Let’s Do Lunch

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: in the before times, when I was at channel 7 more predictably, one of the high points of the day for my producer and me was… Lunch. Even if it was lunch juggling a salad in the backseat of a speeding news car, or a marginal chicken sandwich eaten at my desk, the idea that there could be lunch was always such a joy. 

I would laugh, however, when people would say – – we should have lunch together someday! And I would agree, happily, true! But secretly think:  have you lost your mind? When in my reporter day do you think I’m going to have time to actually go to the lunch, to an actual restaurant, and sit down and order lunch, and then wait, and then go back to wherever I was? Going out to lunch was this…mystical thing that I always imagined doing, and lusted after, but rarely rarely did.  

 So then came Covid, and there was no going out anywhere to anything, right? There was just home. And cooking. But it turned out, this lunch thing has turned out to be quite fabulous. Or at least, a high point on the scale where the bar is low.

 

Somehow in the magical way that things sometimes work out, Jonathan became in charge of lunch. I make dinner, we collaborate on breakfast, but Jonathan does lunch. And he makes adorable lunches, and I am not talking elaborate, I’m just talking adorable. Every day we have turkey and Swiss cheese with romaine on pumpernickel, and Jonathan slices up little tomatoes for me, and cuts little carrots in half for me and we get to have chips! Chips! Which I never would’ve had in the before times. 

 

Plus, we sit at the table, and have a conversation about what we did that morning, and what we plan for the rest of the day, and catch up with each other like civilized people. Jonathan and I having lunch together – – well, we’ve been married for almost 25 years now, and except for random weekends and vacations, having lunch together was a rare event.

 

When covid is over, and I know it will be, and we all go back to doing whatever we want, I have to say I will miss it. I will miss lunch with my husband. And also having him bring it to me. Wow. Cutest waiter ever. And a real treat.  

 

What about you Reds and readers? What are you doing for lunch these days?

 

JENN McKINLAY: Lunch is very random for us. Usually, Hub and I meet up poolside for whatever we have scavenged out of the frig - yogurt, cheese and crackers, leftovers from the night before, which are awesome because Hub does all the savory cooking while I am in charge of dessert, and we soak up some sunshine before returning to work. Sorry! But this is the perk of living in AZ and makes up for those 115 degree days in the summer. 

LUCY BURDETTE: We don’t necessarily lunch together, but we do have dinner at the table always. I have gotten into a terrible rut with my lunch--I have the same thing every day. This is: half a good bagel with toasted Canadian cheddar on it, topped with these little sprouts I’ve grown and pickled jalapenos. It makes my mouth water to describe it to you:). One day maybe I’ll tire of it, but not yet!

HALLIE EPHRON: Lunch here is ad hoc and informal. Today’s will be leftover lasagne from last night. Yum. But most days it’s egg salad or tuna on wheat toast for me and Jerry scrounges for hummus. Always a nice sit-down dinner. 

I miss meeting a friend for a restaurant lunch. Boy do I. You get to do the kind of catching-up that doesn’t happen on the phone or via text.

RHYS BOWEN: We eat breakfast together (John prepares).  We eat dinner together (take turns to prepare) but lunch is never eaten at the same time. I have to eat lunch around noon (having woken before six).  John happily eats lunch at three. And he will grab whatever leftovers he can find in the fridge or settle for avocado, hard boiled egg, whatever.  All winter we have been making soups so my lunch is soup plus something on toast. Some days it’s cheese, but recently I’ve been indulging myself and it’s been smoked salmon.  I figure not going out to lunch means I can eat yummy things at home. And I eat it outside on our balcony on fine days, getting my Vitamin D.

But I do miss meeting friends for lunch. In normal times it’s a couple of days a week and now it’s been a year.  BUT… I got my second vaccine on Friday so in two weeks I plan to meet with friends again (who have also been vaccinated!)  I’ll be heading back to Arizona so I’m looking forward to lunch with Barbara Peters at our favorite restaurant (bruschetta board!!) And hopefully with Jenn one day?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: My get-togethers with friends have tended to be happy hours rather than lunch, because everyone is too busy during the day (and boy do I miss those happy hours and the Girls' Wine Parties in my kitchen!) But a couple of times a month I would go to lunch with my daughter, and that is absolutely one of the things I've missed most in the pandemic. I'm now two weeks past my second shot (yesterday!) so I'm hoping that one day soon we can do an outdoor lunch together, as inside dining is still not recommended after you've been vaccinated..

