In Case I Haven’t Mentioned It…

So many people have graciously asked about my book, I’d like to give you an update:

1. It’s for YA. It’s about a girl who really wants to outshine Emeril (and erase Rachel Ray) on the TV cooking show circuit. (Respect to the Big Man from the Big Easy and the perkysmiley little cook, but don’t we all??) This from the flyleaf: Seventeen-year-old Lainey dreams of becoming a world-famous chef one day and maybe even having her own cooking show. (Do you know how many African American female chefs there aren’t? And how many vegetarian chefs have their own shows? The field is wide open for stardom.) But when her best friend – and secret crush – suddenly leaves town, Lainey finds herself alone in the kitchen.

With a little help from Saint Julia (Child, of course), Lainey seeks solace in her cooking as she comes to terms with the past, and begins a new recipe for the future.
Peppered with recipes from Lainey’s notebooks, this delicious debut novel finishes the same way one feels after a good meal – satiated, content, and hopeful.

2. It’s meant to come out in June. From what I’ve heard from others, that date is rather amorphous; often authors find their books in bookstores before the release date, and are shocked. I’m expecting one of you bookseller types to tell me if you see it — since I’m here in the UK, and it won’t be sold here until possibly after the Bologna Book Faire, which is when Secret Agent Man takes advantage of an Italian vacation plus work to sell the foreign rights to his client’s books.

I really apologize for all of you who have looked for the book and felt a bit out of it when you couldn’t find it. Mea culpa!