Guest Post: Joanne Rocklin Author of The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook

I am excited to be a part of the blog tour for The Five Lives of our Cat Zook by Joanne Rocklin.  She also wrote One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street, which I reviewed last spring.  joanne was kind enough to agree to do a Food From Ficiton guest post for my blog so please welcome Joanne!

How Is a Pizza Like a Story?  Let Me Tell You The Ways...

I love to cook. I love to write stories. I love to eat while I create, but that’s another story! (I gain ten pounds every time I write a novel.) 

 A recipe itself is very much like a story—it has a beginning and a middle and an end, and the ending is sometimes happy, sometimes not so happy. Both cooking and writing create order out of chaos; I think that’s why I love both activities. And while I am tolerating lots of disorder and mess, if I keep in mind some principles, a recipe or two during that messy process, I may get a cake or a pizza pie. Or a story. 

For me, that messiness is vital. A first draft and a kitchen must be messy while creating. You can’t stop to wash the dishes or the floor when the tomato sauce needs to be stirred. You can’t stop to rewrite Chapter One when Chapter Two is aching to be written, because you may need to change things yet again. 

 Every single one of my books has something about food in it. Several have a recipe at the end of the story. STRUDEL STORIES is about a family’s stories told while baking strudel; both the family and the recipe undergo changes over the decades. ONE DAY AND ONE AMAZING MORNING ON ORANGE STREET comes with a recipe for ambrosia. That sweet concoction becomes a metaphor for memory and connection. 

My new novel, THE FIVE LIVES OF OUR CAT ZOOK, isn’t about food. It’s about a family’s beloved, sick cat named Zook, and includes the stories Oona tells her brother, Fred, about Zook’s past lives. But food is very important in the book; Zook himself is named after the fried zucchini everyone loves. Gramma Dee makes taffy that makes teeth stay glued together for “seven scary seconds.” Oona’s mom invites The Villain home for a gourmet meal. Oona is entranced by Oakland’s urban gardens, where herbs and lush vegetables grow profusely. And the whole neighborhood enjoys the pizza at O’Leary’s, the kids’ home away from home, where Oona struggles to make conversation with her Secret Love. 

 In this novel, too, food is a metaphor for memory and connection, as in my other books. But food also means love and comfort (of course!) and diversity and growth—a wonderful stewy sauce of metaphors. At the end of my story Oona becomes a “pizza intern” at O’Leary’s, mixing dough, spreading sauce, and on her way to flipping the dough in the air, like a pro. 

Here’s a delicious recipe for homemade Pizza in a Pan, no air-flipping required. PAN-FRIED PIZZA, based on a recipe from the New York Times, November, 2007. Tried and true. 

2 cups all-purpose or bread flour 

3/4 tsp. instant yeast 

1 tsp. salt 

3 Tb. olive oil, more if necessary 

2 cups warm tomato sauce, can be commercial pizza sauce 

slices of mozzarella-sliced/chopped/julienned (whatever term you prefer!) 

fresh basil, if in season 

other herbs, fresh or dried, to taste. 

 Combine flour, yeast and salt in food processor. Turn on machine and slowly add 1/2 cup warm water and 2 T. oil through feed tube. Process briefly, adding more water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture leaves sides of bowl to form a ball. 

Put dough in a bowl coated with olive oil, turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1-2 hours.

 Divide dough into 4 pieces; roll each piece into a ball. Sprinkle each ball with flour, cover, and let rise until puffy, about 20 minutes, or less. 

Working with a ball at a time (each ball makes one small pizza) roll out to a 10-inch round. (Sprinkle dough with a bit of flour to prevent sticking as you roll.) 

 Heat an oiled 10-inch pan on medium heat. Put a round of dough in the pan to brown evenly. 

 Turn dough with fingers or tongs. 

Put tomato sauce, cheese, salt and pepper, herbs on browned surface. Cover pan and continue cooking until top is hot and cheese is melted OR place under broiler for a short time. 

 Repeat with remaining rounds of dough as needed. (Dough can also be refrigerated for a day or two.) 

Serve warm, or at room temperature. 

These make fine appetizers when cut into small portions. 

Kids love them! And my grandchildren and I have made them together:

Thanks Joanne for the wonderful post and the great looking recipe!

Check out the book trailer for The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook:

Guest Post: Mark Jeffrey Author of Max Quick

Today I am excited to host Mark Jeffrey, author of a new series about a boy named Max Quick. The first book The Pocket and the Pendant was recently published and I will be reviewing it soon. Mark has written an excellent post for me on being a middle grade reader and how it led him into being a writer:

I guess I was weird middle-schooler.

