Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Love and Saffron--Kim Fay

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I was so delighted when I learned that my friend Kim Fay had a new book coming out, as I was a huge fan of her Edgar nominated novel, THE MAP OF LOST MEMORIES

Well, LOVE AND SAFFRON not only did not disappoint, I can already say that it will be one of my favorite books of the year. More than that, it's a book that I will read and reread, and give to people I hold dear. It's a book above all about friendship, but there's food and cooking and romance, too--all the best of things, whether in life or in books.

Here is Kim to tell us how it came about!


LOVE & COMFORT

by Kim Fay

As any true reader knows, sinking into a novel always provides an element of comfort. Some fiction (Happy All the Time, The House at Pooh Corner) is made for keeping the soul warm. Some, like mysteries, hearten by ensuring justice is served. Even difficult books soothe when they teach us something new and make the world a smaller place.

Writing, on the other hand. When was the last time you heard a writer say, “Oh, I write to comfort myself.” Um, never! “Ugh,” we moan, “I had to force myself to write today.” We meet up with our writing friends online to do The Pomodoro Technique—a method of jump-starting ourselves into bursts of writing. We have an official name for our struggle: writer’s block.

At worst, it’s hard and frustrating. At best, it’s satisfying and exhilarating. But comforting?

Personally, I journaled for comfort (not to mention self-indulgence) and wrote fiction to accomplish. That is, until March 2020. A month that will live in infamy—I do not say this lightly.

On March 16, the mayor of Los Angeles announced the following:

                         SAFER AT HOME ORDER FOR CONTROL OF COVID-19

Temporary Prohibition of Events and Gatherings of 10 Persons or More

Closure of Non-Essential Businesses and Areas

The order would go into effect at 11:59 pm on March 19. Thus began that early era of washing our groceries, airing out our mail, hour-long lines at Trader Joes, hoarding pasta, making homemade masks out of bandannas and hair ties, and for me, a headlong tumble into a place I had not visited since childhood. A place where my writing was not a destination but a journey.


Baby Kim on Camano Island with the inspirations for the characters Imogen (her great-aunt Irene) and Francis (her great-uncle Frank).

While the world frantically hunted for toilet paper and Clorox wipes, I woke up each morning in a kind of trance, writing fictional letters back and forth between two women in the early 1960s. Every sentence I crafted was infused with a piece of my life that I loved and gave me joy: favorite dishes, childhood weekends at Camano Island, my decades-long correspondence with the essayist Janet Brown, my friendship with the pioneering food writer Barbara Hansen.


                    
Pioneering L.A. food writer Barbara Hansen was the inspiration for the character Joan.

The pandemic worsened, politics shred the country, and the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd stirred civil uprisings. I paid attention. I took action. But I also sheltered in my writing in certainties I knew I could count on: family, friendship, love. Even though the book was set in another era, as I wrote about events like the Kennedy assassination, I thought about the only thing I believed could save us in times of strife: human connection.

My only goal as I wrote was to create a gift for Janet and Barbara. A small book that could be read in a single afternoon, providing escape and entertainment and, yes, comfort. Three months later, Love & Saffron was done. I sent it to Barbara and Janet. They loved it, and that was that. Mission accomplished.

But a mention of the book to another friend led me to send it to my agent. Her response: Where in the heck had this come from? She’d been patiently working with me on two different books for the past few years. She knew I was a writer who took a very looooooooooooong time to write (and revise, and revise) a book. Yet here was Love & Saffron, seemingly out of the blue. I say seemingly, because I know now that some stories can simmer inside us unnoticed for years until they are ready for the world.

 In December of 2020, my agent sold Love & Saffron to Putnam, and now, just under two years since I started writing it, it is out in the world. Love & Saffron saved me during those first months of the pandemic. It also changed me. I never want to write to accomplish again. I only want to write to bring comfort and pleasure to myself and to readers who know that while we must be present in this world, at the same time we need to find moments to retreat and nourish our souls.

 Love & Saffron is a story of shared meals, enriching correspondence, and two women whose friendship bridges generations and geography. Featured on Katie Couric Media, it is a witty and tender story, following budding food writer Joan Bergstrom and established magazine columnist Imogen Fortier in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.

