The Book of Zev
by screenwriter Marilyn Horowitz
Synopsis
The Book of Zev is a black-comedy thriller that tells the story of two
gentle people who change the course of history. Zev Bronfman, a strapping
32-year old-virgin, angry atheist, refugee from a religious Jewish life, and
former engineer for the U.S. Patent Office in Alexandria, Virginia, drives a
cab and sleeps around in New York City. After a bitter divorce, Sarah
Hirshbaum, a beautiful, redheaded, depressed, God-hating kosher chef, seesaws
between yoga and too much red wine. Independently, the two consult the same
psychic who inadvertently sends Sarah Zev’s session tape. When Sarah contacts
Zev to pick up the recording, a series of events forces them to connect with a
powerful terrorist in order to thwart his plans to destroy the UN and Israel.Click here to read an Excerpt of The Book of Zev
Pre-order from Amazon
Interview with Marilyn
Q: Where did you come up with your idea
for book or novel?
A: The opening
quote is what inspired me to want to write this story: “The only thing
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing.”
Q: Was there a person that was your
inspiration for this book/novel?
A: I was
returning on a train from a screenwriting conference where I’d conducted a
workshop on creating great characters using my trademarked writing system, and
met a man, a religious Jew, who was having a crisis of faith. We talked for
three hours and the next thing I knew, I was writing a book.
Q: Who would I like to thank for getting
me where I am today? Wow, that is probably at least a novella!
A: I would have
to start with God, followed by my maternal grandparents, who wrote a book
together, Faith through Reason, an
attempt to reconcile Judaism and Christianity. I would thank the real person
that the character of Sylvie is based on. Then there were my parents, who had a
vast library, which I read almost in its entirety. I also thank my first grade
teacher, Mrs. Rank, who produced my first play when I was in first grade, and
Lou Stanek, a writing teacher who guided me through my first attempts at
writing fiction. And finally, I must thank Mrs. Wallace, my third grade
teacher, who published my short stories in the school magazine. Then there’s my
ex, who helped me develop my writing system, and Michael Zam, who inspired me
to write my first nonfiction book on my writing method.
If I had to thank one person above others, it would be my
mother, who helped me put together that first play and even made my costume for
the play. My mother also edited part of The
Book of Zev before she died, and was always my toughest critic.
Q: Tell us how you got yourself to where
you are today?
A: I wrote my
first play at six, my first “book” when I was eight, and kept going until I went
to film school, where I began to write films. A friend asked me to take over her screenwriting class, and
after that I began working as a script doctor, producer, and a private writing
coach. Years went by and then one day I realized I’d forgotten my dream. My
mother was terminally ill, and I suddenly became aware that life is very short.
Soon after, I met the man on the train, and three years later, here I am, a
soon-to-be- published novelist!
Marilyn Ida Horowitz is a producer, writing
coach, and award-winning professor of screenwriting at New York University.
From her books on her trademarked writing system—now standard reading at NYU—to
her appearances at Screenwriters World and The Great American Screenwriting
Conference & PitchFest, Marilyn has guided the careers of literally
hundreds of writers. She is currently featured in the Now Write!
Screenwriting Anthology (Tarcher/Penguin) and in the upcoming The Expert
Success Solution (Morgan James). Her production credits include And Then
Came Love (2007), starring Vanessa Williams.
@marilynhorowitz
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