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I thought it would be interesting to know why each author wrote her story for the anthology, Food and Romance Go Together.
Yesterday Ryan Jo Summers shared the story behind “Coffeecake Chaos.”
Today Jody Vitek shares the story of “Peanut Butter Kisses.”
Why Peanut Butter Kisses was Written
When my publisher opened up submissions for a short story in the Food and Romance Go Together, Vol 1 anthology, I jumped at the chance. I had a file filled with story ideas and knew the one I wanted to write would make a great short story, but you had to have a recipe to go along with and play a role in the story. Figuring out which recipe I was going to use and how to incorporate the food into the story was harder than writing the story.
I had a high school reunion story line with the recipe for my peanut butter cookies, but I had to put the two together. Thinking I had to have my heroine Beth be the one to make the cookies, it was while writing the story that I quickly discovered my hero Hank who would be the baker.
Join Beth at her ten-year reunion, as she hopes to see her long-time secret crush Hank, what happens at the reunion, and what transpires afterward. I hope you enjoy Peanut Butter Kisses and try the cookies, as they are a family favorite.
Ryan Jo Summers
Melange Books had calls for two different submissions; one was to love a Scotsman and one was for a food-themed story.I really preferred to do the love a Scotsman story, and even dreamed up a hunky Scot complete with kilt and attitude. Over the following days, I could not come up withe anything else to add and finally had to admit there just wasn’t a story. Sometimes you can’t force these things. What a shame, because my Scotsman was a dream-boat. (Sigh)
Meanwhile, over in the kitchen, the food-themed story was taking off. I was popping out characters, plot-lines, and even dialogue like kernels of corn in a microwave. I let the whole thing cook a bit, took it out of the mental oven of my mind and poured some buttery fine-tuning revisions over it and had a story. Sort of like pulling a frozen dinner from the oven.
It was based on the coffee cakes I used to bake for hubby in the mornings for him to take to work and share with his co-workers. The idea of a caterer came because I pet-sit/ dog walk as a side job and one of my clients was a pair of caterers. The two meshed and became “Coffeecake Chaos. There you have the story behind the story.
Making a list of favorite books is daunting. I love to read, and I read everything from romance to suspense, mainstream literary, and YA.
I want to read a good story and fall in love with the voice
and the characters. And I never want to turn to the last page.
Here are five of my recent reads that fit the above:
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
On Hitler’s Mountain – Irmgard A. Hunt
Beautiful Ruins – Jess Walter
Leaving Time – Jodi Picoult
Paris Wife – Paula McClain
Here are my five all-time favorites.
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee (because I love the voice of Scout.)
Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare (because I taught it for years.)
Night Shift – Stephen King (because it is a collection of short stories and not all of them are scary.)
Plain Truth – Jodi Picoult (because it was the first one I ever read by her.)
Motherless Daughters – Hope Edelman (because it changed my life.)