 Independent booksellers around the country chose Love & Saffron as their #1 Indie Next Pick for February, and bestselling authors are raving about it. Tembi Locke (From Scratch) calls it “a memorable and lovely story of friendship,” and Heather Webber (Midnight at the Blackbird CafĂ©) describes it as “delightful recipe of food, friendship, love, and acceptance.” Love & Saffron “reveals how a love of food can open doors into culture, history, homes, and love,” shares Ann Hood (The Knitting Circle), and Louise Miller (The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living) says, “You’ll want to share it with everyone you call friend.”


Kim Fay’s first novel,
The Map of Lost Memories, was an Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel, and her food memoir, Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, was a World Gourmand Cookbook Award winner. www.kimfaybooks.com

DEBS:  Isn't the buzz for this book fabulous?? And I couldn't agree more! I'm wondering if #84 Charing Cross Road might have served as inspiration... Kim will be stopping in to visit, so add your questions too!

  

75 comments:

  1. KIM! This is so completely fabulous! I am enchanted, and cannot wait to read it! I love how you say stories can simmer unnoticed… That is so profound. How do we deal with that? and again! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Hank! You have always been so supportive - from the day you led my Edgar panel and I was a fledgling published writer. I've learned so much over the years, and being generous and enthusiastically encouraging is a lesson I've learned from you!

      Delete
    2. HANK! I cannot wait to read it! This novel is right up my alley.

      Diana

      Delete
  2. Congratulations, Kim . . . a new book that’s the top Indie Next Pick for the month. That’s a lot to celebrate!
    “Love and Saffron” sounds so wonderful . . . it’s such a relief to know that some good things came out of all of that pandemic/political mess we all lived through. I’m really looking forward to reading your book.
    Did you find it difficult to get up and write those fictional letters every day? Did including pieces of your life make the writing easier or harder?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kim! You said "childhood weekends at Camano Island" Dungeness crab Camano Island?, beach filled with marine fossils Camano Island? That Camano Island?? Maybe we beach combed together, eh?
    I just ordered your new novel, so excited to read it. Congratulations and welcome to btl, for JRW's. I am certain your book will bring delicious comfort to all your readers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Coralee. Are you a Camano Island child too? My great and aunt and uncle owned a cabin there I went when I was a child. And yes, oh, that fresh crab! I hope you enjoy the book!

      Delete
  4. KIM: Congratulations on your new book! It's good to know something positive came from the pandemic stay-at-home order for you.

    DEBS' enthusiastic endorsement and the words on the book cover ticked off all the mental checkmarks to catch my interest: friendship, cooking and love. I will seek out your book.

    QUESTION: Since you now want to only write to bring comfort to yourself (and readers), are you still working on finishing those two books or will your writing go off in another direction?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Grace, I take comfort in the one small gift the pandemic brought me, and also that this gift seems to be touching so many readers.
      As for your question, it's excellent. I'm working on a new book - from the heart. As for the other two books, I'm eager to see where my heart takes me when I return to them. Perhaps it will help me find new directions for the stories. But I won't just abandon them. It would be like abandoning a child because she was naughty.
      Thank you for asking me this because I actually hadn't thought about it. I appreciate it!

      Delete
    2. Good to know you are working on a new book, Kim, and that you plan to revisit the two other books later on.

      Delete
  5. This sounds like a book I would love to read.

    But yes, some of us write for comfort. I have been writing myself out of the loss of the great love of my life for the past two and a half years. Will that book ever see publication? I have no idea. But what I've written has saved what sanity of mine that survived him. "Love and Saffron" sounds like just what I want to-- maybe need to-- read right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Ellen, I'm sorry for your loss. I can see how the writing you are doing now is for solace. It sounds exactly the same as what Love & Saffron did for me. While there is loss in my book, there is also hope and recovery. I have a feeling the words you are writing as you grieve will give comfort to others one day.

      Delete
  6. Congratulations, Kim! What a lovely thing you produced during such a hard time. I look forward to reading Love & Saffron.

    I found writing my books a great respite during lockdown.

