David Michael Slater is a middle school teacher and a book author. He prides himself in writing stories of all kinds - for all ages. Now, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker is interested in making one of his historical fictions - into a movie. We caught up with him at his Reno home.
From his picture books, to chapter books, it’s clear that Slater loves writing. "It's usually ideas, like really interesting ideas that - a core idea, a fascinating little kernel that gets me started."
Slater says the plot of his recently published novel, titled “The Vanishing”, is a little – unexpected. "It's about a young girl in Nazi Germany who turns invisible, literally invisible, after witnessing a very terrible murder and it follows her path as she tries to keep her best friend and neighbor alive."
The kernel of the idea for this story is grim - the horrific mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. “Bigotry is on the rise, anti-Semitism incidents are off the charts, so it seems like the right time, certainly it does was for me to have written this book.”
Eleven people were killed and seven others were hurt during the Tree of Life attack.
"I grew up literally, diagonally across the street from the Tree of Life." It was there, in Pittsburgh, David says - he, his twin brother, and their sister, were raised surrounded by Jewish culture.
His emotions about the 2018 attack on his community are woven throughout the vanishing. "I remember feeling rage and despair and helplessness and that's basically the motivators of this girl, Sophie, as she tries to make a difference.”
The message resonated with a movie production company and Slater met with well-known filmmaker Chris Columbus. "And it went great and they made and offer to option it and that took several months - and then the strike.”
While the Hollywood writers’ strike continues, David keeps writing, meeting with readers - and of course - his day job - teaching middle schoolers in Reno. "I love the kids and I’m grateful that I landed in such a great spot.”
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David Michael Slater teaches at Pine Middle School in Reno, in the GT program.
For more on his work, click link below -
