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Does food add flavor to your writing? Before you snort indignantly and wave away the idea, consider writers 
in coffee houses, sucking down caffeinated beverages and chai latte as fast as humanly possible, often with a comfortable croissant or fruits pastry on the side. Consider the many times favorite foods have been the subject of poems (yes, even Burns’ haggis) or how poets and authors alike have embroiled food or drink into their stanzas and paragraphs as much an integral part of the story as the supporting characters.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, yon penner of the great Sherlock Holmes books, was a gourmet food appreciation specialist… to the point where he mentioned his favorite restaurants in several of his stories. He often described what food Mrs. Hudson brought and what food the main character waved away, too deeply enshrined in his own genius to think of food… yet it was present.
Shakespeare himself was not beyond swirling food/eating/dining descriptions about his iambic pentameter.
“Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year’s pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of caraways, and so forth: come, cousin Silence: and then to bed.” -Henry the Fifth
… And even a market list or two.
“… I must have saffron to colour the warden pies; mace; dates?–none, that’s out of my note; nutmegs, seven; a race or two of ginger, but that I may beg; four pound of prunes, and as many of raisins o’ the sun.” – The Winter’s Tale
Many writers like sipping fragrant tea while typing; my own notebooks are puckered with tea drops or various types, and drop of apple cider as well; they contrast nicely with the flecks of dark chocolate, minuscule crumbs of oatmeal cookie, smidgens of shortbread and strawberry seeds, while the scent of fresh mango (lovingly consumed) hovers over the page like a long-evaporated mist.
I’ve noticed that the food one eats influences the characters themselves, as well as the setting of the story. Warm rice pudding, for example, makes for a comfortable, home setting where the character sitting back, relaxing… perhaps having a bit of pleasant conversation with a loved one. Coffee that has cooled considerably whilst one is typing gives the prose a bitter edge, chilly throes of danger and a boost of energy… along with uncertain aftertastes. Hot cocoa is altogether stupefying and seems to hinder the writing abilities to the point that one must lean back and enjoy the beverage uninhibited. Fresh bread spread with Irish butter makes me want to finish two entire chapters, pausing now and then to crunch down the remaining crumbs on the plate.
I know everyone is not affected thusly by certain foods, but everyone seems to have a few they find comforting… even inspiring.
Meredith Greene
In the first few weeks of 2007, I had an epiphany; to give credit where it is due, my husband started it, but it blossomed into a full-blown realization some weeks later.
We were surfing the Web and my husband commented on the amount of romance novels present on the popular book-selling websites. I have never read a novel (of the type we saw splattered everywhere on the screen ) and we spent a good deal of time laughing at the similar covers: some lady in an amazingly revealing dress/shirt/robe/what-have-you with the first button at her navel, apparently fainting away into the arms of a burly rouge/misunderstood hero with breeze-blown hair; the hero on the cover always appears to be crestfallen that his interest has been rendered dysfunctional.
After our amusement had worn off, my husband turned to me and said:
“I bet you could write a good romance novel… you know, without all that fantasy crap in it.”
That night I had an incredible urge to read Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorite books. About halfway through those hallowed pages, I realized what I was reading. Of course it is a romance novel, I knew that. However, Jane Austen showed the world that one can write an excellent romance novel but one with class, taste and intelligence.
I have never read a romantic story better than her works. Once, as a punishment, my teacher brought in a romance novel from the store and read the first chapter aloud. We were studying great literature fo England at the time and it was truly an awful, yet humorous experience. I simply could not believe writing could be so shallow and hold nothing rooted in reality: female pirates running about with complete freedom, demanding modern-type respect and rights from almost animal-like barbarians, woman swordsmen winning sword fights and going to battle, all the while their hair perfect and Chanel-scented. I merely point out how it appeared to me; then again, I was one of those girls whom in high school sat in the library ensconced in C. S. Forrester or E. R. Burroughs while my more ‘modern’ classmates were grouped around the well-worn Sweet ’landmark’ High display.
Inspired by Jane Austen and with the never-fading encouragement of my husband and content editor, I leaped into the fray, writing furiously; however I bore in mind that one golden rule of writing: write what you know.
No pirates, nor swordsmen, nor buxom women cavorted over my pages; just a simple love story with a reality check: a man and woman meeting as if designed to, going through funny life-situations and some mild arguments and getting married. In the sentences I so slaved over were woven my own treasured memories, moments of laughter and the witty banter of long loved conversations. I would read the chapters aloud to my husband and he would comment on what sounded good, or if it seemed too far-fetched. He even introduced a beloved character into my story and wrote along with me most of the time. Not only did the book soar past my expectations of merely producing a more ’shallow’ novel to sell but I had a great time writing it. It was not a solitary nor lonely endeavor in the least.
After getting some independent reviews, we put part of the book online on a fiction ‘forum’ of sorts, just to get some unbiased opinions. I for one did not expect many people to like it. 384 positive, adoring reviews later, I was thinking along different lines. They demanded to read the whole thing and also demanded a sequel. Dazed by the response we sent the book off to the US Copyright office and began to send out queries to various literary agents and publishers, like most authors do; the responses were typically elitist and almost macabre in nature. One lady even went so far as to suggest putting more ’sex’ into it. I responded ‘as if there isn’t a glut of that around’. Really…
Undaunted, we made a website and put the book online with a few others, with the first three chapters free hooking ti up with PayPal (a wonderful invention) and waited to see what happened. Within the first week (on an unknown site), twelve people bought the book and sent back rave reviews. On the fifth days afer launch, Capital One sent the website a credit card; we laughed over it before ripping up the invite. Online books are a great business, being the overhead is so low.
My book and my husband’s book are selling still; though it is a fledgling site, hundreds fo people visit it every day. That’s up from 55 the first day. I did not pay for advertising, and several people whom bought my book the first week recommended it to their friends and family, etc.
So, chin up, all you writers of tasteful, elegant books. There is yet a market for your pieces and an appreciation hidden among the surfers of the net. As one of my readers put it: “So many of the novels I read today (and I read a lot of them) are so focused on including as many explicit sex encounters as possible, that more often than not, the romance gets lost. Usually, at the end of those, I am left yearning for a missing something and feeling like there should be more…”
Incredible. The sentiments of this discerning individual were to be repeated many many time among those whom bought my book. I am completing my sequel and have many more such books in me to write. I shall write them with gladness, knowing there is a tasteful, classy and elegant audience waiting to read them.
Cheers,
Meredith GreeneBelator Books
