I am absolutely delighted to welcome Twisted Lit Authors Kim Askew and Amy Helmes to the blog today to share a Guest Post on Love and Pizza.
I have had the opportunity to read their first two Twisted Lit books and I'm definitely looking forward to reading Anyone But You.
So without further ado let me turn the blog over to Kim and Amy....
Los Angeles-based writers Kim Askew and Amy Helmes have been writing and blogging together since 2007.
Askew, whose work has appeared in Elle and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen, is a content manager for the Webby-award winning teen site www.FashionClub.com and the FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Helmes is a West Coast editor for Soaps In Depth magazine and a contributor to The Rundown, a daily e-mail service that keeps subscribers informed on what’s new and cool in L.A.
Determined to broker peace between their feuding Italian families, star-crossed sweethearts Gigi and Roman must unravel a secret that dates back more than three generations to the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. There, a pair of twelve-year-old boys have a memorable encounter that will eventually put their loyalty and friendship to the ultimate test. By resolving their great-grandfathers’ ill-fated history, can Gigi and Roman prevent their own love story from taking a tragic turn?
I have had the opportunity to read their first two Twisted Lit books and I'm definitely looking forward to reading Anyone But You.
So without further ado let me turn the blog over to Kim and Amy....
For our third Twisted Lit novel, Anyone But You, we decided to put our own spin on the ultimate teen romance, Romeo and Juliet. Our approach? Exploring a question that’s always been at the back of our minds: Why did the star-crossed lovers’ families hate each other so much anyway? The lynchpin in our story was Italy’s tastiest contribution to American culture, pizza. We decided to set the story in Chicago’s Little Italy, where two families with competing Italian restaurants have had been at odds for as long as anyone can remember.
Part of the fun of writing the novel was researching the fascinating history of Italian-Americans in Chicago (Anyone But You travels between the 1930s and ’40s and present day) and discovering how pizza became so popular here in the States. As lovers of the perfect slice ourselves, we’d like to share our favorite super-simple pizza recipe with Say It With Books readers. We humbly recommend it as the perfect accompaniment to a book club discussion of Anyone But You :)
Amy & Kim’s Twisted Thyme Pizza
1 individual french or sourdough loaf, toasted
2 tsp tomato sauce or pizza sauce
½ cup mushrooms (from a jar)
½ cup fontina (or your favorite) cheese
4 stalks of fresh thyme
A few sliced kalamata olives, if desired
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 350ยบ.
2. Slice the bread into two halves, and toast for 5 minutes, or until lightly brown.
3. Remove from the oven, and spoon sauce over each half.
4. Layer with the cheese.
5. Top with drained mushrooms and olives.
6. Add the thyme leaves.
7. Pop in the oven for around 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
Meet The Authors:
Askew, whose work has appeared in Elle and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen, is a content manager for the Webby-award winning teen site www.FashionClub.com and the FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Helmes is a West Coast editor for Soaps In Depth magazine and a contributor to The Rundown, a daily e-mail service that keeps subscribers informed on what’s new and cool in L.A.
Anyone But You
Title: Anyone But You: A Modern-Day Spin on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Series: Twisted Lit #3
Synopsis:
Bon Appetit!
Have you read any Shakespearean re-tellings?
Will you be giving Amy's and Kim's Thyme Pizza and Anyone But You a go?
Have you read any Shakespearean re-tellings?
Will you be giving Amy's and Kim's Thyme Pizza and Anyone But You a go?
I can't believe the authors actually gave out a pizza recipe! I really want to try it out now. I've seen Anything But You around ~ It sounds a little like a Romeo and Juliet tale with the feuding families and all. Awesome guest post!
ReplyDeleteHaha I know-Pretty creative huh? :) Anyone But You is actually a retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet-When you do give it a try I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteOh gosh, I am so craving pizza now! This recipe is simple but sounds real yummy. :) I also love how the R&J retelling has pizza as the reason for the feud. That really intrigues me about the book.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any Shakespearean retellings. But I have watched 10 Things I Hate About You, haha! I also saw a play which was a retelling of Twelfth Night. :) Great post, ladies!
LOL I was starving by the time I drafted this post too! :D
DeleteI've heard of 10 Things I Hate About You but haven't had the chance to watch it yet. I've read Kim's and Amy's previous retellings and I enjoyed them - I think retellings can be amazing as long as it's done well. :)