    I've had short stories flow out almost on their own, and they have been some of my best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Edith, Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that your creativity found its way during the pandemic. It seems like there were two kinds of writers - those who completely stalled, and those who took comfort in the gift of writing. I hope all those short stories find their way out in the world so the rest of us can enjoy them.

      Delete
    2. Ha. I was one of the ones who stalled. But now I'm writing like mad again and finding it very comforting. I just wish it had happened sooner...

      Delete
    3. I'm sorry to hear that, Deb. You're such a steady writer, but I know the pandemic affected us all in such different ways. Happy to hear you're back on track!

      Delete
  7. Kim, welcome to JRW and congratulations on your new book and all the great reviews and notice it is getting. I would love to hear more about your friendships with Janet Brown and Barbara Hansen. How did you meet each of them? Are they also friends with one another?

    Debs is my guru when it comes to books and authors, so I am off to look for your books this morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Judy, First of all thank you for buying Love & Saffron. I do hope you enjoy it. As for your questions:

      My dear friend Janet Brown and I have been corresponding faithfully since 1995 when we both left The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle — me to teach English in Vietnam and she to teach English in Thailand. We had worked together for 5 years, and in the decades that followed, we wrote (and still write) to each other faithfully.

      I met Barbara Hansen when she wrote about my Vietnam food book for the LA Weekly. We discovered that we both lived within walking distance of the Original Farmers Market and started meeting there in the mornings for conversation and coffee.

      Barbara and Janet have met but live in different cities so are what I call hinge friends - I am the hinge!

      As for having Debs as a guru, you are fortunate - she's a wonderful writer and terrific woman!

      Delete
    2. Kim, I taught English in Japan for two years after college. A fabulous experience.

      And, as an LA County native (San Gabriel Valley), I remember going to the original Farmers' Market as a child on a special day with my grandmother (as one of four kids, having alone time with her was always a treat)!

      Delete
    3. I love both these experiences! Thank you for sharing them with me. (When I was a girl, my Dad would take me and my sister, separately, on a special day each year to downtown Seattle, always ending with a Seahawks game. That individual time was precious.)

      Delete
  8. Welcome Kim, I have your book on my nightstand and look forward to it. A writer's question, what will happen with the two books you've been working on with your agent?? I'd love to hear about those ideas and why or why not you'll continue with them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay now I see Grace asked the same question, and you already answered. Thanks Kim!

      Delete
    2. Hi Lucy,

      First of all, thank you! I hope you enjoy Love & Saffron.

      Second, I love that you also asked that question when I hadn't really given it a lot of thought. I do want to continue them. One is the first in a mystery series set in LA in the 1970s, and the other is a thick historical novel. I'm curious to know what I'll keep and how I revise once I return to them. But now I'm working on a complement (not sequel) to Love & Saffron.

      Delete
    3. Oh, goody on the complement! And both the other projects sound terrific. What period on the historical novel?

      Delete
    4. Lucy, as I was reading, I kept thinking about how much you would enjoy this book. Move it to the top of the pile!!

      Delete
    5. Deb, the historical novel is 1930s to 1980s Vietnam. And thanks for giving Lucy the nudge :)

      Delete
    6. and ps Debs, about a month ago I emailed Kim when I read about her book and asked her to be MY guest. I learned that you'd already snagged her! Great minds...

      Delete
    7. It's an honor to be tapped by any Jungle Red, and Hank got in on it as well - a triple honor!

      Delete
  9. Congratulations! Helene Hanff meets Laurie Colwin? The ultimate comfort read. I'm in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Margaret,
      Thank you! And I know - isn't that the best compliment ever!! I adore Laurie and Helene!

      Delete
    2. After I read the first few letters, I emailed Kim and said, "Were you by any chance a fan of Laurie Colwin?" Which of course she is...

      Delete
  10. Sounds like a lovely read for a snowy day, which is forecast here today. I'm off to find your book, Kim. Congratulations on being Indie Booksellers' February pick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Amanda,
      Thank you so much. I hope it's the perfect way to spend a day indoors while the snow falls outside. I've been enjoying Japanese genmaicha tea these days. I'm sure you have a favorite. Enjoy!