Back then, my favorite book series was called The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. It was all about a guy from our world who gets knocked out and wakes up in this sort of Middle Earth-type place. There's an evil dark lord. There's magic rings and races and swords and sorcery. Only thing is, Covenant doesn't believe it's real. He's got leprosy in the real world; he figures this is a wish fulfillment dream and if he buys into it he'll go mad. So he refuses to be the Frodo. His white gold wedding ring is basically the ultimate weapon here; but Covenant goes all Holden Caulfield and opts out at every turn. It's Lord of the Rings with an antihero.

It was not a kid's book, mind you. Or even young adult. It was very adult. And it bordered on actual literature. In fact, I think you could call it that with a straight face and even study it in college or something.

So why this series? Well, there was no Harry Potter. In fact, there really was no YA at the time (we're talking 1980 or so). There were kid's books -- Tom Swift, Narnia, Madeleine L'Engle, etc. -- and there were grown up books. That middle ground or crossover space did not really exist, except for fantasy books. And fantasy books were considered juvenile, not-serious, probably for kids. Lord of the Rings was regarded this way. What we now know to be a work of genius and the subject of a masterpiece film series was then relegated to a cheesy Rankin-Bass cartoon adaptation.

I really loved Lord of the Rings also, but it was too dense for my middle school mind. It was slow. Covenant, on the other hand, was fast-paced, not as dense. It was modern. This guy wore a T-shirt while everyone else wore robes or chainmail. He was wisecracking and sarcastic. He had a bad attitude: it was kind of funny, especially to the adolescent mind.

I was obsessed with this series. It was my Potter, my Twilight. And the author, Stephen R. Donaldson, absolutely adored fifty-cent words. Apotheosis. Obsequious. Chairoscuro. (What's hilarious is that Google's spellchecker doesn't even know that last one at all: I'm seeing the little red line beneath it, but I'm certain that it's spelled right). Point is: Donaldson expanded my vocabulary. He taught me how to paint with words. Even if I didn't know what they meant, they sounded important, exotic. They added to the tapestry even if I didn't know their definition.

The series started out as a three book trilogy, published in 1977. I voraciously consumed all three and figured that was that. Then, in 1980, I went to summer camp and someone told me that there was a fourth book out. I was like, what what? How could there be a fourth book? This was a mythical wonderful impossible thing that could not be: the story had concluded. It was like hearing a report of an eighth Harry Potter book.

When I got home and immediately checked at the bookstore (remember, no Internet back then, couldn't just check on Amazon, had to venture forth into the physical world), it turned out to be true: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book One was now out. In this series, everything from the first book was turned upside down, was it's opposite. The first series admittedly was sort of a LOTR-alike but updated; this was something entirely and utterly new. Donaldson had gone way beyond, he had transcended the genre. In the first book, the Land (what the place is called) is beautiful beyond words and the dark lord threatens it; in this second series, it's thousands of years later and the dark lord has won. The world is a nightmare; nature is smashed and gone haywire. Covenant is the only one now who recalls the way things were and the people of the Land don't believe him; in fact they try to kill him. (I almost used the dreaded dystopia word but I refrained from such Hunger-laden phrase. Also, please note I did not use the word vampire.)

I was stunned. This book (called The Wounded Land if you're curious) was better than the entire first three put together.

By my next birthday, my sister had decided to play a trick on me. I walked into our living room, and sitting on the table in front of me was a book with a very familiar font and graphical treatment -- but with a title and words I had not seen before. With a start, I realized I was staring at Book Two of the Second Chronicles. A shot of joy ripped through me that nearly shorted out my nervous system.

And this book (The One Tree (yeah sure, a little One Ring-ish sounding, but who cares) was better than the first. Donaldson was way on top of his game. This was his golden period. The first trilogy was just a warm up, it was Donaldson stretching, going for a little jog, poring over a thesaurus looking for more cool words to impress the girls with (which we all know he did. come on dude: fess up.)

I would go so far as to say this trilogy so far was literary genius. There. I said it. I still feel that way. When I look at my own paltry literary scratchings versus Donaldson's, I feel like not-even-Salieri looking at Mozart. But -- I suppose everyone feels that way about someone else. Even Mozart.

And now came the third book. The end of the Second Chronicles. It was entitled 'White Gold Wielder', and we all know who has a white gold wedding ring, the A-bomb of the Land. That's right, our boy Covenant. This was book three, Wherein The Big White Gold Can of Whoop-Ass Is Unleashed. Title fight!

