Skills Workshop: Q&A with Antoine Vanner's Kung Li

Last year, I invited a number of authors to send suitable characters from their books to interview for an imaginary job in my imaginary company. Now a New Year is upon us, and as CEO of this company I've decided that my workforce needs to learn new skills for 2022. I've invited some more characters along to the blog, this time to deliver some workshops, and my employees have gathered in the lecture theatre for a Q&A session with Kung Li, sent by his author, Antoine Vanner:

AW: Settle down everyone, phones off, and let's give a warm welcome to our guest today, Mr Kung Li, a Chinese gentleman called also known as Fred Kung, whom the Royal Navy’s Captain Nicholas Dawlish encountered in Korea in 1882. The main events of Dawlish’s assignment there are described in Britannia’s Spartan. Kung Li appears before us this evening looking much as he did when Dawlish first encountered him in Seoul: 

“When the arrival of the Chinese ambassador’s representative was announced in early afternoon, Dawlish expected a silk-clad mandarin with long sleeves and longer fingernails. But the man who spoke for the envoy of the Son of Heaven wore a shabby European-style jacket with a Paisley scarf at his throat and whipcord riding breeches stuffed into dusty boots. He wore no queue beneath his broad-brimmed hat – his hair was cropped as close as Dawlish’s own – and a revolver protruded, butt forward, from a holster belted over his jacket on the right side.”

Welcome! Would you like to introduce yourself? 

Fred Kung: I’m Kung Li, ma’am – though foreign devils like yourself know me better as Fred Kung. They call me a ‘Yankee Chinaman’ and Chinese call me an American. 

AW: What’s the lesson you’re going to give us, Mr. Kung?

Fred Kung: The most important in the world, ma’am. Don’t just survive. Win.

AW: Excellent. Now, all my attendees have read the resume you sent. They'd like to ask you some questions. First it's Janine, head of overseas trade:

Janine: Your English is fluent and you’ve a strong American accent. Why’s that?

Fred Kung: I came to the States in ’66, just another illiterate coolie shipped across from Kwantung to drill and hack and freeze and die to drive the Central Pacific railroad through the Sierra Nevada in California. (Hey, you there! Let’s see the first picture.) That’s what we looked like and we were used worse than cattle an’ worth less than mules).

But I see you’re been trying to be polite, ma’am, that you’re pretending you haven’t noticed that my right hand is mutilated. Here, let me hold it up. Take a look – I’m not ashamed of it. Just a thumb and little finger. All that’s there, nothing more. That’s why I draw and shoot with my left. And damn well too. If you’d like to step back ten yards an’ hold up a five of spades for me I’ll put a bullet through each pip. I’ve pack with me and –

AW: (laughs nervously) Well, not today! But perhaps some other time . . . Please continue.

Fred Kung: Nitro-glycerine an’ blasting Central Pacific Tunnel Number 6 did for that hand an’ it was best thing ever happened me. They gave me twenty dollars compensation for it an’ cut me loose. The timing was damn lucky too – the rest of my team were buried in a rockfall a week later. 

AW: Pauline from Human Resources has a question

Pauline: I take it that with a shattered hand there was no more work for you on the railroad?

Fred Kung: Take a look at the next picture, ma’am. (Hurry, let’s have it up!)

AW: I knew I shouldn't have let Simons be in charge of the overhead projector... Ah, there we go.

Fred Kung: That was the sort of work it was. I wouldn’t have gone back to it even if I could. And I’d have starved if I hadn’t recognised what all those thousands of poor despised Chinese drudges slaving through the Sierra feared more than death itself – burial in foreign soil, ma’am. I’d got those twenty dollars to start in business with. And those coolies were most of ‘em ready to pay me fifty cents a month for a guarantee that they’d be shipped home to graves with their ancestors. Good business to, and in time I made enough to branch out into deals with ship-owners, an’ into money-lending too. And then a few lines of business that respectable ladies like yourself wouldn’t want to know about. But profitable for all that. Gentlemen in the audience might guess what I mean.

Edward, Chief Accountant: And I gather that you put the profits to good use?

Fred Kung: I could see bigger opportunities, and for that I saw that needed education, western education. I started by paying a washed-up Chinese trader to teach me to read and write what I’d been speaking all my life. Then a drunken American schoolteacher was glad of a few bucks to school me in good English. And when I’d made enough to buy an American education, I bought me one at a Presbyterian college near Oakland. (Let’s have the next picture up!)

