The Ups of Authoring

Well, it's that time. BLUE MOON VEGETARIAN has been out long enough that the one and two star reviews have started showing up. The argument? Marketing folks decided to subtitle it with the words "plant-based" when the recipes in the book are actually vegetarian, and in the world of vegan/vegetarian, apparently if you say plant-based, there'd better not be a carton of milk, an egg, or a block of cheese in the picture.

In our defense, BLUE MOON VEGETARIAN was about our learning tree. It was about getting from point A to point B. From omnivore to vegan. The invention of recipes was part of the journey, and I still advocate that successful diet change is more likely if you go vegetarian first, then vegan.

What's a writer to do?

I prefer to focus on the folks who did understand that the book was a story about two people trying to figure out how to get along. It's a love story that just happens to include a few recipes that I consider to be odd poems themselves. It's about taking big leaps. It's about surviving. It's about not letting the small stuff get you down.

Fortunately for me, my next book, a real cookbook called BLUE MOON VEGAN is truly all plant-based. Any time a book is released, I always wonder what folks will find to niggle about. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.