That's when Donaldson pulled the most unexpected, magnificent, transcendent ending to anything ever out and blew my little middle school brain clean out the back of my skull. It was not what anyone expected and yet was more perfect than anyone thought possible.

The trilogy was complete. It was perfect. Donaldson didn't Ewok me in the third act, nor did he pull a LOST. White Gold Wielder was exactly the crescendo it needed to be.

The curtain closed. And amazingness was had, and I rererererereread those books into dust.

And then. (Oh yes, there is more). And then. I grow up. I reach middle age. (That's sort of different from middle school. Note to all in middle school: recommend you stay there as long as they let you :) ) And yet another miracle occurs.

Donaldson announces the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. This is a four-book (four!) series.

I. I. I don't even know what to say. A series I started in middle school as a young reader -- in fact THE series that inspired me most to become an author -- has returned for even more awesome piled on top of awesome.

The first three books have been released. Yes, they're amazing. They're not what I expected, which I now expect. I read these three on my Kindle and then on my Kindle app on my iPad. I don't have physical copies, since I now live here in the future. I use magical reading tablet computer things, which is a far cry from the paperback middle school place where I began. When finished, I post my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I go to kevinswatch.com and read what other Donaldson fans have to say. We debate and argue.

Donaldson is writing the tenth -- and last -- book in the series now. It should be out in two years. When I am forty-five, the greatest literary adventure of my life will at last draw to a close. It is to be called The Last Dark. Kind of a bummer title, Donaldson, have to say.

But Donaldson is never what you expect. So I actually don't know what to expect. And I love it that way.

Oh, and I do hope you'll check out MAX QUICK: THE POCKET AND THE PENDANT! "When time stops all over the world, creating ‘the Pocket’ of time wherein basic physics are strangely altered, only Max Quick and a few other kids seem to unaffected. While the rest of the world remains frozen around them, Max—and Casey, Ian and Sasha—find that it is up to them to discover how this has happened and reverse it. Along the way, they encounter ‘magic’ books, ancient artifacts and other clues to the riddle of stopped time. And Max finds that his own true identity may not be what he once believed. Now he must embrace his past to save the future and prevent the very world from being altered forever…" More info at http://maxquickseries.com

Guest Post: Chris Rylander author of The Fourth Stall

I was delighted to be asked to be part of the blog tour for The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander (you can read my review here). This is Chris' first book and I was interested to know what influences him when he writes. The answer movies!! He is my kind of guy. Here's what he had to say:

I get asked a lot about movies, probably because my debut novel, THE FOURTH STALL, has such obvious ties to the movie The Godfather. Even the cover is a wink to the movie. THE FOURTH STALL has also been compared to Ferris Beuller’s Day Off. And yet another movie which helped inspire THE FOURTH STALL is Brick, a brilliant independent film that came out several years ago. But, anyway, I thought it’d be a good topic to discuss in my guest post because movies have played an even bigger role in my life than just inspiring the plots of a few stories.

Movies are what introduced me to storytelling. I mean, yeah, I read a lot as a kid and I loved books. But my favorite movies as a kid have stuck with me more distinctly than some of my favorite childhood books. And growing up, I always thought I wanted to be a filmmaker, not a writer. I thought writing a book might be cool to do someday, but what I laid awake at night dreaming about was someday making my own independent movie that would take the industry by storm much like Pulp Fiction did in the 90’s. So it was movies that first inspired me to start thinking like a storyteller.

And movies also showed me different ways to go about storytelling. They showed me that you can have your own unique voice as a storyteller. For instance, one of my favorite filmmakers is a guy named Jim Jarmusch. I watched several of his earliest films in one weekend when I was 15 or 16, including Down by Law, Stranger than Paradise, and Dead Man. And they blew me away. Here were movies where the story or plot didn’t matter nearly as much as the storytelling itself. The original voice of the storyteller (in this case, the writer/director) became the story. I relished in every little quirk and detail I saw in his movies. Dialogue and styles and methods that I’d never experienced before.

Jarmusch’s movies showed me that storytelling can be what we make it. He once said this, “I'd rather make a movie about a guy walking his dog than about the emperor of China." And that idea, I think, helped transform my mindset as a storyteller. Because it’s not always about the story being told, but instead HOW the story is being told that makes the difference. And that’s what made writing so much fun for me.

