Interview with Raven West

1-When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was in my 7^th grade biology class, I say around 12 years old. I recall we were discussing amoebas, but I wasn’t taking notes, I was writing a “romance” story about a splitting ameoba! Teacher read it and shared it with the entire class and gave me an “A+”! Been writing ever since.

2-How do you schedule your life when you’re writing?

When my three daughters were growing up at home, I’d set up my lap top on the dining room table when they left for school and write until they came home.

After they graduated and went off to college, I went back to work full-time which paused my writing career for a few years until the COVID lockdown hit. For about a year, I had NO life, so had plenty of time to finish my fourth novel; Vashti’s Daughter.

Now I find I have lots of free time to promote and market this novel while putting together the outline for “Bourbon the Brunch”, the sequel to Red Wine for Breakfast. I plan to participate in this year’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) contest for additional motivation.

3-What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I ALWAYS listen to music (Pandora internet radio) while I’m writing.

4-How did you get your book published?

When I finished Red Wine for Breakfast in 1999, we owned a stationery store where I printed the books myself and sold them in the store. I was encouraged by a customer to find an agent, which I did. She sent it out to six of the major publishers at that time. Doubleday was considering it for six months, but after they rejected it, she quit representing me.

A few months later, AOL was forming a new club for aspiring writers who wanted to have their books published at very little cost. The AOL Writer’s Club became the first publisher of Red Wine for Breakfast by Robin Westmiller.

At that time another author who had also signed with the Writers Club decided to open his own publishing company; Lighthouse Press, and wanted me to join him as his premier author.

Lighthouse Press became the publisher in 2001 with a new cover and my new pen name; Raven West. He also published my second novel First Class Male.

5-Where did you get your information or idea for your book?

As a Jewish girl growing up in the Catskills in upstate New York, I defied the popular norm of dressing as Queen Esther at my temple’s Purim celebration even though I faced humiliation and ridicule dressing up as Queen Vashti.

Every year at Purim celebrations, it’s always Esther, Esther Esther. I always thought Vashti was the true heroine even though she only had three paragraphs in the entire story. If not for her act of defiance, Esther would never had been queen.

I felt it was time Vashti’s story was told, but not by her, by a modern woman who is the owner of a publishing company. Anna, the main character, not only discovers she is the reincarnation of Vashti’s Daughter, but the author of the book, Nathaniel Braverman is a direct decedent of Queen Esther.

As for the reincarnation theme, time travel, and the other aspect of Jewish mysticism in the story, I studied  Kabballah, numerology and astrology and have been a Tarot card reader for more than 50 years. I’m also a graduate of Syracuse University S.I. Newhouse and an avid SU basketball fan, all of which are intricate parts of the story.   

6-What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I LOVE to walk, really fast. I’ve completed four half marathons (which is almost 2 FULL marathons) in under 3 hours and five 5ks in just over 45 minutes. Walking also clears my mind for more creativity for my next novel.

7-What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?

Doing the research for Vashti’s Daughter, I was very surprised to discover the connection of basketball to Kutcher’s Resort in the Catskills. (It’s a plot line in the book). There were a lot of details in the biblical story of the Book of Esther I wasn’t aware of at the time I started the book,  and I used them throughout the novel. I probably spent way too much time on research, but details are SO important, even if the story is fiction.

8-Is there anything you would like to confess about as an author?

It’s annoying when I tell people I’m an author and they immediately ask me if I’ve read… another author’s books. Or, they’ll say “you’re the next Danielle Steele” and I reply, “No, I’m the first Raven West.” But it is also a great joy when someone gives me a book to sign and tells me they bought all my novels and can’t wait to read them! There is a great deal of personal pride in creating something that readers, and reviewers, appreciate. 

9-As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I can’t say I’ve officially “grown up” yet, but my ambition I wrote in my high school yearbook was to have the BOOK published, even though I don’t recall what book I was working on at the time.

When I was much younger, I was very influenced by ‘60s television shows. I was a big fan of Dragnet and wanted to be a Los Angeles detective. I was obsessed with the Man from U.N.C.L.E. and wanted to be a spy. Then, I fell in love with Perry Mason, and wanted to an attorney. So, one of my characters in Red Wine for Breakfast is an L.A. police detective. The protagonist in First Class Male is an attorney and the Man from U.N.C.L.E is the back story for Undercover Reunion. So, you could say I always wanted to be a writer and am still working on the “growing up” part.

10-How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?

I can always find something positive, a “spin line” I can take from a negative book review, even though I’ve not really had many. Even a negative review tell me that someone bought the book, read the book, and took their time to write a review about it, good or bad. Sales are money! There is no such thing as “bad” publicity. My one goal is to write a novel that’s banned by social media. Instant best seller!

Book Title:      Vashti’s Daughter

Author Name:  Raven West

Pub Date:        July 29,2023

ISBN:               979-8854225663

Book Category/Genre: Jewish Contemporary Fiction

Page Count:     319

Publisher:        Self

Author Bio:    

Raven West is the author of Red Wine for Breakfast, (Lighthouse Press, 1999) First Class Male, (Lighthouse Press, 2001),  Undercover Reunion (Createspace, 2011), and Vashti’s Daughter (Independent Press, 2023).

Her short stories have won awards from several literary publications and writer’s clubs and she’s been a frequent guest on radio, podcasts and cable.

Read interviews, book reviews and more on her website: http://ravenwest.net

Book Description:

After a mysterious manuscript appears on her desk and at her home, Anna is haunted by dreams where she is living in 366 BCE. With the help of reincarnation experts, archeologists and a Kabbalist Rabbi, Anna discovers she is, in fact, Adara, the reincarnated daughter of Queen Vashti.

Risking her company and budding relationship with book’s author, Dr. Nathaniel Braverman, Anna must find a way to break an ancient curse and fulfill a vow she made centuries ago, before her 30th birthday, that will finally bring her true happiness in love and change the world’s view on a biblical heroine