Interview With Award-Winning & Best-Selling Author Ben Gonshor

 

  

1. What inspired you to write this book? I had been wanting to find a way to pay tribute to my grandparents' generation, Holocaust survivors, who as they grew older were preparing to leave us and this world. A discovered a window into how to tell the story through my lifelong involvement with an amateur Yiddish theatre company and specifically its two productions of the greatest play in the Yiddish theatre canon, They Dybbuk, in which I took part. It's dramatic, mystical themes also allowed me to explore an aspect of my life that I wanted to deal with, which is the mental health piece that the protagonist struggles with and I hope that I was able to combine these elements successfully.  

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Izzy’s a writer at wit’s end in life, with love and on the verge of a complete breakdown with his career in wedding planning. Following an encounter with a mysterious bird seemingly visible only to him, he soon finds himself agreeing to take on the leading role in an amateur production of the greatest play in all of the Yiddish theatre: The Dybbuk, a gothic tale of destiny, possession and the triumph of love over all.

But when the play’s director dies suddenly and the theatre is threatened with immediate closure, Izzy is thrust into a much greater role, one he’ll soon learn he was predestined to play. In the process, he embarks on a fanciful, romantic voyage that will not only force him to come to terms with his Jewish identity, but to also confront the mysterious bird that holds the key to preserving the past and ensuring the survival of his heritage.   

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? I would hope that readers would develop an interest in Yiddish language and culture so as to want to explore it more, including the play, the Dybbuk as well as opening a wider lense into the epidemic that is mental health and how it affects all aspects of our society.   

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The title was developed personally and the design was developed by the publisher.  

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Stick to it. A friend once said that writing is about mood management and I believe that is a very apt description of the challenges in the writing process and that you have to push through no matter what to get to the end.  

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?  I couldn't speak to that as I don't work in the field. I write as a passion regardless of what signals the book world might be sending out. I believe that a book well written will find an audience no matter what.   

7. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I don't know that I have a style per se. The most important influence on the style of the book would be the Canadian writer\novelist Mordecai Richler who was a giant in the second half of the twentieth century in Canadian literary circles.   

8. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it's dramatic and informative, all in one little package.  

About the Author: Ben Gonshor is a best-selling writer, award-winning playwright, actor, musician and entrepreneur. His debut novel, The Book of Izzy, was the #1 Hot New Release for comedy and top-ten bestseller across categories on Amazon in Canada. It won the NYC Big Book Award and was chosen as a Distinguished Favorite by the Independent Press Awards and named a finalist for comedy by the National Indie Excellence Awards as well as for hum-our and allegorical fiction by the Chanticleer International Book Awards. His play, When Blood Ran Red, which tells of a true-life, dramatic moment in the life of the great American actor\singer\activist, Paul Robeson, won the David and Clare Rosen Memorial International Play Contest at the National Yiddish Theatre in New York. He is the writer\producer of the documentary film Mending The Torn Curtain which tells the story of the creation of the landmark First International Yiddish Theatre Festival. Ben also conceived and produced the world premiere Yiddish language video of The Triangle Fire/Bread and Roses. He holds an M.F.A. in Motion Picture Producing from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California and in his spare time he owns and operates FLUIDS iQ, Canada’s Wellness Laboratory. For more information, please see: bengonshor.com

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 7,900,000 page views. With nearly 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum