Mindful Musings Book Blog

Yes, indeed - time to celebrate another yummy year of FoodFic! These delectable authors stopped by over the last 12 months to share some food for thought: Lee Bice-Matheson – Wake Me Up Inside Lee DuCote – MICAH Catherine Greenall – A Quirk of Destiny Tim W. Jackson – Blacktip Island Russell James – Q Island Nancy Lynn Jarvis – A Neighborly Killing Auden Johnson – The Sciell Charles W. Jones – Circus Tarot Jackie Jones – The Wardens Series Merry Jones – Child's Play Sharon Ricklin Jones – Ravenswynd Series Wendy H. Jones – Killer's Cut Stacy Juba – Fooling Around with Cinderella Audrey Kalman – Dance of Souls Tonya Kappes – Spies and Spells C.M. Keller – Screwing Up Time Nancy Klann-Moren – The Clock of Life William Knight – GeNeration Karen Kondazian – The Whip E.A. Lake – Stranded No Where Kathy LaMee – Tansy Taylor, Paranormal P.I. Aubree Lane – Tahoe Blues Daniele Lanzarotta – Shattered Souls Shannon Lawrence – The Blue Mist C.P. Lesley – Kingdom of the Shades L.C. Lewis – 

Don’t get it wrong: Child's Play is not a children’s book. Nor is it a book about games and toys, or the importance of either. No, Child's Play is a dark and shadowy thriller that begins in an elementary school. And however slightly, food plays a part in the story. Since the main character, Elle Harrison, is a second grade teacher, the first and foremost food item on the book’s menu is peanut butter sandwiches. Even though in reality, some classrooms forbid peanut butter due to student allergies, Logan Elementary is a fictional school. Peanut butter is the number one favorite sandwich of the kids who go there. They also like ice cream. Ice cream man Duncan Girard parks his truck at the edge of the school yard. Kids line up there every day, eager for treats.  Beyond ice cream and peanut butter, food plays an important part in depicting the characters in the book. For example, protagonist Elle. She is recently widowed, her house for sale. For her, food is a reminder of meals sh

In Gossamer , Lady Alex attempts a daring rescue of her grandmother and her friend who are being held hostage by rebel soldiers and uncovers a plot of betrayal and deception that reaches to the very pinnacle of power in Eledon.   But what are they eating, you ask?  I’ve never had anyone ask before.   Alex is one of those lucky people who can eat almost anything and doesn’t have to worry about her weight.  She’s as comfortable eating at the table of her cousin, Prince Darin, as she is around a campfire.  The menu for her lunch at the Prince’s table includes roasted squab and potatoes, pea soup, tomato salad, bread and butter as well as a piece of cake.  A girl needs her nourishment before embarking on a difficult mission.   Alex also depends upon her cousin to provide provisions for her mission.  She fills her backpack with a map and essential food items, enough to last for a few days—bread, cheese, dried meats, and fruits both dried and fresh.  She supplements her diet by foraging for

REFRESHMENT IN THE HOUSE OF WISDOM In the House of Wisdom, the scholar and mathematician al-Kindi offers Ella and Shomari refreshment. The year is 841 CE, and the city is Baghdad, center of culture and government for the caliphate. The two time-traveling middle-schoolers are visiting to learn from the master about how to decode a secret message. Food puts them at ease. The teenagers drink cardamom coffee and fruit juice. They nibble on apricots, nuts and dates from Persia as al-Kindi discusses his theories on the origin of the universe, the benefits of trade and the importance of religious tolerance. Finally, he shares his method to decode any substitution cipher. The food and conversation contrast with the menacing behavior of the guards who swarmed Ella and Shomari on their arrival. In book six of Tumblehome Learning’s Galactic Academy of Science series, The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair , four friends work together to outwit the evil Dr. G, who is scheming to undermine the interna

In 1993, I was fined a trivial sum by the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission for allowing a friend of mine to pay for my Osso Buco (and a few martinis as well). I had no idea at the time that would become the focal point of a novel I would write sixteen years later: “What is ‘ osso buco’ ?” “Braised veal shank. It’s a northern Italian staple. Delicious.” While the novel represented a radical fictionalization of events surrounding the federal indictment of that friend (he was just as generous to many others), the novel’s treatment of gastronomie is as true as I can tell it, as are the two following sequels, Full Irish and Half Irish . I cannot say I did this consciously. The vast majority of Diary of a Small Fish I wrote merely as a scribe for a bunch of characters who evanesced in my imagination and dictated to me like I was paid a penny a word. Apparently, they liked food, too. This leads me to suspect that they are all alter egos, at least as it comes to the culinary arts. But