Love and Food

by Dev Bentham

Is there anything more telling about a character than what he puts in his mouth? No, not that—I’m talking about food.

I’m a tiny bit obsessed with food. My stories always have a meal or two. There’s plenty of advice out there telling authors that eating scenes are complete no-no’s, boring and the death of everything good in fiction. But come on—a guy’s gotta eat, doesn’t he? I had fun with food and character in Whistle Blower (out today from Dreamspinner Press). Ben and Jacob live in very different worlds, and they eat accordingly.

Ben has a small fishing resort in Northern Wisconsin. While he works hard, it’s a lifestyle that leaves plenty of time for cooking. Especially in the winter when there are very few guests and Ben’s on his own as the cook, housekeeper, fishing guide and dishwasher all rolled into one. He not only knows his way around a kitchen, he’s perfectly capable of preparing a typical Wisconsin meat and potatoes dinner for twenty on short notice.

Jacob, on the other hand, lives New York, one of the culinary capitals of the world. If pressed, he might be able to boil an egg, but it’s been years since he’s had to. Instead of pots and pans, his kitchen drawers are filled with take-out menus. Delivery people and waiters are important links in his food chain. Grocery stores are not.

All of which gets me thinking about what the food I eat and serve says about me. The last thing I cooked for company was beef and mushroom cabbage rolls and for myself it was chicken and, um, cabbage. If there’s a theme there it’s that just like Ben, I live in Northern Wisconsin. Available produce gets pretty limited in the winter (which may explain my fascination with other people’s eating habits). How about you? If you could pick one dish that would tell the world everything they needed to know about you, what would it be? Are you a sensual diva, dining only on strawberries and chocolate? Or a health nut bulking up with protein shakes and kale? Or perhaps a hermit from the northern hinterlands subsiding on cabbage? In that case, purple or green? Me, I swing both ways.

About Whistle Blower

Money can’t buy happiness. Jacob Nussbaum knows this better than anyone. He’s a corporate lawyer deep inside a huge New York firm, where he works overtime, sacrifices any chance at a personal life, and has been selling his soul for years. With a secretary as his only friend, he trudges on, until his whole world is blown apart by a manila envelope of photos—evidence that one of the firm’s partners is the dirtiest lawyer in one hell of a filthy business.

In search of the truth, Jacob travels to a small northern Wisconsin fishing resort. There he meets Ben Anderson, a brutally lonely man, who knocks him off his feet. Ben prompts Jacob to reevaluate his life. He’s a dozen years older than Jacob, still recovering from the death of his long time love, and doesn’t want to leave anyone a widower. But a jaded New Yorker on a soul-searching mission might be just the man to convince the grieving Ben that it’s never too late to begin again.

Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Whistle Blower to see what she thought of it!

About Dev Bentham

Dev Bentham writes soulful m/m romance. Her characters are flawed and damaged adult men who may not even know what they are missing, but whose lives are transformed by true love.

Find out more about Dev on her Website, Facebook, Twitter or email her at DevBentham@yahoo.com.