@Foodimentary, My Dear Hopkins

LUCY BURDETTE: A couple of weeks ago, I got the most interesting Twitter message from a man who said he was a huge fan of my books, in fact he wanted to be in one. Intriguing right? Then I looked at his Twitter profile—800k+ followers—on a site best known for tweeting his rendition of food holidays. (Think National Key Lime pie day, of which there isn’t one presently…) I researched further and decided you’d like to meet John-Bryan Hopkins too. Welcome John-Bryan!

So first question, how in the world did you get started with food holidays? Have you always been a food person? Do you cook or are you mostly an eater?

JOHN-BRYAN HOPKINS: Thank you so much for having me on your blog. I’m a founder of a food related website Foodimentary. To say I was an 'early adopter' of social media would be an understatement. On Twitter @Foodimentary was one of the very first ‘food’ related Twitter accounts EVER. Within 2 months of being on Twitter I became one of the top 100 Twitter accounts in the world and was rewarded many awards/articles by many major news organizations.  I’m known for Tweeting food related things that are universal, like National Food Holidays.

I started researching food holidays when I joined Twitter. From the very beginning people really responded to Food Holidays. They are a universal way to talk about food.  In a medium when there is sometimes not a lot to talk about, food holidays are a great go to retweet. No cooking, sharing of food advice or recipes necessary.

Cooking is something I do almost every day, I have a passion to eat 'in season' but otherwise it’s not a huge passion.  When you write about food every day…cooking can sometimes feel like work when you really want to just eat.
I’m a food trivia nut! My passion with Foodimentary is to create an ‘ah-ha’ moment in food. Like: Did you know that Grapefruits got their name? Spanish explorers saw them hanging of the trees: ‘Like clusters of  grapes’ This translated into ‘Grapefruits'

LUCY: How does a food get chosen for the calendar? (I know you mentioned that Key Lime pie doesn't have it's own day, and we need to fix that!) And what if there's already something on the calendar that day? And what if someone with another calendar disagrees with your choice?

John-Bryan:  Well, there are many sites who have 'food holidays' lists. Most lists are the same. I think that since Google adopted my Icalender of holidays last year. That pretty much solidified my list as the rule.
When I started working with food holidays, the calendar was far from full. I created about 120 food holidays so far. Celebrating foods that people crave and enjoy. There are many food holidays over the years that were about foods out of season( National Strawberry Day was once in February) or foods we no longer eat.

Now a-day, I take foods off my list and adjust the calendar every year to keep it current and relevant. If noone retweets or shares my post, then I need to find a more relevant food.

LUCY: Your bio says you are a social media consultant. With 866,000 Twitter followers, I think we could safely say you're an expert! Can you share some tips for writers who are struggling to make an impact with their social media activity?

John-Bryan: Do not be afraid to tweet to an author or famous person. Sometime if it’s the right question or subject manner, you might get a response.

Too many tweets means lots of people unfollowing you and there goes your audience…

Find a network of fellow writers, publishers and talk to one another. Make your tweets to read as a conversation that the reader is privileged to.

Hashtags and trending topics will make your posts more visible. Put those at the ends. Photos make for great tweets too.

LUCY: You are a big fan of Key West as I am. What are your favorite haunts on the island?

John-Bryan: I love Key West, Especially in the winter. It’s my 3rd home as far as I am concerned, 2nd being my lake house. My husband and I always stay at The Gardens Hotel. We always stay in the main house with a balcony overlooking the central gardens. They play jazz there in the back yard and serve drinks. The locals come out in droves. This helps me feel as if I lived there than and not just a tourist…that feeling is addictive.

Lucy: Thanks so much for visiting! Ladies and gents, he’ll stop by to answer your questions. What is your favorite food holiday? (And yes he is going to be a character…He asked at exactly the right time. He is running for Fantasy Fest King in KILLER TAKEOUT.)

The Key West Food Critic Mysteries

We were thrilled to find out that Roberta will be writing a new mystery series featuring a food critic and set in glamorous, sunny Key West. The first in the series (from NAL) is A TASTE FOR MURDER. Roberta will be writing under a new pen name, Lucy Burdette, but here at Jungle Red, we're still going to be calling her Roberta.

JAN: You've written mysteries with protagonists who were golf

pros, advice columnist/psychologist, and now food critic. How do you

go about learning the occupation of your main character and how does

that play into their personalities and/or sleuthing.

ROBERTA: The golf lover's series came at a time when I was deeply

obsessed with golf. I knew how to play, though certainly not at

the level of a professional, and was familiar with what happens to a

neurotic personality under the stress of competition! To get ready to

write about Cassie, I read a lot about pro women golfers, watched

tournaments, and even played with two pros in a tournament. So much

fun!

The advice column series featured a clinical psychologist and this

character was actually much closer to home for me. I gave her a

private practice very similar to the one I had and placed her in New

Haven, CT, which is very familiar to me. the advice column stuff I

simply made up...

Now this new series is something different--the first time a publisher

has suggested a character's occupation. I probably wouldn't have

thought of writing about a food critic, but I love to eat, cook, and

read and write about food, so why not give a try? I've been reading

memoirs by retired New York Times food critics (Born Round by Frank

Bruni and Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl) and other food writers

like Kim Severson (Spoon Fed.) And most luckily, the Key West Literary

Seminar in January is focused on food writing this year. So I'll get

to hear and learn from all kinds of well known food writers, including

the two critics I mentioned. I'm so excited!

JAN: I love Key West, but tell everyone else, why it makes such a

terrific setting.

ROBERTA: Key West is a gorgeous tropical island at the very tip of

the Florida keys, just 90 miles from Cuba. Tolerance of differences

seems to be higher here at the end of the earth, so KW attracts a

fascinating mix of people--artistic types, wealthy, homeless, gay,

straight, you name it. It has a kind of Caribbean island mentality,

while maintaining the advantages of being in the US. The police and

the town struggle to balance welcoming tourists and taking care of

actual residents. And the foodie scene is terrific!

JAN: Tell us about your new protagonist, Hayley Snow -- is she native to Key West, an import??And how does either one of those factor into her personality or her

sleuthing skills.

ROBERTA: She has just arrived on the island and fallen in love with

the place. As the book opens, the boyfriend she moved to be with has

dumped her. She can afford to stay only if she lands the food critic

position at the new Key Zest style magazine. Jan, I'm realizing as I

think about your question that I have so much left to find out about

this new character...

JAN: I know that you are a enthusiastic cook -- does that factor into your development of Hayley. Will you be sharing your recipes??

ROBERTA: Hayley's a great cook--she learned that from her mother. Her critical streak comes from her father. I loved having my character Rebecca Butterman think about problems while she cooked, and feed people both physically and emotionally (including herself!). So I'm delighted to have the chance to write another character for whom food and eating are important and pleasurable. I have no idea whether the

publisher will want recipes in the book, but I can definitely picture sharing some on a new blog. It's going to be a challenge to figure out how to promote this series under a brand new name--and a challenge to answer to "Lucy"!

JAN: Please feel free to ask Lucy more about Key West, cooking or her new series!!

-