by JoAnn Ross

My hot romantic thriller, No Safe Place, officially went on sale this week. You’d think, after more than 90 books, the excitement might have worn off a bit, but publication day is always special. This one even more so because of the serpentine path this book has taken.

On August 26th, 2005, my husband and I drove to Wetumpka, Alabama, where I’d agreed to speak at a luncheon to raise funds for the library. As we left East Tennessee, Hurricane Katrina came ashore in Florida as a Class 1 hurricane, and was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm.

During the long drive, we talked about my book in progress, which was, at the time, titled Impulse. Although New Orleans has always been one of my favorite cities — to visit and to write about — even loving it as I do, I was still planning to have it hit by a major hurricane.

Over that weekend, the National Hurricane Center began warning of a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane with “devastating damage” expected. New Orleans declared a state of emergency, the mayor called for the first ever evacuation, and I decided to take the hurricane out of my story.

Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on the morning of August 29th and hell broke loose.

Like much of the country, I spent days glued to my television, watching as 80% of New Orleans became flooded. Which was when I decided there was no way I could finish that particular book at that time. Even without the fictional hurricane, there were other events in my story I felt would be perceived as “piling on” a city already reeling.

So, I put Nick Broussard’s and Kate Delaney’s story on the shelf and began an entirely different book set in Wyoming, which kept the title Impulse.

After I finished that story, I decided enough time had passed to get back to work. Coincidentally, I finished No Safe Place in the early morning of August 29th, 2006, during the same hours Katrina had come barreling ashore a year earlier.

The city is still suffering and daily life can be a struggle. Some neighborhoods remain devastated and abandoned ghost towns. Less than half the pre-Katrina population has returned home, only half the schools have opened, crime has increased dramatically, and in one poll, only 16% of the citizens feel their lives have returned to normal.

However, one of the charms of The Crescent City is that it’s always been a city of contrasts, and there is some bright news among the bad. Tourists are returning, the city just celebrated their second Mardi Gras, and the Saints came within one game of making it to the Super Bowl.

One of my favorite things about New Orleans has always been its fabulous food. People in my Louisiana stories are always cooking and eating, and Cajun and Creole recipes from my novels and local restaurants can be found on my website.

To quote Charles Bohn, a talented New Orleans potter and optimist who owns Shadyside Pottery on Magazine Street: “Hell, you can’t let New Orleans die. The food’s too good.”

Here’s one of my favorite recipes, the sinfully delicious dessert (which has been described as “orgasmic”) Nick and Kate share at Charmaine’s Place in the French Quarter in No Safe Place. The recipe is actually from Dickie Brennan’s Palace Café on Canal Street.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Pudding ingredients:

3 cups whipping cream
10 oz white chocolate
1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
8 egg yolks
1 loaf French bread, sliced into ¼ ince pieces and dried in the oven
2 Tablespoons chocolate shavings for garnish

White Chocolate Sauce

8 oz white chocolate
3 oz heavy cream

PUDDING PREPARATION: Heat the cream in a double boiler; add the white chocolate. When the chocolate is melted, remove from heat.

In a double boiler, heat milk, sugar, eggs and egg yolks until warm. Blend into the cream and chocolate mixture.
Place the bread slices in a baking pan. Pour ½ of the mixture over the bread. Let settle a short while, making sure the bread soaks up all the mixture. Top with the rest of the mixture.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake @ 275 degrees for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

WHITE CHOCOLATE SAUCE: Gently melt the white chocolate (8 oz.) in a double boiler. Remove from heat and mix in heavy cream (3 oz.). Drizzle over the bread pudding. If desired, you can also replace the white chocolate with semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate.

For a lighter sauce, thin some jam or fruit preserves (Charmaine recommends cherry) with rum and gently heat in a saucepan. Spoon over pudding.

Enjoy.

Two lucky respondents (one from each question) will receive an autographed copy of the backlist book of his or her choice, and a box of scrumptious assorted pralines (traditional creamy Creole and triple chocolate) from Aunt Sally’s, New Orleans’ most famous pralines since the 1930s.