Goodreads asked Kathleen Flinn:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Kathleen Flinn I started thinking about writing BURNT TOAST MAKES YOU SING GOOD when I was at work on my first book. So much of what defines me as a cook comes from my childhood that I wanted to write about that time, and about my parents' generation. Originally, I thought the book would simply focus on the time we lived on our farm in Michigan and all the food stuff related to that, so the first working title was "The Farm on Coldwater Road." But then it became a bigger story when I pulled in my grandparents and their parents and expanded beyond the farm. I chose the existing title because I mentioned it in a book report about A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN when I was 13 years old. It struck me as a metaphor, sort of along the lines of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. When I had that title, it shaped the arc of the overall book.

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