      Delete
    2. I read it in a afternoon, Amanda. It's one of those book that you literally can't put down. I'm sure my husband was laughing at me as I was walking around the house with an open book, bumping into things.

      Delete
    3. Deb, you are describing my perfect reader! I hope there aren't any bruises <3

      Delete
  11. Congratulations, Kim! How wonderful to have a book come together like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Liz, I still marvel - it was such a gift!

      Delete
  12. Congratulations Kim! This books sounds absolutely perfect -- exactly the kind of book I have a huge appetite for just now. I may actually catapult it straight to the top of my TBR list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Susan,
      That IS a great compliment - to be catapulted to the top of a TBR list. I know, because mine is a mile long. Thank you!

      Delete
  13. Congratulations, Kim! You had me at mention of the Sixties! My time. I cannot wait to read Love & Saffron.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Judi,
      I didn't set out to write a period piece but books know when they want to be written. I hope you enjoy all of the period details!

      Delete
    2. I LOVED the period details! It felt like you were bringing my childhood back to me. And surprised myself by bursting into tears over the Kennedy assassination. It was such a pivotal moment in my childhood and I think those of us who grew up in Dallas carry the shock imprinted in our systems somewhere.

      Delete
    3. I didn't know you were in Dallas during that time, Deb. What a traumatic experience. It was such a national grief, and I found so many parallels to the pandemic, spiritually.

      Delete
  14. Love and Saffron sounds wonderful, congratulations, Kim.

    Is the book written in an epistolary style? If it is, could you speak to that choice? Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karen,
      Thank you! Yes, it is epistolary style. While I didn't know I was going to write this story, for a while I'd been wanting to write something inspired by my correspondence with Janet Brown. Our friendship has been forged through our letters, and we've written through everything - loss, joy, the daily grind. When I sat down to write Love & Saffron, something inside me knew that letters were the perfect format. I confess, I'm not that deliberate of a writer. I tend to follow my instincts and let my story guide me. I have a feeling my subconscious is a very busy bee!

      Delete
  15. Oh, LOVE AND SAFFRON sounds absolutely marvelous, and I can't wait to dive in! As a writer who also takes a loooong time to draft and revise, I'm also heartened by the idea that a long-simmering story can burst forth in the matter of a few months. I need to add this to my aspirational goals list...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think reading Love and Saffron will inspire you, Julia!

      Delete
    2. Hi Julia, it truly was a new experience for me. I love writing, but I trudge through it. I just hope I can continue on this new path with my next books.

      Delete
  16. There is something so intimate about letters. I felt like I knew Joan and Immy, that they were my friends, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I miss letters - not only the writing and receiving, but also the time we used to have to write them!

      Delete
    2. I wondered if you and Janet write actual letters, or do you email? I love the idea of getting letters in the mail.

      Delete
    3. We wrote actual letters for decades but now my hand has some damage (and arthritis) so I can't do that anymore. Our letters have moved to email, but they are still as thoughtful. I make my tea, set aside time, and sit and write with the same depth ... I honestly couldn't survive without our correspondence!

      Delete
  17. This book has been very hard on my book budget. I've just ordered new copies of Happy All the Time and of #84, Charing Cross Road, as both had long vanished from my shelves. I do have Laurie's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking.

    #84, Charing Cross Road was published in 1970 and I must have read it shortly thereafter. It was one of the books that made me absolutely determined to go to London, which I didn't manage until 1976.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So happy I'm bring you back to Laurie and Helene. I actually wrote to Helene once, during the first Gulf War when I needed comfort, and she wrote back. And Happy All the Time might be my favorite book ever!

      Delete
    2. All of Laurie Colwin's books will be issued in new editions this year.

      Delete
    3. Margaret - the new editions are out. Which is dangerous since I already own all the previous editions of Happy All the Time and her food books. My wallet!!

      Delete
    4. DEBORAH,

      If you can get Apple ebooks, sometimes books are less expensive. I looked up LOVE AND SAFFRON. You can buy an ebook from Apple for 9 dollars and 99 cents. Sometimes there is a special deal.

