Jake Stevens is one lucky teenager because his mom, Sue Stevens,
runs the famous Twister Diner, the best place for food this side of anywhere
and favoured haunt for storm chasers. So what might Sue be serving her patrons
that has made her so famous?
A day in Twister Dinner might start with an Eye of the Storm
breakfast, a stack of smoked bacon on silky scrambled eggs, with that essential
stack of pancakes, the best maple syrup and fresh strawberries on the side, and
all arrange in an inverted tornado shape. One of Jake’s favourite meals is his
mom’s slow cooked chill with its melt in the mouth meat with just the right hit
of spice tang to tickle your taste buds. Then of course to finish there’s the
baked cheese cake that storm chasers have been known to cross the state to grab
a slice.
Cloud Riders also deals
with parallel worlds. In Breaking Storm,
Jake journeys to Floating City, a place that’s literally constructed from
hundreds of thousands of airships. I had a huge amount of fun creating the
ultimate noodle bar, a place called called Ramas. Think steampunk themed restaurant with food delivered to
the tables via a pneumatic system and you’ll get the general idea. However,
when Jake tries his first ever bowl of Sanfire Noodles, he makes the huge
mistake eating the spiced leaf on top of the noodles and that nearly blows off
the top of his head! This was actually based on a real life incident… When I
visited San Francisco a long time ago, I tried sushi for the very first time.
How was I to know that wasabi shouldn’t be eaten like a green been? The look on
my colleague’s face was priceless as I swallowed it whole and she too late
tried to stop me. As a man who enjoys spicy food I will never forget that
intense wasabi heat travelling all the way down to my stomach and burning all
the way. Think of that when you’re reading that sequence with Jake!
I always notice references to food in novels and I find it easy
to tell if it’s written by someone who actually cooks or not…and just so you
know cooking is a huge passion of mine much to the joy of my wife. In stories
food is another strand of world building that helps bring texture and bring
life to a story. And sometimes food is there for the joy of it. I mean who
wouldn’t want to experience a banquet at Hogwarts under a roof with a moving
celestial sky on it? Yes, J.K. Rowling definitely cooks!
In my latest Fractured
Light trilogy, food once again is there taking a central role at times. Food is life, so why not reflect that in one’s writing? And
coffee, there always has to be great coffee!
So to conclude, I do love great food and it seems, having read
this back to myself, so do my characters!
Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Nick!
You can find Nick here:
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