lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she weaves, writes, and finds inspiration hiking in the mountains. She is a contributing writer for the online journal Your Life Is A Trip at www.yourlifeisatrip.com/home/author/nancyking.

Please visit Nancy King’s website at http://www.nancykingstories.com for more information on her books and workshops. You may also contact her through her publicist at memoircity at gmail.