Our household routine hasn't changed that much in the lockdown. Rick and I don't usually eat lunch together as he runs on a later schedule than I do, but we always, always, sit down to dinner together. I grab leftovers for lunch if we have them, but my very fave lunch is a veggie burger patty from Trader Joe's (black bean and quinoa) with some brown rice and a bunch of arugula and sliced grape tomatoes. Our local butcher makes fabulous chimichurri and I spoon that over everything!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve been eating lunch at home by myself for a LOT of years now, so that part hasn't changed.  Leftovers from last night’s dinner get saved for whoever is working - it used to be Ross, now it’s the Maine Millennial. I tend to skip breakfast and eat lunch between 1-2 (and then stuff myself at dinner, which I know is not good for me!) I suspect it’s a pattern I fell into when I had kids at school - huge rush in the morning, eat as late as possible so I’m not starving when I make dinner (being really hungry used to lead to me calling Ross and asking him to bring home pizza…)

I do miss social and business lunches. I have some friends who were, like me, able to get away midday, and having lunch together was an easy and fun way to socialize. And who doesn’t miss lunch with your editor and/or agent, going to restaurants you would never walk into on your own thanks to that beautiful corporate credit card. And of course, when you’re at Bouchercon or Malice or Left Coast Crime, where and with whom you have lunch is a HUGE deal. It’s all the good things about dinner in an eatery, without the multiple-hour commitment the evening meal implies. Sigh. Come back soon, working lunches!

HANK: Yeah, maybe it’s me. Those working lunches don't work for me. Work is good, lunch is good, but for me, it’s distracting to try to do both. Talk while eating Brussels sprout salad and wondering if there’s green in your teeth? Impossible.    

How about you, Reds and readers? What’s for lunch? And why?

WHAT Am I DOING Here? Or: Let's Do Lunch

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Want to have lunch with Jenny Milchman and me?Okay, you're invited. Really! See below for details, date and time--AND for some truly valuable insight. 

The Story Behind a Book Event or, Why Do Writers Do This Anyway?

(also known as, Hank & Jenny Do Lunch)

by Jenny Milchman

When you think about a book event, two scenarios are likely to come to mind. There’s the one where the writer arrives in a town car with her name in the rear window, gets whisked off to a lushly fitted out green room, only to be ushered onto a stage before a vast, applauding crowd. And then there’s the one where she sits at a folding table whose legs wobble, setting up stacks of her own books, and twiddling pens that feature the title of said book while customers come up and ask where the rest rooms are.

What? The first one’s never happened to you? Me either. But I’ve had elements, so I keep hoping. And I basically refuse to do the second by this point. It’s too humiliating. I never know where those darn rest rooms are.

Kidding. But not about the humiliation part.

It all raises the question of why writers do book events in the first place. Do they accomplish anything for our sales? Our careers? Our humanity?

I want to dispel a few myths about book events. But first, you might wonder why I feel in a position to do so. Well, it took me thirteen rejection-studded years to get published, and after it finally happened, I did the next logical thing. Rented out our house, traded in two cars for an SUV that could handle Denver in February, pulled the kids out of first and third grades to “car-school” them in the back seat, and hit the road on a 7 month, 35,000 mile book tour. So, I’ve done an event or two in my time.

One of the highlights was a talk with Red Wonder, Hank Phillippi Ryan, at the Cambridge Public Library. Watch this music video, and see if you can find the shot of Hank! She and I talked about books, and the industry, and how it may try to kill us, but in the end leaves us a whole lot stronger. Hey, we’re suspense writers. Death has to figure in somewhere.

Now for those myths.

Myth 1: Book events are about selling books.

Fact: Whether you sell two-hundred books or zero, you have met potential readers in a different, more meaningful way than happens on crowded online platforms. You’ve also encountered an influencer—the bookseller, librarian, or book club leader whose radar your work is now on.

Myth 2: You should read at book events.

Fact: Reading is the one thing I’ve heard over and over tends to bore attendees—and a bored attendee isn’t a good potential reader. Instead, teach something related to your book (a regional specialty, a craft, a foreign language, a lesson in CSI or genealogy—get creative). Discuss the fascinating road to getting published, or the more general accomplishment of achieving a dream. Hold a writing workshop if it fits the crowd. Tell your 10 Best & Worst moments as a writer. Make the whole event Q&A.

Myth 3: A low turnout event is a dud.

Fact: The great Louise Penny quipped, “The only thing worse than an event where no one shows up is one where one person comes.” And indeed it can feel awkward to perform a talk for an audience of one. So my answer is—don’t perform. Just…chat. Really connect to that person. Who knows who she knows, and besides, you may make a friend. At some of my sparsely attended events, one of the few people in the crowd was, respectively, a book reviewer for a major newspaper, a book club leader, and the president of the Friends of the Library Association.

SO: Let's do lunch! Seriously. This year, as part of my third “world’s longest book tour”, Hank and I get to meet again at a luncheon event hosted by former bookseller Joan Lang. The date is June 17^th, the time is noon. In Pembroke Mass. Have a look at the poster for the event, complete with contact info so you can join us. Hank and I would love to see Reds readers in the crowd!

In this life of events, I know it’s going to be another high point.

Jenny Milchman is the author of Cover of Snow, Ruin Falls, & As Night Falls, and the creator of really long book tours.

https://www.facebook.com/events/616830125136166/ 

HANK: SO? Can you come to lunch? CLICK HERE! We're cooking up all kinds of prizes and surprises--including mentoring, query advice, personal chapter critiques and of course, free books! 

And how do you feel about book tour?