That’s me there, Masterson College class of ’72. They thought I’d go back to China as a missionary. Yet for all the talk there about gentle Jesus sweet and mild, and brotherly love, I was still a Chinaman in America, a Chink, a Celestial, a jumped-up coolie, still despised, still unwelcome. But I was one who by now could talk and think and reason like an American as well as a Chinese. So I had something that both Chinese officials and Western businessmen would pay well for – an understanding of the other side’s way of thinking. I could be anybody’s go-between – at a price – and that’s why, after a lot we don’t need to talk about, I was in Seoul, Korea, in 1882.  

AW: What were you doing there when Captain Nicholas Dawlish met you?

Fred Kung: Let’s just say that I was representing the interests of the Chinese Empire and doing jobs for the Chinese ambassador that he couldn’t afford to be seen doing for himself and saying things he didn’t want to be heard saying. China had nominal sovereignty over Korea for centuries but now the Japanese were out to displace us, and they meant nothing nominal about it. They’re impressive, damned impressive, those Japanese, and they’ve made themselves a modern industrial and military power in a way that China hasn’t. They’ve got ambitions, big ambitions, and they’ll stop at nothing. And taking Korea’s to be the first step. The Korean king is a weak fool whom they intended to control. And the only real man at the court is his wife, Queen Min. (Next picture please – even if it doesn’t do her justice!) 

What a woman she is! Smart and beautiful but deadly as a rattlesnake, ready to make a deal with Satan himself if it would keep the Japanese out. And when this British naval officer, Captain Nicholas Dawlish, arrived on a diplomatic mission I saw that he could be useful for the game I was playing. Queen Min saw that too. It turned out to be a more dangerous game than even I expected - and all three of us ended up using the others for our own ends.

Richard, Head of CPD (Continuing Professional Development): Did your previous experience help you then?

Fred Kung: I’ve learned one big lesson in life, sir. It’s that they – whoever ‘they’ are – can do anything to you that you’re not strong enough to stop them doing.  When you’ve started life by being valued lower than an animal – as I did – you can’t afford to think much about good or bad. You think first about survival. 

But if you’re smart you think beyond that, you think of prevailing, of winning. of taking for yourself what nobody wants to give you willingly. So, good or bad, what matters to me is that I can sell my services high, to Westerners, to Chinese, to Koreans, to whoever’s prepared to pay. I may not be liked, but I’m needed, and I’m going to keep it that way. And I must stay alive too when so many would like to see me dead. That’s why my bodyguards are Uighurs from Western China, with no love lost between ’em and their Manchu overlords. They’re mean twenty-four carat sons of bitches who’re loyal to nobody but me, and that only because I pay them well. (Let’s have the next picture up!)

There they are – and they’re worth their weight in gold!

AW: But I gather that Captain Dawlish valued your support, even if he didn’t wholly trust you?  But what did you think of him?

Fred Kung: “Support” isn’t really the word, ma’am. Let’s just say that my interests coincided for a while in Korea in ’82. with those of the Britisher Nicholas Dawlish My own interest’s the only basis on which I judge any relationship. But I like Dawlish, probably more than I can afford to, but to be straight with you, I think he’s something of a fool. He’s clever and he’s brave, but he doesn’t see that his notions of honour and duty don’t profit him. They’ll get him killed at some stage. (Next picture please!) 

That’s the world he sworn himself to, as bound by tradition and notions of loyalty as the Imperial Chinese Court itself. He may bend the rules if he has to, but he still wants to rise in that world. And the people he risks his life for – like Queen Min herself, or his own Queen Victoria – wouldn’t give a damn whether he lives or dies as long as their interests are served. He’s ambitious, no doubt of it, but that idea of honour comes into it for him all the time and financial gain doesn’t enter it at all. He left Korea not a penny richer than when he came. I guess that when you’ve grown up comfortable in a country where the law protects you, then you can afford to think like him. I couldn’t. I’d be dead now if I did.

Jessica, Marketing and Social Media: Would you like to see your own life covered in a book, or books?

Fred Kung: My life could be considered adventurous, and I’ve now got a lot of irons in the fire in places you might not expect in China and South-East Asia, and in California and Nevada and in Oregon too. But I’d prefer that nothing is known about them. I’m none too happy that Dawlish might have recorded more than I’d like known. But if in the future some writer fella gets his hands on Dawlish’s papers, then he’s welcome to write a book about me if it’s after I’m dead. It won’t worry me none then. 

AW: Thank you, Mr. Kung! Perhaps your and Dawlish’s paths may cross again! Let's all show our appreciation and give a round of applause for Mr Kung! He's left some marketing materials which will tell you a bit more about Dawlish and his creator, so don't forget to pick one up before you leave. And Simons, please remove the slides of your stag do from the overhead projector. No one wants to see those...

