1--What is the title of your latest release?
RUBY SPENCER’S WHISKY YEAR
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
30-something American food writer moves to Scotland for a year to “see what happens” and meets a very happening, handsome “who.”
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
After a weeklong bout with the flu in 2019, I binged the entire Outlander series. I fell in love with Scotland from afar, but realized I was very likely romanticizing it (and wasn’t the only one). I wondered what would happen if a wide-eyed American traveled to the country after marinating in a tubful of preconceived notions about it. In researching the book, I went to Scotland on a solo trip and was glad I did; it informed Ruby’s experience and made the setting much more vibrant.
4--Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely. I’d love to go to a fancy restaurant together and splurge on the most expensive bottle of wine on the menu. I feel like we’d dish about working for food magazines and how we both secretly hated living in New York City.
5--What are three words that describe your hero?
Blindly optimistic; brave.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Oh gosh, I learned an extraordinary amount about scotch—including what types I prefer. I initially met scotch through smoky, peaty Islay whiskies. Although I still enjoy them, I learned that I prefer the sweetness of scotch that has been aged in a barrel once used to store sherry wine. It’s the perfect balance of flavors and makes an excellent “I’m going to drink my dessert tonight” treat.
I also learned loads about drafting, as this was my first work of fiction. King among those nuggets was… have an outline; Hehe.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
As an obsessively tidy person in real life and on the page, I can’t help myself from editing while I draft. Little makes me feel more anxious than a mess—even if it’s an in-process one.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
There are always about 10 different chocolate bars kicking around the house. I like having options when I want a sweet treat, so I keep a bunch in my kitchen. I hide the really good ones in my desk drawer. Beyond Good makes an absurdly delicious dark chocolate with orange zest. I’m also a fan of Mast Brothers Olive Oil Chocolate and Tea Chocolate (it’s made with black tea!).
9--Describe your writing space/office!
It’s a very peaceful room. After weeks of obsessively comparing white paint options, I painted to walls a warm, creamy beige (Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore). On two of the walls are framed maps from Scotland and Maine, where my first and second novels are set. There’s a giant philodendron that I’ve trained to climb around the window frames and walls. The desk and chair are a bright blonde wood. It typically smells like a cedar candle, and I usually have some quiet piano music playing in the background.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I think Sheila Heti is an incredibly courageous, clever writer. Motherhood makes me cry with self-recognition every time I reread it.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Insatiable by the former New York Magazine restaurant critic Gael Greene was very influential in the evolution of my career. Her memoir is what inspired me to become a food writer. After reading it, I attended culinary school and worked toward becoming a magazine food journalist. (I did work at Bon Appétit from 2014 to 2016, then at Cooking Light through 2017.) The way she wrote about food was so sensual and exciting.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
When my agent called, I let it go to voicemail because my dog is annoyingly barky when the phone rings. After stepping outside to escape the noise, I called her back. I was so amped up! I immediately put on sneakers and went for a run outside. It was a beautifully warm fall day, with plenty of sunshine, and I just let my mind run as wild as my legs, imagining all the possibilities.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I’m a real sucker for historical fiction—preferably with romance as a strong subplot.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The movie adaptation of Joanne Harris’s Chocolat is always a delicious rewatch. Beyond the obviously excellent sweet treats, the costumes and scenery are stunning. Every time I watch it I think, “I want to live in that world.”
15--What is your favorite season?
I do love the harshness of winter. In Vermont where I live, it gets very cold and very dark, and it can be bleak. But nothing fuels my creative fire like a properly harsh winter full of longing.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Sensibly, until dinner, at which point I want excessive praise and attention, a bottle of something bubbly, an extravagant dinner, and a beautiful something-sweet.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I have been LOVING Maintenance Phase by Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes. They take down the wellness industrial complex with smart journalism and a good deal of joyful snark.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Despite having graduated from the French Culinary Institute, I prefer simple farm-to-table stuff (that’s the influence of my time spent as a farm cook in 2012). A pan of perfectly seasoned roasted root vegetables, a chicken smothered in herbs and butter, a loaf of sourdough bread with salted butter—these are the things that I like.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I have a hard time sitting still, so if I have a pocket of time to myself, I’m either cleaning (boring, uncool, not fun), or going for a run (fun to a certain type of person). My knees aren’t what they used to be, though, so I’ve been trying to fall in love with swimming. So far, I’m lukewarm on it.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My next book is a friends-to-lovers romance about a professional chef and her childhood BFF. It will have all the cozy, small town vibes found in Ruby Spencer, but my main characters have to work a little harder for that HEA. I’ve got about a zillion other ideas percolating for future novels—all about heroines who work in some aspect of the food, farming, wine, and spirits industry.
One of...
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When a thirty-something American food writer moves to a Scottish village for one year to fulfill her dream of writing a cookbook she finds more than inspiration—she meets a handsome Scotsman she can’t resist.
Ruby Spencer is spending one year living in a small cottage in a tiny town in the Scottish Highlands for three reasons: to write a bestselling cookbook, to drink a barrelful of whisky, and to figure out what comes next. It’s hard to know what to expect after an impulse decision based on a map of Scotland in her Manhattan apartment—but she knows it’s high time she had an adventure.
The moment she sets foot in Thistlecross, the verdant scenery, cozy cottages, and struggling local pub steal her heart. Between designing pop-up suppers and conversing with the colorful locals, Ruby starts to see a future that stretches beyond her year of adventure. It doesn’t hurt that Brochan, the ruggedly handsome local handyman, keeps coming around to repair things at her cottage. Though Ruby swore off men, she can’t help fantasizing what a roll in the barley might be like with the bearded Scot.
As Ruby grows closer to Brochan and the tightly held traditions of the charming village, she discovers secret plans to turn her beloved pub into an American chain restaurant. Faced with an impossible choice, Ruby must decide between love, loyalty, and the Highlands way of life.
Romance Holiday | Women's Fiction Contemporary [Berkley, On Sale: February 14, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593547885 / eISBN: 9780593547892]
Rochelle Bilow is a romance writer, food writer, and writer writer. She is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute and has worked as a baker, a line cook, and the social media manager for Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. Her articles about cooking, eating, and farming have been published in a variety of national publications. Rochelle splits her time between upstate New York and Vermont, where she cooks with copious amounts of butter and reads stacks of books by the wood stove (as is only proper). Learn more online at her website.
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