One-of-a-kind book?

[Kristian]

Do you have any plans to write similar 'insider' books in the future, or will you return to the more conventional food&wine books? Have your goals as an author changed as the result of this achievement?

[Leslie Brenner]

Thanks for asking, Kristian. I'm in the process of planning my next non-fiction book now, and can't really say much about it yet. I will say that I wouldn't want to write something too similar to what I've already done; I like doing work that's in some way ground-breaking. At some point in the near future I'll probably be working on a cookbook, too--it's been a long time, and I'm very much in the mood to cook again. I don't expect that to be ground-breaking; I'll just be happy if I can write (or more likely, collaborate) on a good one. In the meantime, as I plan the next one, I'm finishing work on my second novel.

[Kristian]

I'm sorry to say that I'm not familiar with your fiction yet, but I'd like to know whether your enthusiasm for food is carried over to your fiction? Are your 'characters' in the food industry, or do you pay special attention to the meals that the 'characters' in your books eat/prepare? Or, do you rather keep these two genres completely separate?

[Leslie Brenner]

My interest in food does spill over into my fiction. In my first novel, one of the characters becomes very interested in food, though he's not a food professional, he's a teenager. Since food is such an important part of life as far as I'm concerned, it's natural that it take its place in the world of my fictional characters. In the novel I'm working on, there is a character who's a chef.