Recipes and Reviews
I’m more savory than sweet, but a treat from my childhood was the million dollar pie that graced our table during the holidays. My mama let one of my characters from ‘Til I Want No More tinker with it a few years ago, and she was generous enough to pass along her updated recipe to you. My peeps also have their own favorites. This year, Brown Sugar deemed my shrimp and grits “birthday worthy,” and we’ll kick off her special day with a steaming bowl of it. Talk about high praise!
Hubby and I have a good idea about what tickles our peeps’ tummies—chocolate bread pudding, red beans and rice, stuffed peppers, as well as almost anything that starts with ch- and ends with -icken. Such dishes are definite crowd pleasers. Not so with my lasagna. Or anything that rhymes with casserole. Same with my biscuits and sausage gravy. These meals tend to garner mixed reviews, from “More please” to “I’ll pass.”
Hubby and I are fairly confident we know our way around the kitchen. Our mamas’ recipes and their kitchen tips raised us right. Still, I’m sensitive when it comes to my cooking. I love people through my food, so I take rejection hard. Hubby and I do what we do best and what’s best for them, regardless of how our peeps feel about the menu. But there’s nothing like the sound of forks clattering against an empty plate, save for a dribble of sauce or a smattering of potatoes.
It’s the same with my work. My recipe for Southern fiction always includes faith, family, and food. I’ve studied my craft. And I believe the Lord has graced me with a gift for storytelling. But as I mentioned, I’m sensitive, and I have to work at not losing focus on my “why.” I truly want to satisfy my readers with what I cook up in my stories, and my own inner commentary often distracts me, let alone critiques like these:
Just think, these wildly different views are about the same book, A Long Time Comin’, a Christy Award winner! And here I thought it was hard satisfying all my peeps’ palates–including Oscar, the pickiest Pearson ever.
“Don’t read your reviews.” “Post your reviews.” “Write with your ideal reader in mind.” “Write what’s in your heart.” All good advice. Five novels in, and I’m still learning to navigate pouring my own heart onto the page while keeping my readers in mind. Finding balance. Accepting I can’t please everyone but I can love on each person who opens one of my books.
Still, when you share what you love (and even what you don’t love), it means one very important thing: you’re consuming my stories, like Brown Sugar’s birthday breakfast. Your “Mmm-mmm-mmms” and “Not this again!” mean you’ve gathered ’round my table. So, keep the reviews coming! Your thoughts help season my writing, and they help authors like me spread the word so we can feed more people who are hungry for fiction that points them to Jesus.
And I’ll trust that God will use your every word–the sweet, the savory, and even the salty–for my good.
Tell me in the comments about a favorite story that includes food or family. Be sure to share the title and the author. Have you blessed the writer by posting a review?
in Him,
Robin W. Pearson
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I am sitting at your book table every time and just remember those who don’t like it can head on down the road to another table. Love your stories.
You’re sweet to say so. Thank you so much! I’ll be sure to bring snacks. 😊
I’m currently reading The Stories We Carry and those pastries in By the Book make my mouth water every time I read about them!
Glory’s home is my favorite bookstore ever. It’s too bad she doesn’t savor Ophelia’s company as much as does her goodies. 😉 It means a lot you’re reading this story. Thank you!
I have reviewed every book I have finished on Amazon in the last 3.5 year.
I love that! I have some catching up to do myself. On behalf of all the authors you’ve supported by reading and reviewing, thank you. 🧡
What a great post, Robin. The book that comes to mind for me is an older one but definitely has family and food. It’s The Help by Kathryn Stockett. And yep, I left a review. That book helped me through a very difficult time. I would listen to the audiobook after Mom finally fell asleep at night while in the hospital a couple of months before she died. Those middle-of-the-night hours can be long and lonely ones, and that book—the story, the characters—became a lifeline. On occasion, I’ll open the audiobook and just “dial” to a spot without looking and listen to a few minutes again. So good… : ) And for the record, I’d love to sit at your table.
Oh, Tamera, what a precious memory! Stories have kept me company during important moments as well. And I loved The Help—you make me want to reread it. My girls and I can quote several scenes of the movie by heart (I can’t tell you how often we remind ourselves how kind, smart, and important we are :). I’m going to set a placemat for you and use our special dishes. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful post — and fun because you chose a line from my review of A Long Time Comin’. How I savored that book as I read it. And oh so true about reviews. Back in the day when I still received letters instead of emails, a reader wrote to tell me that she’d thrown my book in the trash and the reason why. Ouch! But then God began to show me the pain the reader was carrying because of a certain situation. And so I added a prayer basket to my office so that I would pray for hurting readers on a regular basis. Lots of letters went into that basket over the years. Thankfully, not a lot of my books went into the trash.
Not only are you a spider killer, but you’re also a prayer warrior. Brave and faithful. Readers and writers like me are blessed to have you on their side, Robin. And many thanks for that wonderful review (I had to refrain from putting it in bold, haha)!