Find out more about Antoine Vanner here: Dawlish Chronicles 

Next time our guest will be Captain Carina Mitela from the Praetorian Guard Special Forces of Roma Nova (sent by author Alison Morton) and she'll be showing us all how to use a gladius.

Our previous guest was The Earl of Essex

Skills Workshop: How to Fight a Duel, with the Earl of Essex

Last year, I invited a number of authors to send suitable characters from their books to interview for an imaginary job in my imaginary company. Now a New Year is upon us, and as CEO of this company I've decided that my workforce needs to learn new skills for 2022. I've invited some more characters along to the blog, this time to deliver some workshops, and my staff have gathered in the company employees' gym, where we have erected safety ropes...

AW: Right you lot, phones off, and best behaviour please, because today's guest is a member of the nobility. Let's give a warm welcome to Sir Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex and his assistant, Master Gelly Meyrick!

EoE: Some of you will know me from the second book of the Elizabethan Series, ‘Essex – Tudor Rebel’ by Tony Riches. I’d like to start by making a few things clear. I am of course a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and yes, I have been known to play cards in her privy chamber until the small hours of the morning, but her Majesty is ten years older than my mother, and I am not her lover. 

[AW: Stop sniggering Simons]

EoE: Secondly, I understand that duelling is strictly forbidden, but there are times when a gentleman has to defend his honour. People might think you short-tempered, of lacking self-control, but if someone calls you a liar, or has otherwise impugned your courage or good name, what better way to restore honour than to fight with rapiers?

Some of you will have heard how I lost a duel against Charles Blount. I’d like to explain I had no idea he was left-handed, which confused me, and Blount delivered his challenge in person, demanding satisfaction for being publicly offended, so I had no choice other than to accept. In truth, I consider I was lucky to only suffer a wound to my thigh!

For this demonstration, I’m using an Italian rapier, designed for duelling. The slender, two-edged blade is counter-balanced to provide greater control. (Swishes the rapier in the air.) This one has a blunted tip to reduce accidental wounding of my sparring partner, my long-suffering and loyal Welsh manservant, Master Gelly Meyrick.

Firstly, there are several ways to grip a rapier, but I recommend wrapping your index finger around the quillion, or cross-guard, which reduces fatigue and provides better point control. Your thumb can point up the flat of the blade, or rest on top of your index finger. A loose grip with the other three fingers gives you a good range of movement.

Now I’d like to talk about your ‘guard’, which is the angle of your wrist, and the position of your body. The more upright your upper body is, the more defensive your posture, and the more you lean forward, the more aggressive your stance. Extending your arm provides maximum defence, keeps your opponent at a distance, and allows you to dominate their blade.

You should not have your left foot forward, as this reduces the coverage of the sword to the body. It also makes it harder to lunge, so keep your right foot forward, and adjust your distance quickly without compromising your guard. To step forwards, move your front foot forwards, and follow with the rear, and to move back, move your back foot first, then follow it with the front. 

Now for the lunge. (Demonstrates with an aggressive lunge at Gelly Meyrick, who moves just in time to avoid being impaled.) The lunge is the extension of your body in line to attack, usually with a thrust, (like this) but also with a cut, (like this). When lunging, as with any attack, you initiate the move with your sword arm, followed by your body, and finally your leg. Your lead foot points forwards, towards your opponent, and your back leg should straighten. The lunge is the fastest way to attack, but there is a lot that can go wrong. (Grins.)

The ‘pass’ is a movement which requires major commitment, and therefore risk. Don’t use the pass to adjust your distance, or change guard with your rapier, as we don’t want to have your left foot forward in guard. The passing step is best used when the distance is closed, and having your left foot forward becomes an advantage. (Demonstrates with a sudden pass at Gelly Meyrick, which catches him off guard.) 

Now what we call ‘stringering’ means to gain an advantage over your opponent by pre-parrying their blade, allowing you to strike or parry on the line that you have positioned yourself with relative safety. Some fights involve a constant game of stringering, disengaging, and further stringers by each swordsman. (The room echoes to the clash of rapiers, as they strike each other’s blades.)

Finally, my teacher, the late Sir Philip Sidney, used to say, ‘when you use a rapier to lunge against someone, it’s not just to kill them. You have to defend yourself at the same time. The lunge is fast, but leaves you vulnerable. The pass keeps you upright, and in a strong position. Strike, and parry your opponent’s blade with a single action!’

(They both bow to the audience)

AW: Let's hear it for the Earl of Essex and Master Meyrick! (And thanks to the St John Ambulance team for standing by, just in case...)

