Shelley Workinger's Blog, page 32

FOODFIC Look at I Am Number Four

When we first meet our hero – Number Four – he’s Daniel James of South Florida. But not for long. You see, Four is literally the fourth of 9 Lorien Garde who are hiding on Earth from Mogadorian hunters until their planet is safe to return to. The methodical elimination demands that once #3 is killed, Four is up next. So within pages of meeting him, our hero Daniel must assume the new identity of John Smith and relocate to Paradise, Ohio, population 5243. The size of the town is important, not because it makes it easier for now-John to blend (it’s actually harder, since new people stick out like Dopey’s ears in small towns)...

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Please Welcome Christoph Fischer, Author of In Search of a Revolution

“Food in a war drama? That won’t be too exciting, will it?” I hear you say. Well, in a way it isn’t at first. Zacharias Nielsen, the hero of In Search of a Revolution gets no real taste of Finnish cuisine when he arrives from Denmark to join the Finnish Civil War in 1918.

He is young and full of enthusiasm and doesn’t mind the Army rations of fish, potatoes and bread, clearly not cooked with much love. For the sake of ideology, he can put culinary pleasures to the back of his mind and happily goes days without much food at all. His idealism easily survives that first crucial test.

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Please Welcome Karl Fields, Author of Steths: Cognition

Steths: Cognition is set in a near-future version of America where a select few truly are judge and jury, hearing cases and deciding on guilt or innocence, as well as punishment.

Devin Chambers is among a rare group of humans with a trait called hypersensitive tympanic syndrome: the ability to hear heartbeats and, more specifically, the emotions within them. All he wants to do is play football, but his abilities as a Steth attract the attention of the Faulkner Academy, a prestigious boarding school. That’s because, in addition to being a school for regular students, Faulkner operates a secret training facility, preparing young Steths for the day they will sit in judgment of others.


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Please Welcome Carmen DeSousa, Author of CREATUS

Without giving away anything about the Creatus Series, as that is part of the pleasure of reading a new book, I’d like to share with you what Creatus aren’t instead of what they are. And why I felt the need to share their story. And, of course, for the first time anywhere else other than the actual books…What they eat!

I enjoy reading almost all genres, but one of my favorites is a little-known genre called ‘magical realism’. I love when an author can take normal characters who live and work among us, but then give me insight on what makes their character special and why they have a story to tell in the first place.


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Please Welcome E.J. Fechenda, Author of The Beautiful People

When I set about creating Natalie Ross, my main character in The New Mafia Trilogy, I didn’t want her to be one of those girls who didn’t eat. She has a healthy relationship with food and part of the allure for Dominic Grabano, her love interest, is that he comes from a big Italian family that owns and operates several bars and restaurants in Philadelphia. In The Beautiful People (Book One of The New Mafia Trilogy) the date where Dominic first introduces Natalie as his girlfriend, takes place at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant. Like the old adage ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’, Dominic plays out a sort of seduction with Natalie using food.

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Please Welcome Fayette Fox, Author of The Deception Artist

I love food, so it’s no surprise my debut novel reads like a well-stocked kitchen. The Deception Artist is told from the perspective of eight-year-old Ivy, who has a vivid imagination and lies so people will like her. Set in Northern California during the late 80’s, this sharp, funny story explores the dark heart of an ordinary family and finds out that make-believe isn’t just for kids.

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FOODFIC Look at Lailah

When this story begins, Lailah is not in fact “Lailah” at all. She’s Francesca (Cessie), a vampire slayer, frozen forever at age 17. Fortunately she has the bone structure (and fake I.D.) to pass for 21, allowing her to take jobs at the sort of shady establishments where she is most likely to cross paths with the monsters she hunts. Less fortunate is that, as often as not, these encounters lead to her death. Yes, encounters, plural. And deaths, also plural. Yet Cessie is unfailingly reborn at 17.

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Please Welcome John Dolan, Author of A Poison Tree

OK, this is going to be tricky. Unlike my wife Fiona – who is a complete foodie – I tend to view food the same way a car looks at petrol: fuel to get me through the day. Fiona tells me I’m an utter Philistine on matters nutritional, and I’m sure she’s right (she usually is). If I could simply pop a pill three times a day, I would. Chewing can be exhausting. I often forget to eat meals when I’m busy, and on such occasions it takes a hunger headache or rumbling tummy to drive me to the fridge.
Enough about me.

My protagonist in the Time, Blood and Karma series, PI David Braddock, is also somewhat careless of eating – since to eat, he would have to take the cigarette out of his mouth, and put aside the whisky bottle...

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FOODFIC Look at Become Your Own Matchmaker

I know, I know. This might seem like an unlikely pick for this blog. It’s not YA, it’s not fiction, HOWEVER I love Patti Stanger and The Millionaire Matchmaker, so I was going to read her book regardless. Might as well hope to stumble across a good food (fact?) tie-in, right?

As expected, Patti has great advice on everything from timing to hair. And while she doesn’t share any rules for eating on dates or a way to psycho-analyze a guy based on what he eats, Patti does suggest taking “resevations” for men who ask you out during the Dating Detox phases she prescribes. Such Patti-isms as The best restaurants are booked weeks in advance, why not you? are her bread and butter, if you will. ;)

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Please Welcome Dorothy Dreyer, Author of My Sister's Reaper

In My Sister’s Reaper, Zadie’s first mistake is telling the boy she likes she can bring her dead sister back to life. Her second mistake is actually doing it.

When Zadie accidentally messes with the Reaper’s Rite that should have claimed her sister Mara, things go horribly wrong. Mara isn’t the same anymore. Zadie isn’t even sure she’s completely human. To top it off, a Reaper is determined to collect Mara’s soul. Now Zadie must figure out how to defeat her sister’s Reaper or let Mara die…this time for good.

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