Episode 355: Weaving Together History, Folklore, and Fairy Tale – Interview with Rena Rossner

by Gabriela Pereira
published in Podcast

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Rena Rossner.

Rena hails from Miami Beach, Florida. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars Program and holds an MA in history from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood was listed as “One of the 100 Best Books” of the year by Publisher’s Weekly.

She currently lives in Israel with her husband, five children, and a pug, where she works as a literary agent. Her grandparents and great grandparents are from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, and Romania. Their stories inspire her work.

Today we’ll be discussing her latest novel, The Light of the Midnight Stars.

In this episode Rena and I discuss:

  • Why narration is the element that most directly connects the reader to the story.
  • Her process for creating different voices and making them each distinct.
  • How she juggles being a literary agent with her writing career (and personal life!).

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Rena Rossner

Rena Rossner hails from Miami Beach, Florida. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars Program and holds an MA in history from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood was listed as “One of the 100 Best Books” of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. She currently lives in Israel with her husband, five children, and a pug, where she works as a literary agent. Her grandparents and great grandparents are from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, and Romania. Their stories inspire her work.

You can find Rena on her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

The Light of the Midnight Stars

Rena Rossner

An evocative combination of fantasy, history, and Jewish folklore, The Light of the Midnight Stars is a fairytale-inspired novel from the author of The Sisters of the Winter Wood.

Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they pray, sing and perform small miracles – and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters. Each one is blessed with a unique talent – whether it be coaxing plants to grow, or predicting the future by reading the path of the stars.

When a fateful decision to help an outsider ends in an accusation of witchcraft, fire blazes through their village. Rabbi Isaac and his family are forced to flee, to abandon their magic and settle into a new way of life. But a dark fog is making its way across Europe and will, in the end, reach even those who thought they could run from it. Each of the sisters will have to make a choice – and change the future of their family forever.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 355

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