Katiaesque

  • #1 in YA Jewish New Releases

    It’s so surreal, I just have to share. My debut novel, so embarrassingly many years in the making, a little under four months now before its actual launch, is currently a #1 in New Release in Jewish Teen and Young Adult Fiction on Amazon. Just as incredible, as of this writing, it is sharing a…

    Katia Raina

  • Biggest Distraction

    #Authorlifemonth is a campaign that showcases what it’s like to be an author or a writer. Writers, published and unpublished, share photos and snippets on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or any other social media, answering questions that give people the glimpse into their daily glamorous routines! 🙂 Jumping in midway here — and this isn’t going…

    Katia Raina

  • Day 7: CASTLE OF CONCRETE

    CASTLE OF CONCRETE by Katia Raina, Young Europe, June 2019 #YADebut2019 #MagicMirror Aaaaand here it is, my friends: the news and the big mystery; here it is, the secret revealed! My historical YA debut, CASTLE OF CONCRETE, set in the last year of the falling-apart Soviet Union, is the story of a timid Jewish girl…

    Katia Raina

  • Happy New Year!

    After three years of silence here on the Magic Mirror, magically, I am back. So much has changed. I live in DC, for one thing. And the people I teach happen to be, for the most part, a lot shorter. (Quite a few of them even shorter than me! Ha! — For now ;)) I…

    Katia Raina

  • Been Too Long!

    I can’t believe how long it’s been! Ayayayayay!  Part of this is…summer is precious now for a teacher, going, going, gone, which is fine, it’s all good, I’ve always been that girl who loved all the seasons, and even to the Ms. Raina version of me, September is just as exciting as June. But the…

    Katia Raina

  • Lessons from Mama

    When I was little, my mama was my treasure. Maybe this was true for me more than it was for other children, because we lived apart and I missed her. My mama was my princess, my hero, my sparkling sorceress, she was the queen of beauty, she was my dream, she really was my everything. At…

    Katia Raina

  • Underneath Your Daily Dance Clothes

    What do you do when you are too busy to breathe? When student notebooks compete   with certification studies compete with long commutes compete with meetings compete with lesson plans compete with my own kids compete with oil change compete with laundry compete with PowerPoints compete with sleep…? You do the best you can, of course, because…

    Katia Raina

  • Happy New Year! Here is to Continuing!

    Yes, it’s been a while. My new life has swept me in, in the craziest and most wonderful of ways because yes, I love being a teacher, and it is a job that demands your all and then some. Still, I wanted to take a quick minute to wish you all a happy 2016. The…

    Katia Raina

  • What’s Your Story?

    “Life is a narrative we have a hand in writing.” Henriette Anne Klauser  The reason I love life is because it’s  a series of adventures. Almost eight months ago I graduated with my dream MFA degree from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Now I am starting another one. This adventure feels just as important, if not…

    Katia Raina

  • Building A Meaningful Writing Life

    People think that writers enroll in an MFA program on a quest for publication, the shiniest treasure of all.  And maybe some writers do. Okay, many do. Most. I guess I did, too. I enrolled in the program with that shiny goal in mind. And then, after intense writing and reading and studying, one of the biggest lessons…

    Katia Raina