Barb Caffrey's Blog

Folks, a while back, Aaron Lazar over at the excellent writer’s website Murder By 4 invited me to the Wined, Dined and Read Blog Hop. This particular hop discusses food in the context of our favorite characters…and is possibly the most unusual blog hop I’ve ever taken part in, to boot.

Are you ready to read more about my tastes in wine and food, much less my main characters from AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, Bruno and Sarah, and their taste in food? (As they’re too young to drink much wine as of yet?) If so, read on…

If your main character were a glass of wine, which one would he be?

Bruno would definitely be a merlot, as like a merlot, Bruno is much more complex than he seems at first.

Describe your book in one meal:

What Aaron Lazar did here was to mention a meal his characters in BETRAYAL actually had instead. As that seemed to work well for him, I’ll do the same thing and discuss a meal Bruno and Sarah have in AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE (extra word added by me for the sake of clarity):

After a quick survey of the (refrigerator’s) contents, they realized ham, cheese, grapes, apples, and juice were readily available.

“Sarah, we can’t carry all of this at once. We’ll spill it and make a big mess.”

“We’ll be fine, Bruno,” she said reassuringly. “Let’s take it one step at a time.”

Bruno took one step and asked, “Like this?”

She laughed so hard her shoulders shook. After she’d recovered a bit of sobriety, she said, “I suppose if we each took one step, it would take forever.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But at least I made you laugh. I missed you, Sarah.”

“I missed you, too,” she said quietly. “But for now, let’s eat. Then we can catch up.”

“All right,” he agreed, wondering why girls always stated the obvious.

“I have an idea, though,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Why not take a little at a time into my bedroom, as we took the bowls and the crackers before?”

“Ah! That makes a great deal of sense,” Bruno agreed.

“I thought you’d see it my way,” she said dryly. Then, smiling, she picked up two apples plus the grapes and went into her room. Bruno picked up the ham and cheese and followed her.

“See? We’re halfway done,” she said brightly.

“Won’t we need glasses, too?” he asked as he followed her back out into the kitchen.

“You worry too much.” She took the step-stool, went to the appropriate cabinet, ascended to the right level, got the glasses and handed them down to Bruno. “See? No problem.”

Bruno took the glasses into Sarah’s bedroom, holding the door open for Sarah as she carried in the orange juice. “Is that heavy?” he asked.

“No, it’s not too bad,” she said. “Besides, it won’t be as heavy to carry back because we’ll drink a lot of it!”

“Well, that’s one way to look at it.”

“That’s what I thought,” she nodded, satisfied.

Other than Sarah having to run into the kitchen to get a knife to cut the ham and cheese, the breakfast wasn’t too bad.

Or in other words, Bruno and Sarah will eat whatever is readily available, as they’re in a crisis situation. (Clear as mud, no?)

What candy would your book be?

Deep, rich, dark chocolate, preferably with hazelnuts in it. Bruno is partial to it, and he believes the chocolate in the Human Realm (our Earth) is far superior to the chocolate made in the Elfy Realm.

What does your book smell like?

Like springtime, where the birds are chirping, the small animals are coming out of hibernation, and everything seems fresh and new. (But no flowers, please. Bruno is allergic.)

Your book’s snack would be:

Chocolate chip cookies. (Again, Bruno’s partial to them.)

Describe your most memorable meal:

On Christmas Day in 2002, my husband Michael cooked chicken kebabs along with roasted potatoes and — because he knew I liked them — some zucchini and some rutabagas. (The last is my family’s favorite holiday food. Michael didn’t like either one, but he made them just for me.) The kebabs were particularly flavorful, while the potatoes, squash and rutabagas were just the right accompaniment. This, by far, was the best meal I’ve ever eaten.

One food word to describe your writing style:

Appetizing?

What will someone find you eating/drinking when you’re really into a good book?

A diet soda over ice, some tortilla chips and salsa (which probably negates any good I’ve done with the calorie-saving diet soda), and possibly some dark chocolate for dessert.

Sweet or salty?

It depends on my mood. Usually I’d reach for something salty over something sweet…but I might just reach for a sweet something-or-other just to be contrary, too. (I’m like Sarah, that way.)

That concludes my part of the Wined, Dined and Read blog-hop…maybe a few other authors will want to chime in? I’m tagging Jason Cordova, Chris Nuttall, and N.N. Light as authors who might be intrigued enough to give this one a go down the line…but whether they do or not, go check out their sites and do read their books!