Personally, I don’t think you need to have fancy credentials in order to be a writer. If you write, you are a writer.
But because we’re about to embark on #FoodFictionFriday (starts 1/1/19!), I thought I’d tell you a little more about myself and the experiences I bring to the table.
In chronological order:
Was an English major with a fiction writing concentration at Yale
Studied three years under Amy Bloom
Wrote four children’s books, sold exclusively at FAO Schwarz
Marketed heirloom books as my first job out of college
Worked at three publishing houses, including editorial at Scholastic and Penguin
Published FOOD WHORE with William Morrow/ HarperCollins, called “The Devil Wears Prada for foodies” in the NY Post
Optioned film rights to Dreamworks before the book was released
First food novelist to compete on Food Network Star (where Giada de Laurentiis said I have “an incredible knack for describing food)
Won Food Network Star
My food fiction philosophy is that food embodies the entirety of the human condition. Whoa, right? But think about it -- food is at once primal and extravagant, a symbol of love or hate. It comforts and makes us retch. You can portray life in all its shades and meanings with food.
That’s what we’ll try to unpack with #FoodFictionFriday. Almost there!!