Yaffa S. Santos on Going Beyond the Five Senses

At the Rumpus, in conversation with Sheena Daree Miller, author Yaffa S. Santos explains why she needed to explore synesthesia in order to complete her debut novel, A Taste of Sage. “I knew I wanted to write about a Dominican woman chef working in upper Manhattan. And I wanted it to be something I could and would finish, because I had started previous projects that I hadn’t completed,” she says. “I realized that, in order for me to be invested enough to get to the end, there had to be some sort of aspect beyond the five senses. It was important for me to incorporate that, no matter what shape it took. I wondered what sort of element I could add that would keep me focused from start to finish.”