Rachel Gold – Michael A. Kahn

More Seductive Pick-Up Lines for Authors

Posted on July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Michael Kahn

As I have previously written, an enticing opening sentence to a novel is the author’s equivalent of a seductive pick-up line in a singles bar. You want to grab the attention of–indeed, entice–that potential reader who just picked your book off the shelf at the bookstore and, after examining the cover, opens to page 1…

+

Benny and the Greatest Bowel Movement in Literature

Posted on July 26, 2020January 24, 2023 by Michael Kahn

Several years ago, as an interminable mediation of a high-profile trademark case stretched into the wee hours of the night, I stepped outside my crazy client’s breakout room to get another cup of coffee and found the mediator–the late and beloved Dick Sher–seated at a table in the lunchroom sipping his own cup of coffee…

+

Sex, Ecclesiastes, and Jewish Mothers

Posted on May 19, 2020May 19, 2020 by Michael Kahn

One of the unexpected joys of writing a mystery series–or any series–is getting to spend more time with your main characters and, in the process, learning more about them. Such has been true with my Rachel Gold series, with has now reached #11 with the recent publication of Bad Trust. Over the past several novels,…

+

An Author Event in the Era of COVID-19

Posted on April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 by Michael Kahn

I now have my own sequel to one of my favorite novels by the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. While I concede my sequel may not have the same poetic charm as the title of the Marquez novel, I can now say that have presided over a Book Signing in…

+

Cover Reveals: The Good, the Bad, and, well . . .

Posted on March 4, 2020March 4, 2020 by Michael Kahn

Most authors have little say in the design of our book covers, and thus arrives that anxious moment when the publisher reveals its proposed cover for your novel. You hope for the best. This time I got lucky. For my next Rachel Gold novel, Bad Trust, due in April of this year, I can state…

+

Awesome Role Models for Rachel Gold–and All Women

Posted on April 22, 2019May 1, 2019 by Michael Kahn

As I would imagine is true for most authors, by the time we write that very first paragraph of our very first novel, our brains have absorbed massive amounts of fiction in the form of novels, comic books, fairy tales, short stories, motion pictures, and television shows. And this huge warehouse of information will impact…

+

Can’t Leave Rachel Out!

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Michael Kahn

As you might infer, the main character in my Rachel Gold mystery series is named Rachel Gold. But back in the beginning, back many years ago, on the eve of publication of my first novel, Grave Designs, there was no Rachel Gold mystery series. Just a mystery novel featuring as the protagonist a savvy young…

+

Pre-Publication Reviews of PLAYED!

Posted on May 26, 2017May 26, 2017 by Michael Kahn

Here are some excerpts: “. . . brisk, sprightly entertainment.” Kirkus Review “Kahn is the author of the popular Rachel Gold series, and this stand-alone (for now) has the same sharp dialogue, wit, and clever plotting her fans have come to expect.” Booklist ” . . . this neat little yarn from Kahn (The Dead Hand and nine…

+

Bringing Up the Rear: The Literary Mic Drop

Posted on February 23, 2017February 23, 2017 by Michael Kahn

Many years ago, my agent offered me the following advice: “The most important sentence of your novel is the first one. The second most important sentence is the last one.” There certainly have been vivid, memorable first lines, many of which we can quote by heart–from “Call me Ishmael” in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick to “It was a bright…

+

Bromance: My Favorite Fictional Couple

Posted on February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 by Michael Kahn

I recently received a question on the Goodreads website asking who was my favorite fictional couple, and why. My first reaction was to flip through all of the literary lovers I’d encountered over the years–a list that includes: Romeo & Juliet; Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy; Lancelot & Guinevere; Odysseus & Penelope; Scarlett O’Hara &…

+