Remember reading the back of the cereal box as a kid? By the time we were almost finished with a box, I’d be desperate enough to read the ingredients, just for some new content.
*squints* Tri-sodium-phos-phate. Red dye #40.
As I type out possibly fake cereal ingredients, I’m wondering why I never brought a book with me to breakfast. How did that never occur to me? Add this to my list of things I’ll tell my past self when I invent that time machine.
Anyway, I could go on and on about my common-sense shortcomings from childhood. I’ll save that for therapy and move into my announcement: The newest book from Hollow Oak!
Coming this September is our new anthology of speculative short fiction, Short(b)Reads. Each deliciously entertaining story features food so enticing, we’ve brought it to life. Every tale was paired with a chef, cook, or baker who developed a recipe for what you’ll read—making this fictional food a reality.
Your job, reader, is to create the food. Teamwork.
You’ll find a forbidden ground beef burger that’s out of this world, savory green onion pancakes shared with love and longing, and a darkly sweet coffee cake woven from the magic of generations.
Follow the recipe (or trick a neighbor into cooking it for you—creativity takes many forms) and then eat your masterpiece while reading the story. Or enjoy it afterward, while reflecting on the story. Know other people who enjoy short fiction and delectable cuisine? Have yourselves a book club feast. It’s a little bit of dinner entertainment with a side of immersive experience.
I promise it’ll be much more entertaining than the fine print on a cereal box.