“The road to hell is paved with leeks and potatoes.” —Julie Powell   From sort-of-actress and desk-job employee to author and amateur cook, Julie Powell set a pathway for 21st century bloggers and launched a writing career. From blog, to memoir, to movie—Powell’s ambitious Julie and Julia project, cooking Julia Child’s 524 recipes over 365 days, warranted national attention and her second memoir Cleaving, A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession  (2009) ignited mixed opinions. Unlike some negative criticism from her book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (largely from those who didn’t understand that Powell was a writer rather than a professional cook), Powell’s 2009 novel Cleaving was met with some “eyerolls and raised eyebrows,” Jennie Yabroof from Newsweek writes. Allison McCarthy from GlobalComment.com, however, defends the author’s subject of marriage, sex and the metaphors of meat, writing that “much of the criticism Power has received…relies on all-too-familiar sexist tropes of female authors as mentally unstable and unworthy of serious consideration. Apparently, women aren’t supposed to publicly express the same adulterous desires that prolific male writer often describe, at least not without being savaged by critics.” Despite the conflicting responses to her memoirs, Powell continues in her “engaging and humorous” voice, tackling next the art of fiction writing with her husband. Powell has appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “The Early Show,” “The Martha Stewart Show” and “Food Network’s Iron Chef America.” Her writing has been published in Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. In an interview with the Jackalope, Powell describes her writing pleasures, her current projects and her upcoming visit to SFUAD Sept. 15-17 (Powell will read and sign books in O’Shaughnessy Performance Space at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16).   Jackalope Magazine: What craft of writing do you most enjoy or do...