Guest blog by Krista Phillips

Help me welcome Krista Phillips, author of "Sandwich, with a Side of Romance".

Krista Phillips writes inspirational romantic comedy. She believes a sprinkle of laughter (and a wee bit of chocolate) makes everything a little better! She blogs regularly about life as a wife, mother, follower of Jesus, and mother of a child with a rare congenital heart defect at www.kristaphillips.com. Her debut novel, "Sandwich, With a Side of Romance," releases in September, 2012 from Abingdon Press.

Sandwich, with a Side of Romance Blurb:

She moved to Sandwich, Illinois, in search of a new life, but ended up in a giant pickle.

Sandwich represents hope for twenty-year-old Maddie Buckner and Kyle, the eleven-year-old brother Maddie wants to spring out of foster care. Then she loses her new job after less than a day. It’s all Reuben-the-Jerk’s fault, and she’s determined to make him right the wrong.  

He does so, reluctantly, by giving her a job at his restaurant, The Sandwich Emporium. Then crazy things start happening at the restaurant, and Kyle’s foster parents apply to adopt him. To stop it all, Maddie must learn the art of humbling herself and accepting the help God has arranged, risking her heart to Reuben in the process. 

And she’d rather eat a million corned-beef on rye sandwiches than do that.

And now here's Krista...

The Makings of a Sandwich

When Ginger invited me to guest post on her blog, she said I could write about whatever I wanted.

I'm a writer. That should be a pretty easy thing to do.

Right?

WRONG!

Pulling a topic out of thin air was TORTURE.

Like, poke my eyes out, dentist-drilling torture. Well, maybe not that bad. But I sat for a good while with a lot of false starts and a lot of deleting while I thought, "Really? I'm a writer??? You wouldn't know it by that drivel!"

Then I got this stroke of brilliance. At least, I think it is brilliant. You might not agree, but that's okay. My momma still loves me.... :-)

My debut novel that came out a week ago today is titled Sandwich, with a Side of Romance.

It's all about... SANDWICHES.

So here is where the brilliance comes in.

I'm gonna write about SANDWICHES today.

Yes, yes, I know. Where in the world do I come up with this amazing stuff?? HA.

It's also fitting because this afternoon/evening, an author friend of mine and I are going to have a Online Book Launch Open House, and our theme for the open house is A Sandwich for the Road. (The name of her book is The Road to Mercy... Get it? Sandwich? Road? Come on....)

So, I thought I'd share some FUN sandwich facts that you may not be aware of.

•         The Philly Cheesesteak was invented by a dude in Philadelphia named Pat Oliviera who had a hotdog stand but got tired of hotdogs and decided to try something different. I think he succeeded....
•          The PB&J sandwich started to gain popularity during the great depression as a "cheap" means of food, but got it's real break during WWII when GI's would combine peanut butter and Jelly to make their rationed food taste a little better and be less sticky!
•          Even though I've heard it raved about and am even giving a jar of it away in my "sandwich" themed basket at the open house tonight... I've never had Nutella. I guess I'm nervous that it won't live up to all the hype I hear about it!
•          The French dip was created by accident! It is said that in 1918, a sandwich shop owner in LA accidently dropped the roll into the pan drippings before giving it to a police officer to eat, and the police officer came back three days in a row, asking for more "dipped" sandwiches. (another fun note. I LOVE LOVE French dips... but I never dip. In fact, I tell them to keep their sauce. Yeah. I'm crazy. What can I say.)
•          Did you know that May is National Egg Salad Month? And the week before Easter is National Egg Salad Week? Well... now you do!

All these fun facts were found in The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches by Susan Russo (and probably a billion places on the Internet as well.) The book is ALSO included in my sandwich picnic basket at the open house today, and it has a TON of different sandwich recipes!

Discussion: What's your FAVORITE sandwich? And no, the "Oreo" one doesn't count! Although if it did... that'd totally be my answer!

To find Krista on the web:

Blog/Website - www.kristaphillips.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/authorkristaphillips

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kristaphillips

Thanks for coming, Krista. For the record, my favorite sandwich is a BLT (and do NOT give me a hothouse tomato, please).

Blessings,

Ginger