So just take us through the path of how it came to be there to now how it's available to buy.

That was probably the most dishearten- disheartening part of it.

I, um, I knew nothing at all about this, and I didn't wanna take classes and I, you know, online stuff.

I just...

And I probably should have 'cause I was super ignorant about the whole thing.

So the whole query letter is super important, and my query letter was very weak and- I sent it out to like, I don't know, 50, 60, um, agents.

And, uh, and I, because I'm so, um, weak with technology, I had to hire somebody to help me write these letters and do all the PDFs and all this kinda crazy stuff that to this day I don't really understand and get.

Also about where he goes from here, having told such a personal tale with a clear purpose, what do you do next? And we pick it up talking about that very first idea for The Past Again.

Why is it important to show that these cycles can repeat themselves even in America's self-proclaimed paradise?

Well, if you look at the history of the Jews over the past 2,000 years, you can look at the Hellenization of the Jews 2,000 years ago.

You can look at how the Jews were court Jews and had... were the top advisors for royalty in Europe for hundreds of years.

And then suddenly things turn against us, and it happens over and over and over again.

I mean, Jews in Austria and Germany reached the highest pinnacles of society.

I think at one point one was a prime minister, one won a Nobel Prize, one was president of the most prestigious university.

we reach the highest levels and then slowly certain elements of society turn against us.

What were you exploring there regarding the internal hierarchy or pressure within the Jewish world to fit a certain narrative? And why was it that Lori felt her Mizrahi past was a threat to her family's safety in America?