Discovering one of Picasso's Musketeers
Listening to the Muses when they beckon
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are my answers to questions that people have been asking me about the writing and publication of my novel, Cooking for Picasso:
Q. Where did the idea for "Cooking for Picasso" come from?
A. I was inspired by everything around me in the French Riviera—the sun, the sea, the fishermen and farmers’ markets, the cuisine and culture—and of course Picasso! You can’t turn around here without bumping into a Picasso exhibit, and there he is with those dark eyes staring at you and daring you to ask him a question. On the Côte d’Azur he’s also surrounded by his pals, Matisse and Cocteau. I’d seen the towns of Juan-les-Pins and Vallauris and Mougins where Picasso lived, loved and worked.
In the course of my research of this period, I discovered a little-known episode in Picasso’s life, where he was in such turmoil that he stopped painting, sneaked out of Paris and stayed incognito at the French Riviera in the off-season. No one is really sure what happened to him during this mysterious interlude—but after many months of not being able to paint, suddenly Pablo Picasso picked up his brush and began painting again. That set the clock at 1936. And when I looked at the pictures he made at that time, I discovered many fascinating paintings—including two portraits of the same unknown model.
And suddenly I began to imagine a young woman on a bicycle, carrying a basket of food to one of those secretive villas. I made a timeline, from that young girl to her modern-day grand-daughter working in Hollywood, (making use of my experience in film and TV, and even cosmetics because I worked for Estée Lauder early in my career). I began connecting the dots between my modern heroine and my historic one.
And after that, I was off and running!
Q. The novel centers around a pair of Picasso’s paintings. Do they actually exist?
A. All the paintings and drawings I’ve described in my novel are real, except for one. I was fascinated with the artwork that Picasso made during this period—the “Woman with a watch”, the still-life with the striped pitcher, the “Minotaur with a wheelbarrow”, the Vollard drawings, etc. The only Picasso painting I invented, the “Girl at a Window” was inspired by an actual Rembrandt masterpiece of the same name which Rembrandt painted in 1645.
Q. What advice would you give to beginning authors?
A. It all comes down to believing in the dream, and that begins with the story you write. See your story, follow it all the way, then share it with the world. In the end, there’s nothing finer than a shared dream.