Happy Book Birthday Michelle Davidson Argyle and Bonded

I can't resist a good fairytale retelling and Michelle Davidson Argyle doesn't disappoint! After reading an exerpt of Thirds on her blog The Innocent Flower, I have been anticipating Bonded's release date. Michelle was kind enough to agree to an interview on her book birthday. So read this interview, make one of her favorite meals, and go out and buy Bonded;)


I'm constantly salivating over your twitter posts. How do you have the energy to write and to make such luscious meals so many nights of the week?
See, this is why I'm a writer ... all those luscious meals I talk about really aren't complicated or that luscious ... really, they're not! It's the words I choose to describe what I'm eating, and I also think the key is fresh ingredients. I take a trip to the farmer's market every week to get fresh fruits and veggies, I've spent the last year learning recipes to incorporate more vegetables. So instead of just omelettes, I'll post that I'm eating omelettes stuffed with poblano peppers, feta cheese, and cremini mushrooms. Sounds fancy, but it's really not. I chopped stuff up and made an omelette. Voila! Honestly, four nights out of seven at our house, we're eating stuff like grilled cheese or ramen noodles. I try to plan at least two prepped meals a week. I love food, and I love to talk about food, so it's exciting to post stuff I'm eating, even if it's simple!


Could you share your favorite recipe?
One of my comfort foods, and all-time favorite recipe is my mom's sweet and sour meatballs. They are even good leftover, and I rarely like meat leftover.

SWEET & SOUR MEATBALLS
1 ½ lb fresh hamburger
2/3 cup rolled oats or cracker crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion (red or white)
1 egg
1 ½ tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 cup milk
SAUCE (I like to double this)
2 tbsp. corn starch
1/21 cup white sugar
1 cup cup vinegar (I like to use 1/2 red wine vinegar and 1/2 white vinegar)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped red pepper
1 can pineapple
hot cooked white rice
Mix first 7 ingredients and shape into meatballs. If using a nonstick skillet, melt some shortening first, and cook meatballs until done. Remove meatballs. Pour fat from skillet. Mix starch and sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce until really smooth and pour into hot pan. Bring to a boil until the sauce starts to thicken, then add meat, pineapple, and green pepper. Serve over rice.
We made this meal last weekend and it was a hit. 



Official Short Description of Bonded:
What happened after Cinderella married her prince? How did the eivl sorceress in SLeeping Beauty turn evil in the first place? Discover these stories and a world filled iwth magic, forbidden love, elves, sprites, dragons, and the most powerful creatures of all--thefairies--in Bonded, a collection of thre fairy tail inspired novellas.

Based on three fairy talkes, Bonded contails a fairy talke continuation (Cinderella), a fairy tale retelling (One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes), and a fairy prequel (Sleeping Beauty).


What do you think the heroines from Cinders, Thirds, and Scales would pick as their favorite foods?
This is fun because food plays an important part in each novella!
In Cinders, Christina loves to visit the kitchen in the castle. She thinks a lot about food and cooking with her mother. She watches Fortune, the head cook, prepare meat and other things for meals. I think Christina would choose beef broth with pepper for her favorite food.
In Thirds, food is essential to the story! Poor Issina is starved for the entire beginning of the book. She's so hungry, in fact, that she eat roots from the cellar. Tree roots. Blech! Later, Issina is happy to discover prepared meals in the forest. I think she'd choose sugared dates as her favorite food.
In Scales, Serena connects her favorite to her mother. There's a scene where she watches her mother make apple tarts from scratch. Later, when Serena is traveling with Lief in the human realm, he asks her what she'd like him to make for her to eat. She immediately choose apple tarts!

If your life were a recipe what would it be?
1 lb simplicity
3 snippets yoga
4 cups patience
1 chocolate bar/per week
Mix everything together and spend time in the kitchen every day with family and/or friends.
Garnish with 2 cups writing on the side.

I had no idea you did yoga-I've been teaching yoga for the past 10 years and don't know how I survived without it. I wish I could live on 1 chocolate bar a week.

Thank you Michelle for the interview! We're adding your Sweet and Sour Meatballs to our go to recipe file.

If you'd like to learn more about Michelle here's another great interview by my CP Kathryn Purdie where Michelle talks more about her road to publication.

Bonded is available 

Goodreads here

Amazon here

Barnes and Noble here

Local Bookstores everywhere :)