For example, I could write: “The President of the United States, who was also good-looking and rich, got into a huge jet plane and fired missiles at the enemy, causing massive explosions and fire and it was super action-packed.”

Or, I could write: “The night Ben found out that a lack of sleep causes hallucinations, he slept over at his friend Jason’s house with a few other kids. They made a bet over who could stay awake the longest. Well, Jason was still awake at noon the next day and he was so tired that he was wearing his blanket as a cape and was gnawing on Dustin’s ankle. When they tried to get him to stop, he wouldn’t and kept shouting, ‘You’ll never take away my Moon Pie! Never!’”

One is a story about cool, important things happening to cool, important people. The other is about nobodies, doing basically nothing. But if I’m allowed to tell that second story my own way, it becomes something more than the events actually occurring. The second passage was more fun to write because I feel like there are more possibilities for the unexpected.

Movies in general, and specifically Jim Jarmusch, also showed me that it’s okay to take inspiration from other works or a preexisting idea and make it your own. Storytelling allows you to take a preexisting plot and retell it in your own way so that it becomes something completely different, and can even appeal to totally different crowds. There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by other movies or books, and in fact, I think it’s a good thing. Essential almost.

I think my love of movies and books and writing and even video games throughout my life are all related. They are all, at their core, the same. They are all different forms of storytelling. They all appeal to the same part of me, just in slightly different ways.

So... what was my point again? Oh, oh yeah, movies are, like, pretty cool and stuff. Even as an author I get to say that. And without movies, I’m pretty sure I never would have become a writer. I’d love to leave you with another quote from Jim Jarmusch that I think perfectly sums up what being a storyteller is for me:

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.’”

Thanks so much Chris! I loved his book The Fourth Stall. There are several places you can go to win a copy during his book tour. Check out the links on my sidebar or stop by the WaldenPond Press blog!

Guest Post: Lisa Rowe Fraustino Author of The Hole in the Wall

I recently finished the book The Hole in the Wall, which was a very interesting, kind of mind-trippy book written by Lisa Rowe Fraustino. Lisa was nice enough to take time out of her schedule to write this guest post for me! Thanks Lisa!

After reading The Hole in the Wall Jana asked me: “What undiscovered ‘world’ (depths of the ocean, outer space or caves) would you like most to explore and why?”

If I could literally go somewhere no English professor has gone before, it would probably be to the future so I can find out things we don’t have the scientific ability to know yet. But since I can’t go to the Delta Quadrant on the Starship Voyager, I’m content to explore the world I walk every day and imagine discoveries that nobody was even looking for or ever expected to find right here, right now. That’s pretty much what happens to Sebby in The Hole in the Wall.

People often ask writers where we get our ideas, and I get that question a lot about The Hole in the Wall especially, since it has such quirky characters in such an unusual plot. So I thought I’d share with you a few “Invitations to Inspiration” I’ve used and taught others to do when they’re hunting down ideas for stories.

Keep a journal of your dreams.
And keep a dream analysis dictionary next to it. Use it to help you broaden your understanding of symbolism. Weave these images into your writing to add depth to your characters, mystery to your plots, and beauty to your style. Based on one of my dreams, an earlier draft of The Hole in the Wall began with Barbie describing a dream she had about Boots Odum coming into their kitchen through a hole in the wall. Though the scene doesn’t appear in the final book, it led to a lot of imagery that did stay.

Begin each day with a few minutes of fast freewriting.
Don’t try to focus this writing on anything in particular or struggle to express a thought clearly or vividly—just let the words flow for ten or fifteen minutes. This will loosen your creative flow before you settle down to craft. When I’m writing in the voice of a character such as Sebby, I sometimes do this exercise from the narrator’s point of view, not intending to keep the writing for the story, just to get inside the speaker’s head.

Take a walk around your neighborhood with your five senses fine-tuned.
Notice at least five things that you’ve never noticed before. Consider why you never noticed them despite living in the midst of them. Reflect on the significance of unheeded details, and use what you learn to develop a setting, character, or plot situation. My character Sebby notices things other people don’t, and it gets him into a lot of trouble!

In the end, you might say the undiscovered world I most like to explore is the imagination. As a writer, I spend a lot of time there playing “What if?” People like archeologists and scientists are always coming across new and unexpected things as part of their work, but we writers get to explore and discover through our fiction. Whatever you can imagine, you can make happen!


Aspiring writers are invited to visit “Dr. Lisa’s Class” at her web site, where today’s lesson is “Novel Revision” http://lisarowefraustino.com/?page_id=300 .