Ask the Author: Erica Bauermeister
Answered Questions (27)
Erica Bauermeister
My apologies, Taru -- for some reason I did not see this message until just now. And my apologies, too, because I don't know of anywhere that you can legally download a free copy of The School of Essential Ingredients. I hope you found a copy through your library or something similar...
Erica Bauermeister
Hi Joy-- I'm so glad No Two Persons spoke to you. I was inspired to write the book because of my experience with book clubs (and teaching), seeing how differently each person in a single group could interpret the same book. And it seemed a particularly appropriate topic for right now. As for other books -- I have four other novels and a memoir already out, and yes, I am working on a new book. Publication TBD, but if you sign up for my newsletter through my website (www.ericabauermeister.com) you'll be among the first to know!
Erica Bauermeister
Thank you! I love your question-not question :)
Erica Bauermeister
Ah, another country bunny fan. So nice to meet you. My mother read me this book back in the early 60's. She was a stay-at-home mom with four daughters and a son and looking back, I see all the feminism she slipped into our early reading.
Erica Bauermeister
I don't know why there isn't a German paperback -- every publisher does their own thing and often I am not privy to their thought process. It is tricky with translations, too. Every time I receive a foreign copy of one of my books I find myself wondering what story is actually inside it, because it can't be exactly what I originally wrote...but maybe that is part of the creative process? The same thing happens every time a reader reads a book -- it goes through the filter in their minds and becomes whatever makes sense to them...
Erica Bauermeister
My apologies! For some reason this question just came into my feed. I love that you worked with Roman Kaiser -- I found his work fascinating, and I'm so glad to hear that it felt true to you. As for perfumers -- I talked with Christophe Laudamiel, and read all of Mandy Aftel's books, among others. What a wonderful world to spend time in...
Erica Bauermeister
I am so sorry not to answer this sooner! for some reason it didn't come up in my feed. In any case, yes, I have a new novel-in-stories coming out this May. It's called No Two Persons and it plays with the idea of how differently we all read the same story. Thanks for asking!
Erica Bauermeister
Well, this could go in two directions. On a larger, meta level, I remain fascinated by how differently different family members remember the same events (or choose to remember different things). On a more specific level, there was a time when I lost my engagement ring, after taking it off and putting it in my purse when one of its three pearls fell off. The ring was missing for years until one day we were replacing the sconces in our bathroom. As my husband pulled the old light away from the wall there, balancing on the wire, was my ring. Which makes no sense at all. But stories are found in weird events like that.
Erica Bauermeister
I am so sorry! For some reason, this question just came through. I'm figuring you've found another EB book to read in the 10 months since you wrote (!), but here's my short hand. If you love food, start with School of Essential Ingredients (and it's sequel, The Lost Art of Mixing). If you want to be motivated to tackle a challenge or fear in your life, go for Joy For Beginners. If you're curious about homes, or renovation, or how you can change your life along with your house, try my memoir House Lessons. Enjoy!
Erica Bauermeister
Yes, all my books are available as audio books! So glad you enjoyed Scent Keeper.
Erica Bauermeister
I'm so glad that Scent Keeper spoke to you, and I love your question! I was actually working with a perfumer to create a scent for the book, and went all the way to Vancouver, BC to meet with her -- and then I had a bike wreck the night before our meeting, and then she moved to Israel two weeks later and it all went sideways. BUT -- all that said, I had a couple different perfumes in mind. One for Emmeline and the island (smoky and a bit spicy -- think wood smoke and cardamom and perhaps a touch of bergamot), and then her mother's honey and amber scent. Perhaps someone will still do it...
Erica Bauermeister
It wouldn't be any specific fictional world. What I'd love to do is to visit a version of our world that has the qualities of magical realism. I'd love to taste emotions, or talk with birds, or know what trees are thinking. And I'd love to play with a Nightingale machine, just for a week or so.
Erica Bauermeister
Underland by Robert MacFarland. Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur (out in Oct). Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. The Heartless Stone (expose of the diamond industry). Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.
Erica Bauermeister
funny that you ask. I'm playing with one, so I can't say at this point.
Erica Bauermeister
Dear Jim,
What a fun coincidence -- thanks for letting me know. I'll keep an eye out for them...
What a fun coincidence -- thanks for letting me know. I'll keep an eye out for them...
Erica Bauermeister
Not currently -- although I also said I wasn't going to do a sequel to School of Essential Ingredients, so I never say never these days.
I do have a new novel out now —The Scent Keeper—and a memoir about a renovation and how our built environments affect us (House Lessons coming out March 2020.)
I do have a new novel out now —The Scent Keeper—and a memoir about a renovation and how our built environments affect us (House Lessons coming out March 2020.)
Erica Bauermeister
I am fascinated by the subliminal power of scents, and ever since I wrote Ava's chapter in Joy For Beginners I have wanted to spend more time exploring the subject. The Scent Keeper comes from a question I had -- what would it be like to grow up with scent as your primary sense, to perceive the world the way a dog does. What would our world look like to a child who had been raised that way?
Erica Bauermeister
Yes, I do! For eight years now, although I still spend a fair amount of time in Seattle, too. I'm curious who your daughter is?
Erica Bauermeister
Hi Nancy,
Well, I'm a Mac laptop Scrivener gal who writes best in short, concentrated bursts in places that don't have internet, but I'm the first to tell you that everyone does it differently. I know people who only write long-hand, others who stand at desks. Some need perfect quiet, others need background noise. One of the side benefits of writing is that you get to figure out who YOU are. What makes the writing flow? Just pay attention and trust yourself. It has nice benefits for the rest of your life, too!
Well, I'm a Mac laptop Scrivener gal who writes best in short, concentrated bursts in places that don't have internet, but I'm the first to tell you that everyone does it differently. I know people who only write long-hand, others who stand at desks. Some need perfect quiet, others need background noise. One of the side benefits of writing is that you get to figure out who YOU are. What makes the writing flow? Just pay attention and trust yourself. It has nice benefits for the rest of your life, too!
Erica Bauermeister
I am! There are few things that make me happier and more fulfilled than writing....
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