food and fiction

I love it when food shows up in a story, especially when it's described so I can almost taste it.  I enjoyed the meals in "Unearthing Cole," by A. M. Arthur, which I just finished reading.  I'm now hungry for shrimp, corn bread, and potato salad, among other things!

Writing sometimes dulls my appetite a little, actually.  I concentrate so hard on the story I forget to eat.  It might be a good weight loss strategy if I didn't make up for it when I'm editing!

Anyway, I was thinking recently about the influence of food in my stories.

I've noticed cocoa shows up in my contemporary stories with a greater than average frequency.  I always feel happy when I drink cocoa.  I want my characters to feel warm, fuzzy, and happy, especially when they're about ready to make love.  Sometimes that translates into giving them cocoa.  I suspect my subconscious is at work doing this, because I never sit down and think, 'Hm, how can I work some cocoa into this story?'

Actually, I'd like to be that deliberate about it.  I'd like to write a story that revolves around the sweet, chocolatey drink.  But I don't have a storyline yet.  I've played with a few, but nothing's clicked.

Strawberries, and especially strawberry jam, feature prominently in my most recent release, Strawberry Rivals.  And wouldn't you know it, I got extremely hungry for strawberry jam for the first time in years.

Before I started writing this story, I shuddered inwardly whenever I thought about strawberry jam.  Ugh, slimy!  And with those bits of red globbed in it, those squishy bits.

Now I get so hungry for the stuff I can't stand it.  And it tastes gorgeous to me--absolutely fabulous!  In fact, I'm going to go have some right now....

Perhaps I should write a story containing the healthy foods I don't much like.  Maybe I'd get over my aversions and start wanting to eat them.  Collard greens and kale, anyone?