Before you go back to your desks, be sure to pick up the leaflet that tells you where you can find out more about Sir Robert and his adventures:

ESSEX - Tudor Rebel

Book two of the Elizabethan Series

New from Tony Riches, Author of the best-selling Tudor Trilogy

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, is one of the most intriguing men ofthe Elizabethan period. Tall and handsome, he soon becomes a ‘favourite’ at court, so close to the queen many wonder if they are lovers.

The truth is far more complex, as each has what the other yearns for. Robert Devereux longs for recognition, wealth and influence. His flamboyant naïveté amuses the ageing Queen Elizabeth, like the son she never had, and his vitality makes her feel young.

Robert Devereux’s remarkable true story continues the epic tale of the rise of the Tudors, which began with the best-selling Tudor trilogy and concludes with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Amazon AU

Author Bio

Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of Tudor historical fiction. He lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the lives of the early Tudors. As well as his new Elizabethan series, Tony’s historical fiction novels include the best-selling Tudor trilogy and his Brandon trilogy, (about Charles Brandon and his wives). For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website tonyriches.com and his blog, The Writing Desk and find him on  Facebook and Twitter @tonyriches

Our next guest will be Kung Li, also known as Fred Kung, a character sent by author Antoine Vanner. 

[Our previous guest: Catherine Wasson Clyde]

Skills Workshops: Processing Wheat in the 17th Century with Jean M. Roberts

Last year, I invited a number of authors to send suitable characters from their books to interview for an imaginary job in my imaginary company. Now a New Year is upon us, and as CEO of this company I've decided that my workforce needs to learn new skills for 2022. I've invited some more characters along to the blog, this time to deliver some workshops, and my employees have gathered in the outside 'picnic' area for a demonstration by Catherine Wasson Clyde, sent by her author Jean M. Roberts.

AW: Right, everyone settle down. If you can't find room on one of the benches you can sit on one of the plastic chairs. (Simons, I think it's best if you sit on your own over here.) Okay, phones off, and please give a warm welcome to our guest today...

CWC: Greetings everyone, please let me introduce myself. My name is Catherine Wasson Clyde. I live in Cherry Valley in the Mohawk Valley of New York. The year is 1778. My husband, Samuel, is a colonel in the New York Militia and is away fighting the British in our struggle to throw off the yoke of King George. All the able-bodied men of the village have gone, some fight with the loyalists other with the patriots. But work on the farm doesn’t stop just because a war is raging all around us. No, it’s up to me and the children to take care of the animals and bring in the harvest. If I don’t, we’ll starve.

Today is threshing day. We cut our wheat a week ago on a warm, sunny fall day, tied it into sheaves and brought it into the barn to protect it from rain. Samuel’s scythe is too heavy for me so I and the children used smaller hand scythes. I don’t believe I stood up straight for three entire days, so bad did my back ache. I wish Samuel was here to rub the pain away. The children’s young bodies are like the green grass, firm yet bendable. They slept well, but woke in the morning without complaint.

Image Credit

This morning, I served a hearty breakfast of hasty pudding with maple syrup and bacon to fuel our bodies for a day of hard work. After the dishes are done and the animals tended to, we gather in the large barn. The children drag their feet. Threshing is a hot, dusty process, and no one looks forward to it.

Before we start, I lay a large tarp, an old piece of sailcloth, over the dirt floor. To separate the wheat kernels from the stalks, we must beat it using a flail. What is a flail, you wonder? Each flail is made of two stout sticks, one long, like a broom handle and a second shorter fatter one. They are joined by a piece of leather. I check the leather to ensure it is well-oiled and supple and has not dried out over the summer. There’s nothing worse than a flail separating mid-swing, sending a projectile of wood flying about. I once heard of a man knocked unconscious for three days after being hit in the head. Of course, his wife claims he was only ducking out on the work!

[AW: There's no need for you all to duck. Ms Clyde knows what she's doing, and the safety officer checked everything this morning.]

CWC: We start by placing several sheaves into the center of the tarp and position ourselves in a circle around it. We pick up our flails by the long end, and one by one we swing them so that the short end beats the wheat. It takes a while for everyone to get into rhythm. To help and to make the time pass, we sing songs. Before long, we are working together as a team, taking breaks to rest or add more sheaves to the pile. 

[Video in slow motion of this action: Click HERE]

At last, we rake the wheat straw from the kernels. We waste nothing on the farm, using the straw to stuff our mattresses and to feed the cows. Too tired to do more, the children and I return to the house. I spread a calendula salve on our red, chapped palms then send the children out to finish the day’s chores while I prepare our supper. With Samuel gone, it will take us many more days to thresh all the wheat. He can thresh 500 pounds of grain in a single day!

