Historical Fiction
Date Published: 07-01-2025
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
Whiz Kid is a powerful coming-of-age novel set in 1950 Philadelphia,
where Jewish Navy veteran Ben Green faces impossible choices.
Pressured by his pregnant wife to finish his novel or take a secure job at a
prestigious ad agency, Ben must also navigate the era’s class divisions
and antisemitism. His best friend’s elite world clashes with his
working-class South Philly roots and Jewish identity.
Temptation, ambition, and loyalty collide—especially when Ilene, a
captivating classmate, threatens to unravel his carefully balanced life. As
the Phillies’ Whiz Kids chase a pennant, Ben’s own reckoning
builds to a climax, culminating in a surprising decision that redefines his
future.
Co-written with David S. Burcat, Joel Burcat’s late father, Whiz Kid is
a deeply American story of resilience, legacy, and the true cost of following
one’s heart.
Interview
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
I find that the hardest part is keeping the plot moving along at a reasonable clip. No one wants to read a book that drags. There may be times when a character stops and smells a rose, but for the most part you want the plot to take you from point A to point B. I’ve read books where the plot meanders and find that I skim those sections, waiting for the author to take us back to the main story. Telling the story in a way that is satisfying, doesn’t drag, and doesn’t move too fast is a challenge.
Interestingly, writing the characters has never been a problem for me. I find that the characters just about write themselves. They may not be fully formed when I begin writing the story, but within a couple of chapters their personalities are fixed.
Dialogue also comes easy for me. Sometimes I pretend I’m a character in the scene and imagine what I would be saying and what the other characters should be saying to me. The I just write it down.
What are your most played songs?
When writing I do not listen to music with lyrics. I have an insanely large collection of classical music on my laptop and listen to that when I’m writing. If I’m in the gym, I like to listen to classic rock. I guess on a classical kind of guy
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
I have both critique partners and beta readers. I’m a member of the International Thriller Writers Association and its Thriller-Tique program. I am a member of the Epsilon group and we critique each other’s writing once a month. 5000 words. I do not submit the first draft to the critique group, rather it is the second or third draft. It can take a long time to get through a novel that way, but is very valuable. I make many changes as result of their comments. Also, I have several good friends who are my beta readers. A couple of them have read everything I’ve written since my first book. They get a next-to-final draft when I still have an opportunity to make some changes. I often will modify something on the basis of what my beta readers tell me is not working.
What book are you reading now?
I just started reading Steve Berry’s The Lincoln Myth. He writes great historical thrillers and I learn a lot when I read his work.
How did you start your writing career?
I wrote fiction in college and then put down my pen when I became a law student. I was just too busy to write fiction. I tried writing again about twenty years later, but again was too busy. Finally, about seventeen or eighteen years ago, I made time to start writing short stories that had been percolating in my mind for a long time. About a year later I began writing my first novel. Since then I’ve completed eleven novel length manuscripts. Five have been published and I think it’s very likely that some of the others will be published as well
Tell us about your next release.
Generally, I’ve written legal thrillers and environmental thrillers. Whiz Kid, which is historical literary fiction, was a departure from what I usually write. My next book is called Temperature Rising. It’s a suspense and psychological thriller but with climate change in the background. Also, my protagonist is a female law student. The antagonist is a marvelously evil man. It’s a great and exciting story. I think people will love it.
About the Author
Joel Burcat is a novelist and retired lawyer living in Harrisburg, Pa.
His previous novels, Reap the Wind, Drink to Every Beast, Amid Rage, and
Strange Fire have been award-winning thrillers. He is a Gold Medal Winner from
Readers’ Favorite, a Finalist of the Next Gen Indie Book Awards, and a
winner of the PennWriters Annual Writing Contest. Strange Fire was a Kirkus
Reviews Best Book of the Week.
David S. Burcat was a Navy corpsman in World War II, a graduate of University
of Pennsylvania (English Literature and Dentistry), and a proud son of Camden
NJ and his adopted town of Philadelphia. He worked in advertising in the 1950s
before returning to Penn to study dentistry. He wrote Match Point, the novella
within the novel, in about 1950. He died in 1998. Whiz Kid- A Novel is his
first published book. Dave was the father of co-author, Joel Burcat.
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