I'll never forget the first foodie romance novel I read. It was Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. The heroine was a little overweight, and had to be very careful about what she ate, but she was in *love* with this little Italian restaurant somewhere in Ohio (because I think that's where all Jennifer Crusie novels are set). She was also in love with Chicken Marsala.

And part of what made her fall in love with her hero was his making Chicken Marsala for her. Min had been making it with margarine and spray oil and Cal was dumbfounded that she expected it to taste good without real butter and olive oil. It was a beautiful scene, him in her kitchen, playing with her food, feeding her, watching her eat, reveling in her love of food.

I read that book twice, straight through. I even listened to it once--amazing. The concept of a woman's love for food being attractive to a man was new to me. I'd always been raised to think that men liked women who ate salad. (Please, don't ask about that...) And from the moment I read Bet Me, I decided that I was always going to write women like me, and the men who love them. Women who love food. Women whose love for food is integral to their love story. Women who may (or may not) look like they love food--because, of course, the unfortunate part of our human experience is that not all of us women who love food look the same. It's not necessary for me to have overweight women, although I am, myself, overweight. But it is necessary to have women who love food, falling in love with men who also love food and/or just love them for who they are.

I call these (and I think they should be called) foodie romances. And I love to read and write them. I think there are more of them than are intentional. I don't think, for instance, that Jennifer Crusie intended to write a foodie romance. I think she just wrote a romance novel, and her character's (or her) love of food was just natural to the story. It was beautiful.

Partly because of my love of teaching, and partly because of my love of foodie romances, I'm teaching a workshop next month on Food Writing and Romance at Dunes & Dreams RWA. It's called "Romancing the Palate", and you can register here. If you love food and writing, I think this will be a very fun workshop for you. We're going to cover food professions and home cooking. We'll do exercises about food, senses, sensuality, and cooking. I really hope you'll join me.

What about you? Do you love food? Do you incorporate food into your writing? Do you love to cook? Do you love to eat? :-) Tell me about how you incorporate the things you love into your writing.

~ Rebecca Lynn