Does creativity have a taste? And, if it does, is it salty or sweet?
January Magazine’s “Authors on Snacks” is not meant to be a judgment. Rather it’s a personal peek at what some of our most beloved authors nibble on while pushing forward on their latest work.
W. Bruce Cameron. Cameron is the author of 14 books, but he is best known for A Dog’s Purpose, (Forge), which was on the New York Times bestseller list for a 
year and which was adapted for a film released earlier this year.
Cameron’s newest book is A Dog’s Way Home (Forge).
What do you snack on while writing?
My personal philosophy of food is that if I can swallow it, it must be go 
od for me. My body turns food into energy. If it weren’t for food, I would have to burn fossil fuels, which, over time, would destroy the planet. Therefore when I eat a burrito, I am doing it for humanity.
I have a large quantity of things like carrots and celery that I ignore in a very healthy fashion. My office is all the way at the other end of my home from the kitchen, so if I am going to make that trek, I’m going to come back with a chicken, or a pizza, or a chicken pizza. Nobody but a rabbit would go all that way for a carrot. In fact, sometimes the trip is so exhausting I just stay in the kitchen, refueling and saving the planet in the process. I believe it is more important to build energy for writing than it is to do any actual writing. If that means thawing a box of frozen enchiladas, because after all you don’t want to thaw just a single enchilada and waste all those microwaves and destroy the planet, then yes, I thaw and eat a box of enchiladas. Unless there are two boxes in the freezer. The efficiencies increase exponentially with every box.
My wife used to make me brownies, but then she became worried about my health and stopped. She says it is because she loves me, so, of course, I’m thinking, “time for a new wife.” I do not want to be so loved that it leads to no brownies. Fortunately, there are places online where you can order brownies. I’m not the first man to find love on line.
Do you consider your snacking to be mostly under control or mostly out of control?
My snacking is totally in control. Sometimes I will forgo snacking, usually after a big dessert, but then I wind up realizing that in order to love yourself, you need to eat more brownies and maybe thaw a box of enchiladas. This is a very effective way to prepare myself for the “pre-writing period,” which others might call a “nap.”
Tell us about the book:
A Dog’s Way Home is book about a dog who so loves her owner that she will travel hundreds of miles through extremely rugged terrain (the Rocky Mountains) to find her way back to him. Bella is a pitbull mix, banned by law from her home in Denver. To save her from being euthanized, her person temporarily ships her to a foster home, but Bella doesn’t know it’s temporary — she doesn’t understand any of it. Bella decides to rectify the mistake and she jumps the fence, heading back to her person. ◊
You can see previous installments of “Authors on Snacks” here.
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