Mindful Musings Book Blog

Kate Christenson has lost her appetite. After traveling back in time and taking the place of her aunt Sarah, there isn't much of her new life that is even remotely appealing. Landing in the midst of her father's childhood days, a time when her aunt was still alive, Kate finds herself flat broke and living the life of a farm girl in rural Minnesota. When there are times to eat, Kate has to fend off one of her 10 brothers and sisters for just enough to get by. Kate discovers quickly, her newfound meals aren't McDonald's burgers, or even a Pizza Hut pizza. Landing on her plate could by anything from freshly shot venison to a 4-H raised rabbit, a chicken newly beheaded out of the hen house or an annoying red squirrel who spent one too many nights in the attic.And seriously, how can anyone be expected to drink milk that came from a rusty bucket and sat beneath the steaming mass of a smelly cow? The only drinks Kate wants come from the cold refrigerated world of her favorite

Half a dozen pomegranate seeds are the reason it’s in the 50s today here in Florida. At least, that’s what the mythology would have you believe. According to the Greek Myths, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld, and was therefore doomed to spend eternity there. However, the Gods compromised for the sake of the human race, and instead of eternity, Persephone has to spend six months as Queen of the Dead before returning to the surface and bringing Spring with her. (Yeah, I know there’s more to it than that. This is the simple, let’s start an essay explanation, not an in-depth anthropological examination of the roots of the Kore figure in various cultures.) The whole “don’t eat that!” warning shows up in different forms throughout time. There are dietary rules and strictures in most religions, and almost all of them have some cultural or historical reason behind them. Those beliefs are reflected in our stories – don’t eat the food of the dead, or you’ll be trapped

In a recent interview, someone asked me why I hadn’t set my latest trilogy in my hometown of Los Alamos, New Mexico. After all, it’s an interesting enough place. Why had I chosen the neighboring town of Taos? My answer was and is that I wanted to write about the three cultures of New Mexico, and while they are present in my hometown, they’re more pronounced in other towns in the region. New Mexico was settled in three waves and these three cultures remain to this day. The first arrivals were, of course, the Native Americans, and the modern Natives of the region are Puebloans. Many of the dishes adopted by Spaniards are variations of Native Puebloan cuisine. The second wave were the Spaniards, and the third wave was us Anglos. (The term refers to our most common home language, not our race. I’m a mix of Chinese and Italian heritage myself, and yet indubitably Anglo). My main character, Liana Linacre, is a wealthy girl from Southampton, New York, who is ripped from her comfortable life w