Authors Electric

Stage Struck I recently went to the theatre for the first time for months. Unfortunately this scheduled outing happened to coincide with yet another development in my medical recovery, which reminded me of my October post about the gas man in that the latest complaint was a bad back, apparently caused by excessive coughing during an asthma attack which itself had been the legacy of a collapsed lung I suffered during heart surgery. I was slightly apprehensive about going to the theatre, but I reasoned that it wasn't going to be as much like hard work as my trip to one of several hospitals in Edinburgh for a chest x-ray the other week. The corridors at the theatre aren't nearly as long as those in most hospitals, and I know my way around this particular theatre so well that I could picture myself getting to my reserved seat, and I knew I could do it. Also there would be ice-cream, which immediately made the excursion worthwhile. Anyway, I was determined to see this particular pla...

The author researching at Riva's Crabhouse on Chicago's Navy Pier  When I get stuck writing, I pace and usually end up in the kitchen. I'm not really hungry. I'm looking for something to satisfy my creative appetite. I poke about cupboards and fridge, playing solitaire amateur Iron Chef  until something mouthwatering comes to mind. I need my improvised dish to be sufficiently challenging and tasty but within my abilities to concoct in an hour or two (I mean, I can't digress all day) -  a steamy aromatic Eggplant Parmigiana or a stir-fried apricot ginger chicken with snow peas will do. I like to vary the menu. I'm no master chef, but I love to cook, mostly, every dish a story that, unlike a novel, you can eat. Dishes go down well in novels too. Anthologist Diana Secker Tesdell highlights the historic theme of feasts and food in her yummy, 2015 compilation of edible literary passages, Stories from the Kitchen .  She includes culinary passages f...