Getting Ready for Nano

Nano starts next week.  And in preparation, I've put together the back-of-the-book blurb for Golem.  So, here it is:

Odessa, Russia in 1905 is a place where the future is being born.  Industrialists, artists and philosophers meet in smoky cafés and invent a better world.  Of course, the Tsar and his cronies aren't at all sure they want a new world.

Rachel Vainshel has one foot in each world.  She has a job in the factory and her father is the Rabbi of their Temple.  At 16, the word is full of possibilities, including those of Yakov Mueller, the jeweler's son.  Yakov has a talent and a trick – he makes exquisite little insects out of watch parts.  And can bring them to life.

When her father, Reb Kolya, finds out about it, he encourages Yakov to create a mechanical man, a Golem, to protect the synagogue from the anti-Semitic riots that are growing more frequent and more violent.

Rachel helps when she can, but she doesn't have the magic. She will do whatever she can to protect her family and her people, even as the world around them goes mad.