After I read Georgia’s Kitchen by Jenny Nelson, I wanted to go to culinary school, live in Italy, and meet a sexy Italian man (sorry, dear husband, just a fantasy). To say her novel was impactful is an understatement. From the first moment I met Georgia Gray, a soon-to-be married head chef, I loved her, forgot about my own surroundings (I even muted Bethenny Getting Married!), and dove into hers. Georgia had it all, until, almost overnight, she didn’t. She finds herself unemployed and unengaged and takes her bruised ego off to Tuscany (have to love any book that chooses Italy as a backdrop!). Georgia’s Kitchen is a must-read for any woman who’s ever nursed a broken heart, been kicked when she was down, and needed to look inwards to find the strength to persevere (um, that’s all of us!).
Not only is Jenny Nelson a brilliant writer (this is her debut novel—bravo!) but she also has an interesting background, which she says in our Q&A below, has helped her in her new career. I’m thrilled Jenny stopped by today to answer some of my, er, hard-hitting questions—like to Nook or not to Nook.
But first, Jenny is running an exciting contest! Order Georgia’s Kitchen by Friday and then email Jenny your receipt (jennynelsonauthor@gmail.com), and you’ll be entered to win a fantastic a basket full of amazing books, magazines and foodie goodies:
- Everyday Italian by Giada DeLaurentiis
- After You by Julie Buxbaum
- Super in the City by Daphne Uviller
- She’s Gone Country and Flirting with Forty by Jane Porter
- Girls in Trucks and Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch
- I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- A one-year subscription to the food magazine of your choice (Food and Wine, Bon Apetit, Fine Cooking or Everyday with Rachael Ray)
- A $50 gift certificate to Crate & Barrel
And now, here’s my Q&A with Jenny Nelson!
Lisa Steinke: I'm fascinated by your background! You were part of the founding team at iVillage and a senior producer at Vogue.com, among other high-profile jobs. Why the leap from those jobs to writer? What did you learn from those experiences that help you in your writing?
Jenny Nelson: Ever since I took a creative writing course taught by Michael Cunningham way back when I was in high school, I’ve dreamed of “someday” writing a novel. I guess you could say it was on my very short bucket list, right after falling in love and having a family and right before moving to California (check, check, and no check). After my twin daughters were born, I decided to stay home with them, and a couple years later “someday” arrived when I enrolled in a writing class and began working on a novel about a chef. I’d written plenty of short stories (most of them not even remotely good), but something about Georgia really clicked with me, and I knew I wouldn’t stop until I’d finished telling her story.
Creating content for iVillage.com, Vogue.com, and Style.com, among others, taught me how to grab a reader’s attention, how to work quickly (though some days you’d never know it!), how to turn off my inner perfectionist, how to recognize when something’s not working and move on and how to type really, really fast—all of this helps with my writing.
LS: How did you research Georgia's character, a top New York chef? Are you skilled in the kitchen?
JN: I have lots of friends in the restaurant industry and I asked tons of questions, read everything I could about chefs and by chefs, researched restaurants and food trends, visited the Culinary Institute of America, watched cooking shows, and ate in as many restaurants as my wallet and my waistline could afford. It was a blast.
I wouldn’t say I’m skilled in the kitchen (my knife skills, for example, are abysmal), but I’ve learned how to make a few dishes that are pretty tasty, mostly because I love reading about food and recipes and remember flavor combinations that work well together. But for me it’s all studied, I don’t have the instinctual ability, the intuition that Georgia and all the great chefs do.
LS: If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
JN: An arugula, parmesan, pine nuts, and pear salad; porcini risotto; branzino al sale (which is basically salt-baked sea bass); and panna cotta with fresh blackberries and blueberries. Just writing this is making me salivate!
By the way, this is way fancier that what I usually eat, which could be soba noodles and veggies, quinoa with anything (seriously, if I could only eat one food for the rest of my life it’d either be quinoa or red pepper), curry chicken, roasted salmon, all kinds of pasta. And though this is definitely an Italian meal, I love all types of food, except for the fussiest of French cooking.
LS: Describe your book in three words.
A fun culinary romp. I know that’s four, but I’m hoping you’ll cut me some slack on the “A.”
JN: What's one word to describe how someone will feel when they finish reading your book?
Sated!
LS: You write about Italy and New York in your novel. What's your favorite place in the world to visit?
JN: Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia is the most magnificent place I’ve ever been, even with the crowds. If you go further afield and move beyond the most popular temples you can wander the ruins basically by yourself.
LS: How long did it take you to write this book and where did you write it?
JN: Two years, plus more for revisions after I signed with my agent. I wrote in my apartment in New York, at Starbucks everywhere, at the New York Public Library, at home in Millbrook, and at the Millbrook Free Library. I’ve since created an office for myself, which makes me feel very efficient and professional, but I do still like to slip out to a coffee shop once in a while.
LS: To Nook or not to Nook?
JN: No Nook for me yet, but I’m getting more and more curious!
LS: Fill in the blank: When I'm not writing, I'm:
JS: hanging with my six-year-old twin daughters, my husband, and my dog.
LS: Are you working on your next novel yet? If so, any hints as to what it's about?
JN: I am. In a nutshell, it’s about a successful and smart thirty-something woman who gives up life in the city for life on a farm. It’s got a food motif running through it and, like Georgia’s Kitchen, it deals with love, family, and self-renewal.
Lisa Steinke, along with her best friend Liz Fenton, co-authored the chick lit novel I’ll Have Who She’s Having and co-created the popular Chick Lit blog, Chick Lit is Not Dead.
