Rachel Gold – Michael A. Kahn

“Hoosier” Is in the Eyes of the Beholder

Posted on May 9, 2024May 10, 2024 by Michael Kahn

Strolling down Chicago Avenue south of Main Street in Evanston, I paused in front of Hoosier Mama Pie Company, a beloved local spot for coffee and pastries. But as I gazed up at that sign, I had to smile at how the unique St. Louis definition of “hoosier” would undermine–indeed, torpedo–the cleverness of that name….

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A Surprise Shout-Out 10 Years Later

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Michael Kahn

The joy (or, sigh, the bane) of existence for an author is the discovery of a book review of his or her latest novel. The moment you spot that review your stomach tightens, your face winces. You take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and then cautiously, nervously, you read the opening sentence. Is it a…

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Artificial Intelligence? A Cautionary Tale Starring the Chatbot Associate from Hell

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Michael Kahn

As both a trial attorney and the author of novels, I have learned to heed the words of Mark Twain, who wrote: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t.” We’ve all heard remarkable true stories about amazing coincidences (twins separated at birth and reunited…

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More Seductive Pick-Up Lines for Authors

Posted on July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Michael Kahn

As I have previously written, an enticing opening sentence to a novel is the author’s equivalent of a seductive pick-up line in a singles bar. You want to grab the attention of–indeed, entice–that potential reader who just picked your book off the shelf at the bookstore and, after examining the cover, opens to page 1…

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Benny and the Greatest Bowel Movement in Literature

Posted on July 26, 2020January 24, 2023 by Michael Kahn

Several years ago, as an interminable mediation of a high-profile trademark case stretched into the wee hours of the night, I stepped outside my crazy client’s breakout room to get another cup of coffee and found the mediator–the late and beloved Dick Sher–seated at a table in the lunchroom sipping his own cup of coffee…

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Sex, Ecclesiastes, and Jewish Mothers

Posted on May 19, 2020May 19, 2020 by Michael Kahn

One of the unexpected joys of writing a mystery series–or any series–is getting to spend more time with your main characters and, in the process, learning more about them. Such has been true with my Rachel Gold series, with has now reached #11 with the recent publication of Bad Trust. Over the past several novels,…

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An Author Event in the Era of COVID-19

Posted on April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 by Michael Kahn

I now have my own sequel to one of my favorite novels by the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. While I concede my sequel may not have the same poetic charm as the title of the Marquez novel, I can now say that have presided over a Book Signing in…

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Cover Reveals: The Good, the Bad, and, well . . .

Posted on March 4, 2020March 4, 2020 by Michael Kahn

Most authors have little say in the design of our book covers, and thus arrives that anxious moment when the publisher reveals its proposed cover for your novel. You hope for the best. This time I got lucky. For my next Rachel Gold novel, Bad Trust, due in April of this year, I can state…

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Awesome Role Models for Rachel Gold–and All Women

Posted on April 22, 2019May 1, 2019 by Michael Kahn

As I would imagine is true for most authors, by the time we write that very first paragraph of our very first novel, our brains have absorbed massive amounts of fiction in the form of novels, comic books, fairy tales, short stories, motion pictures, and television shows. And this huge warehouse of information will impact…

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Can’t Leave Rachel Out!

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Michael Kahn

As you might infer, the main character in my Rachel Gold mystery series is named Rachel Gold. But back in the beginning, back many years ago, on the eve of publication of my first novel, Grave Designs, there was no Rachel Gold mystery series. Just a mystery novel featuring as the protagonist a savvy young…

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