FOODFIC: Book Menu for 2019

Aaand maybe some old ones, too. ;)

No, I didn't fulfill my 2018 Reading Resolution, but that won't stop me from creating a new menu for the new year!

Here's the jist of what I ordered, finished, and left on the table:

The Butterfly Hunter – Chris Ballard 

STATUS: Started, Didn't Finish

Tilt-A-Whirl – Chris Grabenstein

STATUS: Finished! And Reviewed:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2018/08/foodfic-tilt-whirl-chris-grabenstein.html

Gone – Michael Grant

STATUS: Never Started

Switch – Chip and Dan Heath

STATUS: Started, Didn't Finish

Feral Youth – Shaun David Hutchinson

STATUS:Started, Didn't Finish

Life As We Knew It – Susan Pfeffer

STATUS: Never Started

So High a Blood – Morgan Ring

STATUS: Finished!

Discovering Vintage New Orleans – Bonnye Stuart

STATUS: Finished! And Reviewed:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2018/03/foodfic-discovering-vintage-new-orleans.html

We Have Your Daughter – Paula Woodward

STATUS: Finished!

Socialism is Great! – Lijia Zhang

STATUS: Never Started

So I'm going to keep those undigested reads on my list for 2019, as well as add these tasty new morsels:

People Kill People – Ellen Hopkins

Rich People Problems – Kevin Kwan

Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger

The Friendship Test – Elizabeth Noble

Please let me know what's on your 2019 book menu,

and good luck to us all in our reading endeavors!

FOODFIC: Please Welcome Rose Montague, Author of JADE

About 6 years ago I was working at BAM and developed some back problems. It caused me to wake up in the middle of the night and I would make some coffee and sit at the computer for several hours, waiting for the pain to die down so I could go back to bed. It was so quiet! I finally decided to put that quiet time to good use by writing my first book. I had written a few stories when I was a teenager then life got in the way and I just didn't come back to it. I have always loved books and working at both a library and a book store just fed that passion. The first book I wrote was Jade. It was rough and ragged and pretty silly but overall it was a great story with a lot of action and plenty of humor. Jade was a mix of supernatural creatures and because of that there were only a few things her stomach could handle. If you did a word search of Jade you would find coffee mentioned twenty times, espresso eleven, chocolate thirteen times, and wine thirty-nine (Too funny). I have always loved reading books featuring strong female characters and the three main characters in Jade would all eventually have their own book.

As I was writing Jane, I introduced a young teen witch named Jewel and my beta reader Hans Markus told me he would love to see more of her. I decided to do a teen series spin-off at that time and actually wrote and published two books in the Norma Jean's School of Witchery series before I went back and wrote book three in my first series (Jill). I love reading young adult books that feature kick-butt female leads. The only thing that bugs me sometimes is the indecision and lack of confidence they sometimes display. You won't find that with Jewel.

I hope you take a look! There is also a Facebook event running now through December 24:

https://www.facebook.com/events/278153022841901

Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Rose!

You can find Rose here:

FantasyFunReads.blogspot.com
Twitter @RoseMontague
Facebook Fan Page
Books on Amazon



Rose has worked both in a library as well as several bookstores. Rose lives in Elon, NC and is currently working on a Sci-Fi/Urban Fantasy book called Wiznewski James.

My Goal: To have fun writing fun books to read.
My Writing Style: Not much pretty prose or flowery fluffiness, pretty much non-stop action and fun.
My Dream: To be able to write full time.

Reading Order: The chronological order is Jade, Jane, & Jill, followed by the Norma Jean's School of Witchery series, Jewel and Ghost School. Jill bridges the gap between the Three J'Amigos and Norma Jean's School of Witchery. The way I have written these books, however, you can start with Jewel & Ghost School and then read the Three J'amigos series to get the back story on Jewel's adoptive parents, Jade & Jane as well as her Godmother, Jill.

FOODFIC: Please Welcome Gayle Trent, Author of Killer Wedding Cake

Daphne Martin is a cake decorator with an enormous problem in Killer Wedding Cake - her oven is on the fritz. With her mind consumed with finding somewhere else to do the baking for her business, she isn’t very concerned with eating. When her sister Violet agrees to let Daphne commandeer her oven, Daphne orders pizza and breadsticks to feed herself and Violet’s family of four.

