Your books

[swissmiss]

You have written extensively. Is there one book or article that you prefer over others? Do you decide on the topics of your books or do editors ask you to write for them? Are you currently working on a new book?

Thank you for participating in this Q&A!

[Brooke Dojny]

Dear Swissmiss Anne--

Thanks for your interest! If I had to choose favorites (and it's like favoring one child over another - not nice and not fair, but here goes) - I'd have to say it would be my New England Cookbook (Harvard Common, 1999) and this new Clam Shack book (Storey, 2003). After writing the Every-Night Cooking column in Bon Appetit for about 12 years, Melanie Barnard and I have developed something of a specialty in quick main courses (30 minutes or less), and that's a fun challenge, but my heart belongs to New England.

Book topics get chosen all kinds of ways - an author can have an idea, his/her agent can think of something or hear of something that the author might like to do, or publisher can come up with a subject that they think would be marketable. In that case, the'd try to match it with the right writer.

[swissmiss]

Thank you for responding. The second part of my question was more related to your personal experience than the general publishing process. Because the topics of your books are so varied I was wondering if they all came from you or if some came from the publishers.

I enjoy regional cookbooks very much and think that they serve an essential purpose in preserving an area's history, culture, and heritage, so I am glad that your two favorites are the ones that seem to do that.