Books

My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Nick Cole to talk about how the power of Superhuman Food Consumption relates to Soda Pop Soldier. ————————————————- You know, I have quite a few superpowers. I have the ability to make money disappear almost instantly. The ability to drive people away whether drunk or sober. I have accomplished this in both states of mind but with a much higher rate of success while under the influence of booze. I also have the ability to work out in the gym ceaselessly, six days a week, and still look the same. That’s probably because of my other superpower, the one that plays a big part in my next novel, Soda Pop Soldier. I’m a heroic, almost Batman level, eater. Why Batman? Well first off, I tend to have more of a Bruce Wayne approach toward food. I like high end food, craft menu items, and dining is sort of an adventure for me. Ordinary eating power superheroes, The Hulk and Wolverine types, would probably devastate In-N-Out Burger with twenty 4X4 Quads (the famous Double Double but four times bigger). But the Bruce Wayne eater is going to travel, just like young Bruce Wayne, in search of hidden mysteries and forbidden delicacies like Chef Rob Choi’s Ooey Gooey Fries or wait in line for four hours for a handcrafted pizza at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix (I live in LA). Or, yes, us Batmans will even travel north into the dark hinterlands of Other California just to wander the gardens of Chef Thomas Keller’s French Laundry. Note: Chef Thomas Keller is the obvious Ra’s al Ghul of any foodie-powered Batman type.