Table of Contents: From Breakfast With Anita Diamant to Dessert With James Patterson - a Generous Helping of Recipes, Writings and Insights From Today's Bestselling Authors (15 page)

Christopher Seufert

SELECTED WOEKS

Left Neglected
(2011)

Still Alice
(2009)

Inspiration
Life! I only have about fifteen hours a week to write (and often less as minutes here and hours there are siphoned off to my kids,
Still Alice
promotion, and Alzheimer's speaking events), so that leaves lots of time for living. I believe that a fully lived life is a blessing for the author and the best inspiration for writing that is fully alive.

Getting Unstuck
I read and reread books that keep me psychologically “on path” when I write. I read books like
The Artist's Way
by Julia Cameron,
Fearless Creating
by Eric Maisel,
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
by Anne Lamott,
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
by Natalie Goldberg, Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg, and On Writing by Stephen King. And if I'm feeling stuck, I get out a notebook and write a couple of pages of unedited stream of consciousness. That usually works to break things open. Get the pen moving, and sometimes some great pieces of wisdom come out. One day recently, stuck and somewhat terrified about writing
Left Neglected
, I scribbled this:

Readers Frequently Ask
The question I receive most from readers about
Still Alice
really isn't so much a question, but rather a comment that then sparks many heated questions and comments. The comment has been made in many ways, but the gist of it is, “I'm still really mad at John,” and then the conversation really gets going. Was he too selfish? Did he make the right decision? Did he make a fair decision? Did he and Alice have a good marriage? Did he truly love her? What would you have done? I always tell readers to remember that, like all of us, John is flawed. But I have great empathy for John, and I understand his love for Alice, his denial, his suffering as a caregiver, and his rational if flawed decision.

Authors Who Have Influenced My Writing

Oliver Sacks. In fact,
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat
was really the spark that ignited my interest in neuroscience to begin with. He has said, “In examining disease, we gain wisdom about anatomy and physiology and biology. In examining the person with disease, we gain wisdom about life.” That's what I hope to accomplish with my writing.

Brunonia Barry. She originally self-published her riveting novel,
The Lace Reader
, and then went on to obtain a huge book deal with William Morrow.
Still Alice
was self-published when I heard about her book deal, and so she gave me a concrete example of success. Her achievement fueled my perseverance and gave me the courage to dream big.

Julia Fox Garrison. I love her memoir,
Don't Leave Me This Way
. Her writing is honest and deeply moving. Her words can make me laugh out loud on one page and go looking for Kleenex on the next.

Makes 6 servings

This is the dessert in
Still Alice
that the title character forgot how to make on Christmas Eve. I chose this particular recipe for a couple of reasons. The first is that my friend Judy and I have been obsessed with this dessert from Todd English's Figs restaurant for years. It's rich, smooth, and luscious. I don't care for white chocolate, and I'm not crazy for bread pudding, but somehow the combination is divine!

I also selected it because of my own experience with forgetting. It's an easy recipe to make and an easy one to memorize, especially if you make it often. But every time I make this pudding, I get hung up on the number of eggs.
Seven? Eight? Nine? How many are yolk only? Hold on, let me check.
And I have to look it up.

Throughout
Still Alice
, I tried to illustrate the difference between normal forgetting and forgetting due to Alzheimer's. When is forgetting a name, a word, an appointment, or a recipe normal, and when is it not? I realize this can be a scary and troubling question to pose, but I promise there is nothing scary or troubling about this dessert. Enjoy!

1
Preheat oven to 350°F.

2
Place the egg yolks, eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.

3
Place the cream, milk, and sugar in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until scalded (when bubbles begin to form around the edges and it begins to steam, but has not quite come to a boil), about 7 minutes. Add the white chocolate and mix until fully melted. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking continuously.

4
Place the bread cubes in an 8″ × 8″ × 2″ pan. Slowly pour the egg-cream mixture over the bread cubes. (If cubes bob to the top, pour more slowly to allow time for the mixture to soak into the bread.) Use your hands or the back of a spoon to press the cubes down and let rest for 15 minutes, or until mixture is entirely absorbed.

5
Cover with aluminum foil and place in a larger pan filled halfway with very hot water. Transfer to the oven and bake until firm and the custard does not show up on your finger when you touch the middle, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, check on the water level, and replenish water if necessary to keep the level at the halfway point. Serve warm with fresh berries, caramel sauce, or raspberry sauce (see recipe).

Makes 1 cup

1
Purée the raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar in a blender and process until smooth. Pour the mixture into a strainer and press the solids through to strain the liquid. Discard the solids.

2
Add water to thin sauce if necessary. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to one week.

Makes 24 cream puffs

Still
Alice was inspired by my grandmother, Angelina Genova, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease when she was eighty-five. Although she lost her history and couldn't understand who we were or why we were there (she told people her daughter Mary was a homeless woman who'd wandered in to live with her), there were parts of my grandmother that never left her. As she always had, she loved lively company. We're a loud, Italian family. She delighted in having us there, sitting around her kitchen table, eating, laughing to tears, telling stories. And she remained good-natured and good-humored, willing to participate. Here's one of my favorite exchanges:

Aunt Mary: Come on, Ma, we're going to the movies.

Nana: Okay, I don't know who you are, but I'm coming!

The reasons why her family loved her, the reasons why we are connected, disappeared for her, but they didn't for us. We continued to love her, and she accepted it. She understood our hugs and kisses and smiles and returned them with great enthusiasm. I know she felt included and loved until the moment she died.