On February 20, my debut novel, South of Sepharad, will be published, the culmination of a journey I began almost a decade earlier. I first knew I wanted to write a novel about the 1492 Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 2016, but I stalled for over three years, intimidated by the scope. I researched extensively—reading books, articles, even visiting a museum devoted to the Spanish Inquisition—but felt too inexperienced to tackle such serious subject matter.

In 2019, when I was accepted into Mount St. Mary’s MFA program (and knew I’d write a thesis novel), I decided to finally pursue the Expulsion idea. Though daunting, I realized I needed to push past my excuses and self-doubt. It was the novel I most wanted to write. 

Writing

As I’d never written a novel before, I followed a strict process to keep myself on track with the manuscript. I wrote each chapter twice before moving onto the next. For each chapter, I wrote the first draft longhand (I feel longhand gets me into a more creative headspace). I then typed up the first draft, making changes and incorporating research along the way to complete a second draft.

I quickly realized through this process, that I needed to conduct more research as I went if I wanted to tell a period accurate story.

For example, in an early chapter of the book, Bonadonna (the matriarch of the family) cooks a shabbat dinner. Writing this scene for the first time, I stopped myself and asked, “What is she using to cook in 1492? Did they have stoves in 1492? Did they cook inside the house?” It was a minor detail barely relevant to the larger story, but something I hadn’t come across in the books I read previously.

I put a note in the margins of my composition book that said “Research More” then continued writing to keep the momentum of the scene. Once I finished the chapter, I found articles online that discussed cooking practices in medieval Spain. Here, I learned that Bonadonna would most likely prepare dinner by cooking food in a cauldron that hung over a hearth. It was the kind of detail that I so obviously needed to research, but hadn’t crossed my mind to know until I needed the answer.

On the second pass of the chapter, I typed up the scene I’d written, while incorporating the details about the hearth and cauldron. I did research and rewriting like this for all twenty-six chapters.

In total, it took me a year and a half to arrive at a complete typed draft of the novel. I wrote the novel while balancing the demands of an MFA program, and working full-time during a pandemic. Although it was a demanding time, I considered myself lucky to have a project to devote myself to throughout lockdown.

Revising

I wrote the first typed draft of the novel from the multiple third person perspectives of each member of the main character’s family. Vidal, Bonadonna, and their four children each had their own chapters and scenes.

However, I realized that nobody besides Vidal (the patriarch of the family) and his daughter Catalina had complete arcs that needed to be told across the entire narrative. Thus, the most significant revision I made to the next draft was narrowing down the perspectives from six different characters to two. Although much was cut, time spent in the heads of the other characters better informed me on how they would interact with Vidal and Catalina.

That I didn’t need to do a larger rewrite to fix plot points is a debt I owe to history. Because the plot, goals, stakes, and obstacles the Jews of Spain faced in 1492 were so momentous and clear, I never needed to rethink the narrative.

In summer 2021, I graduated from Mount St. Mary’s with nearly three drafts completed. I focused on essential revisions and edits. Around Halloween 2021, I began to send the manuscript on submission.

Querying

 As I queried agents and publishers over the next year, the manuscript was rejected over 50 times. Many responded that the book sounded interesting, but it wasn’t right for them. Despite this setback, I persevered, realistic that my dramatic take on 500-year-old events wasn't universally appealing. I just needed to find the right publisher.

That publisher turned out to be History Through Fiction, who I first learned of on Twitter. I discovered that they published manuscripts based on true historical figures and events. Since they weren’t taking novel submissions at the time, I submitted an excerpt from my novel in the hope it’d pique their interest. When they accepted the excerpt for publication on their website, I asked if they’d look at the full manuscript too.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving 2022, I checked my email before bed. A message from the editor contained the simple subject "Contract Offer." I opened it anxiously, my novel's fate unknown.

After three years of hesitating, two years of writing, and one year of submitting, South of Sepharad was being accepted for publication. Although more drafts and edits awaited, a novel I could once only dream about writing was on its way to becoming published.