Jewish Life Digital Edition September 2015 | Page 36

I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH AN ACTIVE, VIVID IMAGINATION, AND THIS HAS SERVED ME WELL AS A WRITER, AS IT ENABLES ME TO WEAVE FICTION WITH FACT. fair hair worn in two braids. The illustrations of Liba were actually modelled on the very few pictures I have of my grandmother as a young girl.” Miriam intertwines historical fact with her fictionalised girls, some of them born out of real people just like Liba, all of which make for an intriguing read. Her latest characters in the series are Mindel Rappaport, who lives in the city of Prague in the 1590s, during the time of the famous Maharal, and Esther Bueno, who lives in the city of Amsterdam in the 1670s and whose family fled there from Portugal, where they had to live secretly as Jews, even lighting Shabbos candles in a cupboard. “I have been blessed with an active, vivid imagination and this has served me well as a writer, as it enables me to weave fiction with fact. I so enjoy the process of creating and developing characters and then placing them in actual settings, in the midst of historical events. As always, the biggest challenge for me is finding the time to write. In order for me to be truly productive, I must write on a daily basis. If I’m interrupted for any period of time, be it a few days or a few weeks, it’s very difficult for me to regain my focus, to get back in the zone and get started again. Upon the completion of a new work, I am always infused with a sense of gratitude to Hashem, Who sustains me and guides me and has given me the ability to write these books. And, I’m always very relieved that the book PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED some Jews had gone to the small town of Oudtshoorn, attracted by the then booming trade in ostrich feathers. I was certain this would capture the interest of my readers. It had immediately captured mine. I also learned that most of these immigrants had been Yiddish speaking, hailing from shtetls in Lithuania. My paternal grandmother had come from there, too, having left Europe around the same time. I started to imagine what my grandmother’s life would have been like if she had gone to South Africa instead of Toronto. In this way, Liba Miller was ‘born’. Just like Liba, my grandmother had been the oldest of four children. Just like Liba, her father had worked in his shtetl’s lumberyard, and just like Liba, she had long, ORT JET’s 10th Birthday Celebration 2015 Awards Evening at the Date: 27 October Join in the celebration of ORT JET’s 10 years of service to the community and the announcement of the prize winners of the Eureka 2015 Entrepreneurial Competition, where you can be witness to business ideas coming to life. Time: 18h30 – 22h30 Venue: HOD Hall, 58 Oaklands Road, Orchards R250 per person To book, email [email protected] Prizes to be awarded: • Eureka Entrepreneurial Competition Concept Winner • Eureka Entrepreneurial Competition Start-Up Winner • ORT JET Mentor of the Year • ORT JET Business of the Year Ilan Smith. Since 2005 ORT JET has had an enormous impact on small businesses in the community and we invite you to joi n us for a l’chaim in honour of this important milestone. Be amazed and mystified by Ilan Smith’s combination of enchantment and humour. Ilan is a popular entertainer and illusionist who has wowed audiences both locally and overseas. We’ve got a good feeling about this one! Proudly supported by Liberty Group Ltd – an Authorised Financial Services Provider in terms of the FAIS Act (Licence No. 2409). He is