Interview with Harold Emanuel – 12 Days of Sisters in Crime Christmas

Who is Harold Emanuel?

Harold teaches Information Technology at Hillsborough Community College in Ruskin, Florida.  He lives with his wife, Katherine, in Sun City Center, Florida. He is also an author who writes in two genres: cozy murder mysteries and historical fiction. His Lionel Trevor/Tech Squad series follows Professor Lionel Trevor and six students in a community college forensic technology workshop as they solve murders using forensic technology.

His latest novel, Aliyah – A Jewish Family Saga, follows sixteen-year-old Lazar Hermanski and fourteen- year-old Daria Solov, who survive the 1881 Warsaw pogrom, endure a perilous journey in steerage, and arrive, penniless, in New York. Lazar and Daria marry, start a family, and create a new life for themselves, balancing the needs of their new country’s culture with their desire to maintain the Jewish traditions they love. Throughout the story, family members participate in historical events, such as the 1899 Newsboys’ strike, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and the sinking of the Lusitania, and interact with historical figures such as Fiorello LaGuardia, Fanny Brice, and Al Smith.

The Giveaway:

You can go to Amazon.com on December 5 and 6 to download a free copy of Harold Emanuel's collection of murder mystery stories, Murder in the Sunset Years, on Kindle.

The Interview:

What inspired you to switch genres?

Aliyah – A Jewish Family Saga was inspired by stories I heard growing up about my own family’s immigrant experience on the Lower East Side in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. I read many novels about immigrants on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. They all began and ended in the same locale, and in the late 19th Century.  I wanted a story that shows a family prospering and moving from the Lower East Side to Upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs, like my family did. 

Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

I get my inspiration from history. I place my characters, members of the Hermanski family, at the center of historical events and I have them interact with historical characters. For example, Lazar and Fiorello LaGuardia work on Ellis Island as translators. Lazar’s daughter works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on the day of the fire.

Can you give us some insight into what makes your main characters tick?

Family cohesion. The Hermanski family faces many obstacles adjusting to a new country and culture and learning a new language. They face these hurdles as a family, supporting each other against the outside forces tugging at them. 

Tell us about your current work in progress.

I am working on a sequel to Aliyah – A Jewish Family Saga, tentatively titled The Saga Continues. It follows Lazar and Daria, their son, Marvin, daughter, Nellie, and Marvin’s children, twins Peter and Ariel, through the Roaring '20s, the 1930s Depression, and World War Two.

What book are you currently reading?

Broadcast Hysteria by A. Brad Schwartz. It chronicles the evening of October 30, 1938. On that date, Orson Welles’ broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds on CBS radio’s Mercury Theatre convinced thousands of people we were being invaded by Martians. I plan to have the characters in The Saga Continues in the middle of the hysteria which occurred during and following the broadcast. 

Lightning round questions - Just for fun

Print book, eBook, or audiobook - Print Book

Favorite Movie – Funny Girl

Last Book Read – The Bonus Army by Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen

Tea or Coffee – Coffee

Beach or Mountains – Beach

Morning person or night person – Morning person

Sweet or Salty snacks – Sweet 

Find Harold Emanuel online:

Website: Haroldemanuel.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaroldEmanuelAuthor/