It’s Saturday morning; you’re on your way to see your family and friends at the Synagogue where you’ll read from a book and sing traditional songs. Only you’re spat at in the street by two men wearing tunics and trousers. You lift your head and keep walking. You’ve been refused service in a main high street shop and told outright that there was ‘nothing’ for you, when you enquired about a product this year. In 2025 Britain, when you look Jewish, race-hate is a norm.

On Yom Kippur, Thursday October 2^nd you’re texting a friend, laughing and running fifteen minutes late. You’re leaving for that same Synagogue to spend the day being peaceful, when you receive a phone call telling you not to go.

As reality unfolds, you’ve no idea who is alive or dead. The media calls you all ‘worshippers.’ You’re at a loss as to how that word applies. Diversity is cultural celebration, but this label feels like segregation. There’s little nuance between religion and extremism; the terms are often linked but the narratives are worlds apart.

You’re shaking, cold, and stunned. Silence is broken by police helicopters overhead. On every T.V news channel there are familiar faces full of grief and shock. Getty images show the same well-loved friends. Someone sends you a reel of your uncle being interviewed, he’s on the News in Toronto. The roof is ripped off your life. You’re numb, the week blurs in a surreal haze. You’re devastated. Your friends have been stabbed, shot and murdered. You attend funerals under armed guard.

Until now, you’ve lived a dual identity, as a British person and a Jew. Your faith and spirituality support your inner world. But the external experience of being Jewish, not British, feels singular and overriding.

Days later, a writer / editor friend is on social media chatting about a T.V show, and you ask why she hasn’t been in contact. She ‘shouts’ at you on WhatsApp privately, for ‘calling her out’ on X, and says she’s had nasty DM’s: ‘This is why I don’t post politically on X.’ and she takes the post down which links to you.

Being a Jew is a political act.

The Rt Hon Sir Grant Schapps, described ‘being Jewish’ in a positive way, as ‘a club you can’t leave.’ No one wants to leave. But we’d all like to feel safe.

The week the King came to Manchester to visit those directly affected by the Heaton Park Synagogue attack, another Jew, Professor Michael Ben-Gad was threatened with beheading whilst in the middle of delivering a lecture at the University of London. Beheading. In Britain.

The dismissal of the human rights of Jews has been steadily increasing during the past two years. Labelling hate speech and verbal acts of intimidation as ‘freedom of expression’ is false. A person’s view on the actions of a foreign Government cannot be allowed to deny other human beings their right to safety in this country. The simple truth is that hate speech in and of itself is a mobilising force. It’s a call for action, which has resulted in physical violence towards, and the death of, British Jews.

Negative views on Israel are used to unite people in mob-politics and to legitimise acts of hate towards Jews living in Britain. Online, antisemitism spews from memes and comments. Reports of abuse aren’t upheld by social media platforms.

The NHS Doctor I don’t care to name, who previously called the Holocaust a ‘fabricated victim narrative’, wears a gold number ‘7’ around her neck glorifying Hamas’s slaughter of innocents at a music festival on October 7^th 2023. Despite her making signs to slit the throats of Jewish patients, she was suspended, not sacked. A British hospital is meant to be an impartial refuge for the sick, and for those at their most vulnerable. This doctor and many others are incapable of offering care to all patients equally.

Lord Mann’s review in July 2025 outlined ten key recommendations to tackle the vile antisemitism in the NHS. Since the attack on our synagogue another report has been commissioned, and a statement made regarding urgent staff training. Yet there is a blatant lack of accountability or valid repercussions for perpetrators.

When the Prime Minister said the marches due to go ahead on October 7^th this year were ‘UnBritish’ SKY news declared that word was undemocratic.

Where is the media’s responsibility in supporting peace on British streets and the safety of all British citizens? The hate marches went ahead, despite the terrorist attack murdering Jews in Manchester just days earlier. Nothing changed, so how can we feel safe weeks later, when the only way of attending our synagogue is under a tight security presence? We sit behind iron doors, this isn’t safety. It’s an expression of resilience under duress.

In 1854, the Manchester writer and wife of a unitarian minister, Elizabeth Gaskell wrote:

‘We have all of us one human heart.’

Please unite with us, heart to heart, to turn this tide of hate directed at Jews. There is no division here, just a call for safety for all British people.

It’s JULY! Can anyone believe it?

I hope you’re all well and enjoying summer. So far, we’ve been baked and deluged in Manchester. As I don’t enjoy heatwaves, a cool wet summer is bliss!

The writing news is I’ve joined a late summer school run by the wonderful Sara Cox at the ‘Cheshire Novel Prize.’ It starts in September for six weeks. Should be interesting and fun. I’m writing magical realism for the course, which will be brilliant! I’m also hoping to attend a writing conference; an incredible opportunity (not in the U.K). I don’t want to say too much about that now, so watch this space.

As for life off the page, I’ve been taking acting classes run by a talented group in Manchester centre. Fascinating and immersive. It’s amazing how much thought and how many choices are involved in lifting a character off a page for performance. As a writer, I’ve loved every second of the journey.

Red Mice has been fully edited and there is a new edition waiting in the wings… Drop me a line if you’d like some insider info. I love hearing from you.

Be well and look after yourselves.

Racheal.

I hope you’re all well and have had a great start to 2023. It’s Cherry Blossom time! The most beautiful time of year. Well, since I last wrote, I’ve been in a play! Amazing experience. Acting on a stage!! Met some fantastic people and had the best time. It’s really provided insight into character, and the way structure works on every level. Academically, my MA is split equally between Victorian Fiction and Theatre studies. This doesn’t mean acting, we’re talking Chekhov, Brecht, and contemporary modern theatre such as The Comedians – by Trevor Griffiths. Or Willy Russell’s stuff. If you haven’t come across those playwrights, dive in.

If you want to chat, drop me a line!

Have a great spring.

Racheal.

I hope you’re keeping well, avoiding covid, and that life is treating you kindly. We’re in December already… Waiting for snow.

I think you probably all know by now, that for me, a highlight of releasing Red Mice will always be Mr Peter Gutmann’s students choosing Red Mice for their class read, not just once, but three times. I’m hugely grateful for the experience.

After publishing Red Mice, I wanted to break into traditional publishing. Unfortunately, I encountered some unpleasant people along the way and took time out. But I’ve always been a writer, so regardless, the joy for me is in the work.

And over the years, I’ve learned a lot about publishing conventions. I don’t mean Comi-Con or Fantasy-Con more about rules, and how an industry is run. Let’s start at the beginning.  When I wrote Red Mice, agents said to me: ‘It’s cross genre.’ Genre is a lot more fluid than it used to be, but the point is I didn’t understand how the concept of genre applied to books. If you’re not familiar with how the publishing world sees genre – think Elizabethan corset, or Viv’ Westwood. Fashion; beautiful, tailored, and restrictive. Genre determines which shelf your book sits on and how it’s marketed. If you’re aiming for an agent, then you need to be able to tell your agent who you see yourself alongside; your comp’ titles. If you’re indie publishing – it’s the biggest label you’re writing under. Crime. Fantasy. Etc.

Maybe, unlike me, you already knew all this stuff before you started, and that’s brilliant. Whereas I just wrote Red Mice believing it was ‘crime thriller’ and the reader would decide how they responded to a book. Naively I thought there was room for that engagement. In reality, there’s less than you think! A great deal of money is spent on marketing budget for pre-determined best-sellers, by publishers. The vast majority of writers aren’t going to be best-sellers, because without a fantastic agent with a proven track record at creating best-sellers, it’s rare to hit the Sunday Time and NYT lists with a debut. The likelihood is that over time you’ll build a catalogue, accruing more readership as you write, if you’re lucky. It’s such a small percentage of writers who are an instant break-out success with a debut. But it does happen.

As for writing style – plotting or pantsing… I plotted Red Mice out on massive sheets of paper, stuck on the wall. But as time goes by, I’ve found it depends on the book. Now, I outline more. Not enough to kill the joy of the creativity. How do you feel about genre, and are you a plotter or pantser? Let me know!

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Look after yourselves.

Racheal.

Hope all are well… Can anyone believe it’s June 2022?

It’s been FOREVER since I’ve written an update and said hello! Time has flown by.

Here in the U.K the platinum Jubilee has been celebrated all weekend. Seventy years of HRH! Incredible. In local terms, this has meant a very lot of bunting, and some fabulously competitive neighbours… We smiled when we saw that one house had a life-size Royal Guard, outside their front door. Patriotic! Only, a day or two later, on the opposite side of the street, a life-size Queen appeared, complete with regal wave. I am not joking…

As for books, as much as I love to write (and read) I’ve discovered that the rhythm of a new first draft feels quite alien. It’s been fantastic to get back to creating fresh stories, yet the ‘sitting down’ to write demands consistent time. Can someone please tell Marlowe?! In truth, I am hoping to get through the first draft sooner rather than later. Books are made in the editing stage.

With regards to news, there is none to tell just yet.

Watch this space…

Until next time, happy reading, happy writing.

Look after yourselves,

Racheal. x

Happy New Year …

Let’s hope that 2021 is healthy, and happy for all.
Stay safe and well, wherever you are.

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You’ll find out soon enough. He’s thinking about home…