The Cinderella Challenge
by Mary Jo
I love writing Christmas novellas, which is why I’ve written more than a dozen of them.. (https://maryjoputney.com/booklist.php) Over the top sentimentality works very well with Christmas!
A Cinderella Christmas is a Kensington anthology that includes stories by Sabrina Jeffries and Anna Bradley. My story connects with my two Dangerous Gifts novels, Silver Lady and Golden Lord. The premise of the series is that some people have special psychic abilities that make others nervous, so gifted people tend not too reveal their skills if they can avoid it.
What We’re Reading: October
Here are the books the Wenches loved in October. . .
Anne: I’ve had another good month of reading. It’s a blessing, isn’t it, when you find good books to read? To start with I read WAIFS AND STRAYS – by Helen Harper, the first in the paranormal series recommended by Mary Jo last month. I immediately read the others in the series and have preordered book #5.
It’s a fun series in which the heroine, a retired assassin, is now living as an apparently harmless cat lady — she has five cats and also feeds all the strays that come around. She’s a cat sith, which means she can transform herself into a cat. And of course, in each book she gets involved in investigating various murders. The murder plots are good — clever and not easy to guess who the murderer is, which I like. There’s also a very nice romance with a werewolf. Highly recommended.
Three Wenches come together to explore London, History and Herefordshire!
Andrea here, I’m just back from a fabulous trip to England, which combined three of my very favorite things: research, sightseeing and meeting up with dear friends, as Christina, Nicola and i got together for some wonderful Wench adventures! So, without further ado, I shall share some of the highlights!
Ah, where to start! I had a long list of places I wanted to visit in London—some were old favorites, which are always worth a re-visit as the exhibitions changes, and some were places I had not yet explored. I always love discovering historical details that I can weave into my Wrexford & Sloane mysteries and the city is a never-ending source of inspiration.
I had heard so many great things about The Wallace Collection, so that was one of my first stops. A stunning assortment of Old Master paintings, British and Venetian art, French porcelain and furniture, as well as armor and weapons, the collection was assembled by four generations of Marquesses of Hartford and Sir Richard Wallace, the illegitimate son of the fourth marquess, who inherited all the family art and money from his father. His widow left it to the nation, with the proviso that the house and the presentation of all the artwork could never be altered—and nothing could be sold. Words can’t do it justice. It’s absolutely amazing. (I will definitely find a way to set a scene in the mansion in one of my books!)
Those of you familiar with my books will know that I often feature the Royal Society in my plots, The oldest scientific society in the world, it has an extraordinary archive of scientific papers and objects. These days, it’s not open to the public, but one can make an appointment to visit the research library—which I did!
An Extraordinary Survivor
Christina here. Back in elementary school I had sewing lessons and it would be fair to say that I was rubbish at it. Not because I couldn’t get the hang of the stitches, but because I had a tendency to use overly long threads that then immediately turned into knots which the teacher had to unravel. I spent hours queuing for her attention instead of actually working on my embroidery. I can see why that irritated her, but the more annoyed she got, the less I wanted to keep trying. Many years later I decided to have a go at cross-stitch and tapestry by myself and lo and behold – I could do it just fine! I even enjoyed it and was finally able to unpick the knots. If only she could see me now!
These early experiences of the difficulties of needlework made me appreciate what I saw last week even more when I had the pleasure of viewing the famous Bayeux Tapestry. At about 70 meters long (and 50 cm high) and chock full of intricately sewn figures and motifs, it is truly mind-boggling how much work and effort must have gone into it. Hours and hours spent outlining each character and filling them in with close stitches in coloured wool. And I bet none of the seamstresses who worked on it had my problems – they were truly skilled with their needles!
Coffee, Tea or (hot) Chocolate?
Anne here, and today I’m asking: Would you drink a strange drink that was rumored to be good for what ails you? Because that’s how many of our everyday drinks started — as something considered to be medicine. And I’m not talking about the concoctions sold by roving “patent medicine men”, itinerant salesmen and entrepreneurs who traveled from town to town selling unverified, pre-packaged medical remedies. No, I’m talking about our everyday tea, coffee and drinking chocolate.
In earlier times when tea, coffee and chocolate arrived in the Middle East and Europe, they were used not as drinks, but as medicines and treatments for various ailments. And they were frequently regarded with deep suspicion.
Coffee:
Originally, in the Middle East, coffee was mostly used for purifying the skin and sweetening body odors, for various “medicinal benefits” and in “treatments for women”.
The 10th-century Arabic gastronomic poet Kushājim described a coffee based substance (called bunk) for cleansing hands, highlighting its smooth texture and brownish color and its cleansing properties:
Bunk obliterates greasy smells of food on hands and whatever of sweets and fats. Whether traveling or at home, neglect not to wash your hands with it when the nimble server passes around with it.
Nothing surpasses bunk to wash the hands after having a fragrant scrumptious meal. Like musk in color, and soft as silk on hands and face.
(Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens)
Other medicinal sources for hand-cleansing preparations, included cloves, black cardamom, fruit peels, cinnamon, and more.