PC: What inspired you to write The Cookbook Collector?
AG: Initial inspiration: a personal observation that although I read and collect cookbooks, I don’t actually cook.

PC:  Do you identify more with Emily or Jess?
AG:  Both!

PC: You’ve been lauded as today’s Jane Austen. How do you feel about this praise? Do you feel that your work is similar to hers?
AG: I love Austen, and so I’m flattered–but I am my own woman. When people refer to Austen I think it’s short hand for witty, character based writing. I do love her books, but my work is quite different from hers in its multiple points of view, contemporary situations, and layered descriptions.

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ocal Author Colleen Taylor Sen recently sat down with us to answer a few questions about her new book Curry: A Global History.

PC:  What inspired you to write a book about curry around the world?
Sen:  The short answer is that the publisher (Reaktion Books) asked me to write it as part of a series on the global history of various foods. The longer answer is that I have written a lot not just about Indian but Asian food in general and am fascinated by the way dishes are transformed as they travel around the world.
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PC: Can you tell us about the process of starting Zeus? What was your inspiration to start the publication, and how long did it take to make your idea a reality?

Roderic: Zeus was a five year process. I have always been an avid magazine reader. But I realized when I was in my mid 20’s that I had subscriptions to four or five magazines, and still wasn’t getting the information I needed or wanted. I wanted to know “how” and not what. I wanted to know “why” and not who. It was 2001 and I was 25. I was in law school in Pittsburgh. I knew my life wasn’t going always revolve around bars and baths. I had no idea [how] to put my life together as a young gay professional. I read Men’s Health for health issues, Out, Genre and Instinct for gay issues, GQ for fashion and Details for cutting edge intelligent articles. I said to myself, “there has to be a magazine with all this information for gay men.” There wasn’t. But I had accepted an offer to practice law at a large law firm in Chicago. During the last two years, I was up to six subscriptions and it was evident that the gay magazines were not doing it and the heterosexual magazines were missing the mark. I knew it was time for me start Zeus.

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anda Wen, author of The Art of Gift Wrapping, answers a few questions about her book, her recent trip to Chicago, and her upcoming literary exploits.

PC:  What attracts you to gift wrapping? How did your gift-wrapping endeavors begin?

WW:  I love the act of gift wrapping as it is a gesture in honoring another and of giving a little of yourself. That one has a blank canvas to create and explore one’s creativity makes gift wrapping such a joy for many.

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He’s Just Not Your Type author Andrea Syrtash answered a few questions for us about her new book.

Q. What originally inspired you to write He’s Just Not Your Type? Was it your successful marriage to Michael, your NT; lessons learned from your friends and clients; or something else?

A.  Many years ago a friend of mine called me crying and told me she had accidentally fallen in love with a great man whom she did not mean to love. I think the idea for the book was born then. Even through her tears, I could tell she had peace in her heart because she was following it.

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ictured to the left with his brother John, together the brothers put together the Wise Guide series. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about the books.

PC:  What inspired you to start Wise Guide Books?

A:  My brother John and I are big Cubs fans and attend games at Wrigley Field all the time, and the idea for the guides literally came while sitting there watching a game and drinking beers. We just thought we have a lot of knowledge about the experience and love the experience so much – the sights and sounds and tastes and traditions and history – why not try to share that with folks.

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Q.  What was the inspiration behind The Sad Epistles?  Throughout the collection, you seem to be writing about a relationship between the narrator and another person.  Care to elaborate?

A.  This is probably the one question I shouldn’t answer, but, yes, the collection is about a relationship between the narrator and another person.  I started and ended the series during two very difficult moments in the relationship: one, when I thought it was over, and two, when I knew it was over.  The poems follow my journey through a very difficult and painful realization which is, unfortunately, one of those things you have to realize at some point: that even if you love someone more than life itself, it may not be enough.

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aureen Lipinski, author of A Bump in the Road, recently sat down for an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.  One of the most interesting things we found in the interview is the fact that she decided to write a novel about a woman going through an unexpected pregnancy while she herself had never had any children, and subsequently during the book’s production found herself unexpectedly pregnant.  Even more interesting, though, is the fact that her main character’s life seems to match her own to an almost uncannily autobiographical degree (for fiction).  ¶ View In Entirety… →

his time it’s an interview with authors Tracey Letts and Marion Zimmerman. Check it out at Time Out Chicago’s book blog.

‘m so pleased to feature Dancing Girl Press in our National Poetry Month series.  They’re one of my favorite chapbook/poetry-based presses because they’re innovative, inexpensive, have a fantastic blog, sponsor writing and literature focused events, and feature a lot of new authors in their chapbooks.  I was able to ask Kristy Bowen, who founded and runs the press, a few questions about what they do.

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StepSister Press recently interviewed Doug Fogelson, founder and director of Front 40 Press, both based out of Chicago. He talks about the history of Front 40, as well as their most recent title, The Time After, which was recently featured on our April 2009 list of featured books by Chicago publishers. You can read the full interview at the StepSister Press blog.

Food Allergy Buzz recently interviewed Kelly Rudnicki, self-titled Food Allergy Mama whose new book The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book: Great Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Treats for the Whole Family is coming out October 1, 2009 from Surrey Books, division of Chicago-based Agate Publishing.

Rudnicki developed the book largely for her son, who is afflicted with severe food allergies.   Of the book, she says, “what I am most proud of in publishing this book is that it gives all of us a chance to give back to raise awareness and funding for food allergy research. A portion of my proceeds from book sales will go directly to the Food Allergy Initiative Chicago (FAI).”

Included witht the  interview is Rudnicki’s favorite recipe from the book: dairy, egg, and nut free chocolate chip cookies.  Yum.

anielle Chapman shares my frustration that there is no central hub for the publishing industry here in Chicago, and she’s working to change that. She works as the Director of Publishing Industry Programs at the Department of Cultural Affairs for the Chicago Office of Tourism, and she’s currently involved with some interesting projects at the Chicago Publisher’s Gallery. I was lucky enough to get to ask her about what she does to promote the publishing industry, why she loves literature, and what Publishing Industry Programs will be working on next.

Julie: How long have you been Director of Publishing Industry Programs at the Department of Cultural Affairs for the Chicago Office of Tourism, and what does your job entail?

Danielle: I’ve been at the Dept. of Cultural Affairs since December of last year. My job is to create–and carry out–programs that support and promote publishing in Chicago.

Julie: Does the Department of Cultural Affairs do anything specific, like holding conferences, promotion, or advertising, to promote the publishing industry in the city of Chicago to the rest of the world?

Danielle: Yes! The biggest project that we’ve done so far is create the Chicago Publishers Gallery, which is at the back of the Randolph Cafe on the first floor of the Cultural Center. The gallery contains books from about 70 Chicago-area book publishers and 75 periodical publishers, as well as many books by Chicago authors. By devoting an actual physical space to Chicago’s publishing industry, we hope to give visitors who come through the Cultural Center (in 2008 we had about 250,000 visitors, from all over the world) a sense of just how active Chicago’s publishing and literary community is. The gallery has been designed to be comfortable so that visitors can sit down and read for awhile. Though books can’t be taken out of the area, we have a website, www.chicagopublishersgallery.com, where people can learn more about the city’s publishers and link to their websites in order to purchase books.

The Gallery has been a big hit and, because we’ve gotten such a positive response, we’ll be expanding into the Randolph Cafe this spring. There will be several more reading nooks, and the entire space will have a new look that celebrates books and publishing culture.

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