How do you write a delicious book — a novel that makes readers hungry as they turn pages on their couch? You have to start with eating all of the food while you write.

About five years ago I set out to write the most delicious novel I had ever created: The Sicilian Inheritance. It would be a Sicilian adventure, a murder mystery, and a romp following a Philadelphia chef tracing her roots back to Sicily. (Even though this book is set mainly in Sicily, it is also the most Philly book I have ever written.) It would also make readers salivate over plates of tuna with capers, sea urchin linguine, and honey-covered figs.