🫀 This Story Has a Pulse

Not all stories begin with fiction. Some begin with a loss too real to ignore—and the conviction that a story built from grief can still carry hope.

This week on Indie Ink Spotlight, we’re featuring Alive and Beating, a novel inspired by the real-life tragedy of author Rebecca Wolf’s childhood friend, Alisa Flatow. But this isn’t just a tribute—it’s a meditation on what connects us, even when the world insists we’re divided. At a time when headlines pull us apart, this novel quietly stitches us back together, organ by organ, story by story.

And right now, those headlines are impossible to ignore.

In the past few days, tensions between Israel and Iran have escalated into open conflict. Missile strikes, air raid sirens, and the threat of full-scale war have once again pushed the region into global focus—bringing with them renewed fear, political fallout, and heartbreaking reminders of the human cost beneath it all.

In that context, Alive and Beating reads not just as a novel, but as a counter-narrative—a story rooted in compassion, reminding us that underneath our differences, we’re all made of the same fragile, hopeful stuff.

First Lines

Alive and Beating is a deeply human, multi-perspective novel set in Jerusalem, centered around six characters who seem to have nothing in common—except that they’re all waiting for organ transplants. Told through interconnected narratives, their stories reveal shared struggles for health, belonging, and meaning in a fractured world.

The inspiration came from something real—and unbearably painful. Rebecca’s childhood friend was killed in a bus bombing in Israel in 1995. “I’ve been working on this book for about four years,” she says, “but it felt especially urgent now. The world feels so splintered, and this story is about our shared humanity.”

Between the Lines

Behind every book is a quiet kind of courage—the decision to keep writing when the world says “not now.” In this conversation, Rebecca Wolf shares what kept Alive and Beating alive: the heartbreak that inspired it, the publishing hurdles that nearly shelved it, and the community that reminded her it was worth fighting for.

Margins & Meanings

For Rebecca Wolf, indie publishing wasn’t just a backup plan. It was an affirmation. A response to a literary world that’s become increasingly inaccessible to marginalized and politically complex voices.

“Being an indie author means I can prove my story matters—even if gatekeepers say otherwise,” she explains. “That’s especially important for Jewish writers like me, who are often shut out of conversations before they begin.”

But Alive and Beating isn’t just about injustice. It’s about connection. Through narratives of familial conflict, immigrant identity, and physical fragility, Wolf paints a picture of six lives that, while disparate, pulse with the same beating heart. “Inside,” she says, “we’re all the same.”

Shelf Life

📘 Buy Alive and Beating on Amazon 

🎧 Listen to the Podcast

📲 Follow Rebecca 

The Last Page

Some books ask you to suspend belief. Others ask you to believe harder—in people, in empathy, in the fragile threads that connect us even in the darkest moments.

We're honored to feature Alive and Beating in this week’s Indie Ink Spotlight. It’s a novel with a heart—and a pulse.

And we’re just getting started.
Every Saturday, we spotlight one indie voice worth hearing. Because stories still matter.

After all, who has time to read?

We do. Together.

The WHTTR Team

✉ Share Your Story Next

If something in today’s story stayed with you—if you’ve written a book with a heartbeat of its own—we’d love to hear from you.

Indie Ink Spotlight is where independent voices get the light they deserve. No gatekeeping. No gimmicks. Just stories that matter.

📬 Email us at [email protected]
with the subject line: Community Exchange

We'll take it from there.