      Diana

      Delete
  18. A few years ago we dismantled and sorted through about six or seven decades of correspondence between my father-in-law and his many friends. Until about the late 1980s it was long distance to call between here and the next county, where a couple of his closest friends lived, and they wrote weekly letters to one another. Many were hand-written, but my father-in-law hunt-and-peck typed his and kept the responses via carbons.

    It was interesting to watch the progression from hand-written/typed/carbons to typed and photocopied, to emails printed out. Eventually, no more copies in the files because the emails are stored on a server. I really think that's too bad for the future, as it will be much harder to piece together lives lived without the daily correspondence in an easy to retrieve form.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a fascinating progression. I love that idea. There's definitely a book in that! I too remember when a call across town was a toll fee, so I wrote to my boyfriend who lived in the same city!

      Delete
  19. Oh how beautiful. I feel as if I have been wrapped in a warm blanket of caring. Looking forward to reading the book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kait, what a lovely description. I hope you enjoy it.

      Delete
  20. Kim Just ordered Love and Saffron - it sounds wonderful! I love a story told via letters and am looking forward to reading it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Christine. I hope you enjoy it!

      Delete
  21. The pandemic has been awful and tragic but this enforced stop sign led so many people to rediscover important things in their lives . Maybe we have found some "new normal" that means doing what we love to do instead of what we think we must. Thank you for this lovely book. I've just ordered it and on the strength of its origins alone, it may well become my Christmas present for everyone this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CD, what a wonderful way to look at this. A "new normal" being a mindfulness about who we love and what's most important in life. Thank you for ordering Love & Saffron. I hope it brings you the comfort it brought me.

      Delete
  22. Kim, I will be ordering Love and Saffron as soon as I finish my comments here. It sounds like such a memorable read. And, the 60s is that golden time of growing up for me. Born in 1954, the 60s were important years in my development, taking me from first grade into my sophomore year of high school. Last year I read a book entitled You Cannot Mess This Up, a story of a woman in 2014 who finds herself back in 1978 for 36 hours. She's an adult still, but she gets to see herself as a child and her family as it was at that time. The point is I love reading about the world as it was in my childhood, gaining insights as an outsider looking in. And, the importance of friendship! Yesterday, I visited a friend and took her lunch and a little Valentine gift. She has been in the hospital and is dealing with a rare infection in her lungs, which the doctors are still not sure where it's leading. We hadn't really had a good visit since the pandemic began, and as we sat and talked for two hours, I was so happy for this time together, just enjoying each other's company so much. I love the letters format of your book, Kim, with the women sharing their lives with one another this way.

    So, good luck with this new book, Kim. I think it will be just the reading I need.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kathy,
      Thank you for sharing this part of your life with me. It sounds like you are like me: nostalgic. I was a '60s and '70s child, and whenever I can travel back to those times in fiction, I leap on it.
      I'm so sorry to hear about your friend and I hope the doctors sort this out and get her on the road to healing soon. Yes, women's friendships are essential!

      Delete
  23. Oh! So excited to see this!! I read this early thanks to NetGalley. It's a book I too will be gifting to good friends. Lovely, and, I think, important.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So exciting that you read this early, Kaye! I have so many books to read on NetGalley!

      Diana

      Delete
    2. Thank you so much, Kaye! Since I wrote this book as a gift it lifts my heart to think of others doing the same with it.

      Delete
  24. Kim,

    Welcome to Jungle Reds! Your novel LOVE AND SAFFRON is on my reading list. I have been seeing many posts about your novel in the Book community of Instagram. I am excited about reading your novel. Cooking and friendship are wonderful themes in novels.

    Yes, I remember when the lockdown started because I arrived home from the mystery conference in San Diego to discover that the lockdown was starting! I remember the blue skies because there was no traffic or almost no traffic with the lockdown.

    Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diana,
      What a vivid memory. But it was such a striking time. As if the world stopped for a moment. I do hope you enjoy my novel - lots of food and friendship to savor!

      Delete
  25. I just bought this at my local BN! I had no idea you’d be here. The cover and description drew me in - I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that! Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy it!

      Delete