Food and Drink in Writing

Thanks for your understanding while I was away! Now, back from my blogging break I'll say...

photo from 123rf.com

I recently read a novel (THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER by Ann Packer) in which the protagonist liked to drink iced cranberry juice. This has me thinking that it's interesting, the food and beverages we read and write about.

Does Ann Packer herself drink that particular thing? Or was it something that came to her during a moment of inspiration? Did she see a woman with it at the next table in her favorite restaurant?

I'm one who, in my writing, tends to stick with the familiar. My protagonist's BFF drinks Dr Pepper (my own favorite), and her dad eats rocky road ice cream, a common flavor in our house when I was growing up. My characters always tend to eat the things I most like, like beans and cornbread, or veggie pizza.

photo from thepioneerwoman.com
Ree Drummond

I'm considering now, what has stopped me from throwing a quiche lorraine into the mix, or putting a Long Island iced tea in a character's hand? Maybe I will now that I'm conscious of never having done so before.

WRITERS: Do you have your characters eating and drinking the same things you do? Or do you get creative, offering them something you've never tried, something offbeat, or that is displeasing to you? How do you choose? Do their food and drink choices seem inherent to their persona, a given?

READERS: How do you feel when something you love (brownies, Diet Pepsi, Big League Bubble Gum) shows up in something you're reading? Does reading about hunks of hearty meatloaf, or an ice cold beer, make your mouth water?

...still on blog hiatus...

I'm on Twitter now.

@jannaqualman

Come find me!

...still on blog hiatus...

See You In a While

Every so often I get this feeling I should back away. Alleviate the pressure having a blog creates. Give a little space, with which often comes a greater perspective of vision, and where things need to go in the future.

A break is good, everyone should take one occasionally.

It just occured to me that now is a good time for me. What with the end of school near for my kiddles, that other job, and the completion of the current draft of my work-in-progress (a novel) within sight, now's as perfect a time as any.

I'll be back. Promise you won't go anywhere in the meantime?

Happy May, friends!

Plaid Pants

Want to read about the day my childhood went down in infamy?

Come check out my new humor essay, over at An Army of Ermas.

What is Women's Fiction?

photo from salon.com

I once posted this: Women's fiction is that which is written with female readers in mind. It's about the protagonist's journey through a story, about her growth, and her [experience].
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This is what I tell people, too, when they ask what I write, but I've been finding that, for some, this explanation of the wide-spanning category isn't enough. They want it broken down further.
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Wikipedia defines women's fiction as an umbrella term for a wide-ranging collection of literary sub-genres that are marketed to female readers, including many mainstream novels, romantic fiction, "chick lit," and other sub genres.
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Better. Clearer. I'll have to remember this.
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Whether you write it or read it, how would you describe to others what, exactly, women's fiction is? What types of books does the term include for you?