food | Random Acts of Writing

Welcome to this weeks guest installment of Letters of Questioning:

Dear castaway Ravyn,

Well, the prospectus defense is behind me, on to writing “the real deal,” the actual dissertation. “Defense” is really a poor word for the process. My advisers – like any good advisers, I imagine – were less like barbarians at the gates and more like security experts in their own right. I think “inspection” would be a good term. Is this dam going to hold water when the creative juices are turned on?

What is with all the water metaphors, in writing? Is it maybe that whole “water is life” slogan? I love the nautical themes you’ve come up with lately.

Like when you say, “nail down” a mission statement, I think of that scene in Moby Dick where Captain Ahab nails a Spanish doubloon to the ship’s mast, a reward for whoever first spots the elusive white whale…. A mission statement is a valuable thing. A piece of gold to keep the attention focused on the task at hand! Of course, it’s Ahab who spots the whale … and we all know what happens to that poor Luciferian bastard of a hero. Belay that allusion, boatswain~

Your ideas for the cookbook lately have been delightful! I love the idea of gluten-free as post-apocalyptic. And an epic quest to recover lost recipes. There have been many years now of apocalyptic stories, but they rarely, rarely discuss food. Never positively. Never a focal point in the plot. And the connection between food and language! The opportunity for fresh and interesting ideas abound. The connection between the past and the future. A future more alien than many of us (dirty gluten eaters) can imagine. A way for us to wrap our brains around it. So often the gluten-free get dismissed out of hand, but for folks really suffering from an affliction, it is (looks like, at least, from my observations) hellish.

I’m dwelling on the infernal today, it seems…. Must not have enough hell in my life, now that the defense is over.

How progresses the cookbook? The preparations for Camp Nano? I finally was assigned to the cabin, and I’m looking forward to starting writing – officially, I mean. I started drafting the dissertation some time ago. Speaking of the devil, I ought to go freshen up that draft with some of my most recent research, and the opinions my “consultants” gave me.

From Davy Jones’ Locker,

~dreamland’s insurgents~

We love to hear from you, please leave any thoughts and comments below!

So, I thought, since there was interest, I would share with you the summary for Confictionary Tales. I am very excited with the shape this project is taking. Now I just have to figure out how to make it work. I am finally starting to see it take shape in my minds eye, though, and that is very exciting! So, here is the summary in all it’s raw glory. I hope you enjoy!

Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash

Confictionary Tales Summary

In a time that has changed the very words they use, not to mention the changes that have come to those who have survived, food is not as it once was, and flavors have melded together, not to mention food is not called by the same names anymore.

This means that our hopeful untried chef must brave failures on their own, without grandmother’s pages to guide. What few pages are left, are using antiquated names that are hard to understand and figure out, the language lost.

Knowing that if they are ever to create a name for themselves they must first figure out the lost recipes from grandmothers book, they set out to explore and create. One page, one recipe at a time, they hone their skills.

With both failures and great successes, they find their way to crafting the family heritage. Food that both sustains and heals. Food that expresses the joys of family and the test of time.

There are many ideas on this taking shape, but I am still working through the details! What do you think? Does this sound like a cookbook and tale you would enjoy? What do you think would make it better? How do you see it working best? Please share in the comments below!