Eating Authors: Aaron Rosenberg

I first met this week’s guest years and years ago when I was a student in James Gunn’s writing workshop. Aaron Rosenberg had been a full time student of Jim’s, and basked in his tutelage for far longer than that two week workshop. We’ve both long since left Kansas behind. Aaron went to New York City where he immediately began to show the range of his talents as a writer, excelling as a media tie-in author (Star Trek, Stargate Atlantis, and Eureka, just to name a few), crafting humorous SF (e.g., No Small Bills), as well as Space Opera (his Dread Remora series).

Not content to simply write novels, Aaron joined the publishing cooperative Crazy 8 Press and helped to develop and edit the ReDeus series (which I’m especially grateful for, as I’ve had stories in all three books). And that’s not even touching on his children’s books, or his very impressive work in the world of tabletop role-playing games.

LMS: Welcome, Aaron. Tell me about your most memorable meal.

AR: I’ve had a lot of great meals over the years—some with excellent food, some with excellent company, some with excellent conversation. But one of the meals that stands out the most was just this past spring.

One of my best friends, Dave, is a professional chef. Another friend of ours, Tom, is a talented amateur chef. Both of them are geeks and gamers, just like me. I, of course, can’t cook much of anything—okay, I can cook a little, a few specific recipes—but I am an excellent eater, as Dave and Tom both know.

Anyway, at one point near the start of the year while Dave and I were hanging out he said, “Tom and I are thinking we’ll cook up a feast the night Game of Thrones’ third season premieres. You’re invited.”

Good friends, excellent food, and one of my favorite shows? I was in!

Fast forward to March 31. I head over to Tom’s apartment. Dave shows up shortly thereafter. We spend the next two hours or so in Tom’s kitchen—them cooking, me helping when I can (fetching things, mainly), all three of us chatting. The food? Homemade fried chicken, baked three-cheese macaroni and cheese, biscuits, and collard greens—the latter tossed with bacon and sautéed rather than boiled.

After everything was ready we loaded our plates and adjourned to the living room—just in time to turn on the TV and catch the opening of the episode.

The food was amazing. The episode was fantastic. And the company? Couldn’t be beat.

You can see why it was one of my favorite meals—and why I’m already looking forward to the premiere of Season Four.

#SFWApro