Still feeling guilty for taking over Violet’s kitchen, Daphne awakes early the next morning to make breakfast. Eyes lighting up at the sight of pancakes, Daphne’s nephew Lucas hugs her and invites her to move right on in. Besides pancakes, she prepares eggs, toast, and sausage—plenty of comfort food for the baker who’s not only dealing with a broken oven but also with the return of her abusive ex-husband…the week before her wedding! Oh, and did I mention that the night after he visited Daphne, her ex was found murdered?

When Daphne’s family arrives to help, and Daphne realizes the wedding planner she hired is a con man, her meddlesome mother only manages to ratchet up Daphne’s stress level. Desperate to escape her house, Daphne asks her fiancé to take her to the store to buy cocoa. At the grocery store, Daphne and Ben buy the not-really-needed cocoa along with steaks, potatoes, macaroni, rolls, tomatoes, and bagged salad.

As you can imagine, our girl is under a world of stress. She eats a lot of comfort food throughout Killer Wedding Cake. If the holidays have you on edge and you’d like to make and eat a little comfort food of your own, below is a yummy recipe for chocolate pistachio cake you might enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Gayle!

You can find Gayle here:

GayleTrent.com

Twitter @GayleTrent

Facebook Fan Page

Books on Amazon

Chocolate Pistachio Cake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
1 pkg. pistachio pudding mix
½ cup orange juice
½ cup water
4 eggs
½ cup oil
¾ cup chocolate syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine cake mix, pistachio pudding mix, orange juice, water, eggs, and oil in large mixing bowl. Blend to moisten and then beat for two minutes at medium speed with electric mixer.

Pour approximately ¾ batter into well-greased and floured Bundt or tube pan. Add chocolate syrup to remaining batter. Mix well. Pour over batter in pan.

Bake for about one hour.

FOODFIC: Please Welcome Francesca Varela, Author of The Seas of Distant Stars

But What Are They Eating on Deeyae?

My science-fiction novel, The Seas of Distant Stars, tells the story of a human girl—Agapanthus—who’s abducted by aliens and grows up on Deeyae, a red-rocked, watery planet in another solar system.

It may not have the same name in real life, but Deeyae is a real planet. It bears the stoic title of Gliese-667Cc, and it’s known to scientists as an Earth-like exoplanet. That means it’s close to its home star, and could potentially harbor liquid water—and complex life—on its surface.

Gliese-667Cc revolves around a red dwarf star (named Imn in my book), which tinges everything on the planet with a pink-red glow. Red dwarf stars aren’t as warm or as bright as yellow giants like Earth’s sun, so I imagined that life wouldn’t be based around a sun-fed food chain.

Here on Earth, everything starts with plants, but, on Deeyae, the food chain revolves around hydrothermal vents, and the so-called “extremophile” bacteria who thrive in such environments. From there on, each step of the food chain is carnivorous. Aside from seaweed-like water plants, there’s no vegetation on Deeyae. And, because of that, all meat is eaten raw, even by the sophisticated and human-like Deeyans who Agapanthus is raised by. I mean, think about it—no plants, no trees, no wood, no fire.

Blobs of raw meat are the main fare on Deeyae. Much of it comes from the “asasd fish” raised in the fisheries, while some comes from the monstrous “red-breasted spers” and “w’rrs” that are hunted in the inner plains. Deeyae is home to many different species, and the Deeyans are undeniably at the top of the food chain. Agapanthus is lucky that she was brought from Earth as a toddler and doesn’t remember her home planet, because, by Earth standards, Deeyan food is disgusting!

Maybe someday we’ll know if Gliese-667Cc/Deeyae is anything like I’ve imagined. But, for now, it remains science-fiction, and the strange and exciting setting of The Seas of Distant Stars, available now wherever books are sold.

Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Francesca!

You can find Francesca here:

FrancescaVarela.com

Twitter @WriterFGV

Facebook Fan Page

Books on Amazon