A former educator, D.M. Miller’s love of language and culture transcends the classroom. Coming from a distinctively clashing gene pool, the author of the romantic interfaith Heart series has an appetite for going against the grain in both fiction and nonfiction alike, exploring the difficult themes of religion, politics, ethnicity, culture, family, ancestry, identity and most of all, love.
Miller’s debut novel, The Religion of the Heart, began what became an ongoing saga about one interfaith couple and their mismatched family of Jews, Muslims and Christians. Each character’s strong personality and even stronger beliefs often clash with the in-laws. The struggle to find personal identity and keep the peace within their lives plays out in realistic plots, filled to the brim with love and romance but also hate and discord. At this time, four books make up the series with more to come: The Religion of the Heart, Agony of the Heart, Secrets of the Heart and Holiday of the Heart.
Half-Jew: Searching for Identity is Miller’s nonfiction work analyzing the “mother rule” of Judaism, Jewish ethnicities and DNA. Partly a memoir, the book details the author’s personal interfaith experience.
Mexican Summer is a suspenseful romantic novella with just a dash of her signature interfaith theme woven into the action-packed story.
Finally, Neshama, Dandelion Fuzz and Banished Thoughts are collections of poetry.
See her books on Amazon.
D.M. Miller 
I love that you have ‘an appetite for going against the grain’
More often than not, people will avoid any subject that they may find controversial, in the hope of a quiet life!
Those who know when to keep quiet, speak louder than they think! 🙂 X Brian Douglas Crawford.
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Thanks, Brian! We can’t keep our heads down while crossing the street, thinking we’ll avoid traffic- we might get hit by a car anyway!
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I have been researching half Jewish topics for years, mostly, for personal reasons. It is so refreshing a thing to be able to read a book with such well researched points,that apply to my type of Jewishness, and that is easy to read. As a half Jew with a Jewish father, and a non Jewish mother that is Irish/ German Catholic, it seems that some Jews in general, simply, wish that half Jews were never born. That hate, I call it self hate, because in Hebrew the way the word is translated can be mean more then a raw dehumanizing hate; but a simple preference for one person over the other.
I suppose that is fine in some cases, but, to not even let the half Jewish person know that they even have some issues with them, and why, so as to attempt to reconcile the differences leaves no closure for the American Jewish community that wishes to have nothing to do with the half Jewish person ,and no closure for half Jew, such as myself.
it seems as much of Judaism is geared around anti-Semitism.. yet half Jews experience anti-Semitism, but, we have no commentaries,or some midrash advice by scholars about how to live in such a world? Not one Jewish person, ever walked me through the maze of Jewishness related to my Jewishness….other then the advice that I should simply erase, my Jewish half, because I’m not Jewish, because, my mother is not Jewish. to me that is so cowardly a attitude, sort of like the Jews that seek to have nose jobs…talking about nose jobs, your book so wonderfully goes into topics like that, I wanted to also add that before I read your book, I read a book by Sander Gilman, The Jew’s body…. in it, he says that some half Jews look even more Jewish then American Jews. Such as this article in the Jerusalem Post about a half Jewish celebrity….note not one American media probably even touches that story with a ten foot pole.
A guy from Astoria, Queens, named Daniel Snider who’s got endless charisma and natural stage presence – he’s gotta be Jewish, right? By David Brinn June 14, 2018
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Getting-twisted-with-Dee-Snider-560030
Sander Gilman… says this about the Jewish nose… on page 180….Indeed, a detailed study of the anthropology of the Mischlinge born to Jews and non Jews “”published in 1928 summarized the given view that there was a Jew nose” and that this specific form of the nose was dominant in mixed marriages and that specific form of nose was dominant in mixed marriages and was recognized to be a fixed, inherited sign of being Jewish.
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Yes, I had heard before that Dee Snider was a Half-Jew, but he doesn’t sound all that connected to his Jewish roots, which is rare for a patrilineal Jew.
I’m glad you appreciated my book and got something out of it. 🙂 I did broach taboo topics, which is part of why, I think, people enjoy it. I’m giving voice to their thoughts, and my story is their story.
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I was thinking about the media coverage of him as a half Jew. Perhaps, because he has no interest in his Jewish roots that it is not so great story of him, and, because he is a celebrity he has no idea how to manipulate the media for political reasons… that is why it seems to be not to favorable of a story for half Jews. One of my concerns is with the his wearing a big cross, in the poster like picture of him.
That is a highly controversial thing to do in Israel, say if he was a citizen of Israel. The Law of Return is always up for debate, and the “powers that be” have been wanting to write the half Jews out of the law , with any rights to be a citizen revoked , in various proposal drafts; but it was eventually trashed. I wonder if subliminally the message is… see, if the half Jews are ever allowed in great numbers, they will be self serving Christians; or freaks walking around on the streets wearing big crosses.
When I made Aliyah(immigration to the land of Israel)… I got advised about things like this, because, I’m a Christian….and they said it is basically fine to be a Christian in a Jewish state as long as I don’t walk around wearing a big cross.
I’m sure he meant well. It it unfortunate that at times celebrities get elevated, or appointed to advocacy roles in politics, when they have no experience in politics, in how to manipulate the media for political reasons.
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What I got out of the article was the subliminal message (and not all that subliminal truth be told) that Half-Jews are not Jews. The cross was a big part of that, as was his laughter at the idea he could be Jewish because people assume celebrities are Jewish- when in reality, he actually IS half. That comment made no sense. I do like him though. He briefly had a reality TV show featuring his family, and I really liked his personality on there. I just don’t like the slant the writer put on this article.
You could understand why Israelis wouldn’t want big crosses and don’t allow Christian proselytizing. There is only one Jewish State, and Jews have a right to be left alone. And the Law of Return debate is really the religious “powers that be” rather than the general politicians. Hopefully it won’t change. I’m eligible for Aliyah, and I like having the option available to me should I ever decide to go for it. 🙂
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One of my cousins sent me a photo with his mother in a picture with Golda Meir. Golda Meir hated intermarriage. If she had only known her friend in the States, had a son that married a non Jewish wife. He was not even aware, that Israelis have a strong dislike for crosses, or proselytizing, when I told him that. He is way to the right… he went on a tour to Israeli with evangelical Christians. To say the least, I’m not welcome to any cousins parties.
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in Israel…it is also highly insulting to point at someone.
In the poster like picture of him…. in the article…. he seems to be pointing in the face of his audience. Perhaps, that is subliminal? Half Jews…. if they ever come here in great numbers will get in your face with Christianity, without taking the time to be aware of our culture.
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I don’t think the subliminal message goes that deep. To me, the article was partially positive because here is a celebrity with Jewish roots coming to Israel, but also partially negative. It was essentially following the old line that it’s a religion and nothing more, and therefore Half-Jews are not Jews, disregarding the ethnicity entirely.
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