The process is not yet finished. There is more work to be done! I’ll wait for a sunny, windy day to winnow the kernels from their thick protective coating. I use a winnowing tray to toss the wheat into the air, letting the stiff breeze carry away the lighter chaff. Before I store the kernels, the children and I pick out any small pebbles or other debris by hand. 

To use the wheat, I need to take it to the mill to have it ground into flour. We are lucky that the miller is too old to fight and has remained in the valley. I carry a sack of wheat to him each week or two as the flour spoils quickly, especially in the cold damp of winter. Each week, the girls and I make bread, rolls and pies with our flour. I take special pride in knowing that my hand touched the grain from planting to eating. Samuel will be proud of his children; they have been a great help to me. I hope this war ends soon, and he returns to us.  

I hope you have enjoyed my little presentation. I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but someone has written a book about me and Samuel. It’s called Blood in the Valley and it tells the story of how my Scots-Irish parents, siblings and I left New Hampshire to settle in the wilds of New York. Several historians have praised it for its authenticity in its portrayal of rural colonial life. 

The author, Jean M. Roberts, is a distant cousin of mine. You can follow her on social media here:

My Blog: The Books Delight

Amazon Author Page

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on Facebook

Instagram 

Website

Blood in the Valley is available at Amazon and can be read for free using Kindle Unlimited. 

Amazon US

AW: Let's hear it again for our guest today! (And Simons, I heard that comment. No, we can't sack the canteen chef and get Ms Clyde to come and provide fresh loaves every day.)

Our next guest will be Sir Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, sent by author Tony Riches. For his demonstration, I'll need you to stay behind the safety ropes at all times...

(If you missed the last post, you can catch it here: Lady Lucy Apsley's Great Tower Bake-Off)

Skills Workshops: The Great Tower Bake-Off with Elizabeth St. John's Lucy Apsley

Last year, I invited a number of authors to send suitable characters from their books to interview for an imaginary job in my imaginary company. Now a New Year is upon us, and as CEO of this company I've decided that my workforce needs to learn new skills for 2022. I've invited some more characters along to the blog, this time to deliver some workshops, and my employees have gathered in the hastily-erected marquee and are reading a leaflet which says:

The Great Tower of London Bake Off 

Preparation Class

Presented by

Lady Lucy Apsley

The Lieutenant’s Wife, Tower of London

So, after the usual safety announcements (yes, Simons, I shall be watching you carefully...) I'll hand over to our guest. Please give her a round of applause.

Lady Lucy Apsley

LA: Hello and welcome to the Great Tower of London Bake Off Preparation Class.  My name is Lady Lucy Apsley, the wife of the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, and I’ll be your host today. Because this is a demonstration to prepare you for your upcoming participation in Neck Off, Bake Off, we have asked the judges to leave the Tower tent. However, I would like to introduce you to my two prisoners, assistants, Sir Walter Raleigh and Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, also known as “The Wizard Earl”. Since they have a LOT of time on their hands right now, and have a keen interest in alchemy cooking, they have agreed to help me with the demonstration.

You can read more about us in The Lady of the Tower, a historical fiction novel written by my descendent, Elizabeth St.John. While researching her book, she visited my home within the Tower of London, walked through my kitchen and garden, and spent time in Walter and Henry’s lodgings, the Bloody Tower and the Martin Tower. 

For our demonstration, I asked for a good 17th Century test kitchen, with the following as minimum:

A large open fire, complete with andirons, firedogs, cupdogs, hooks and chains, and a trammel crane

Drip pans

A spit boy (or a small dog and wheel, if a boy is not forthcoming) 

[AW: honestly, the dog's fine. He's almost trained. HR said we couldn't use a child.] 

A set of scales

A pestle and mortar 

A set of pans – griddle, frying, cauldrons and kettles

Beakers, mug, tankards 

Knives and boards

Saucers, trenchers, platters and a porringer or two and I'm glad to see they have all been provided.

Now, although I am in charge of feeding all the prisoners in the Tower of London, I am particularly responsible for their health and wellbeing. There are gardens around my home, and an orchard on Tower Green that leads all the way to the site of the execution block. When I arrived, I expanded the herb and medicinal garden, and ensured that I had all that I needed to take care of the prisoners. In fact, here’s an excerpt from my daughter’s diary (who was born in the Tower) about my life:

Sir Walter Raleigh and Mr. Ruthven being prisoners in the Tower, and addicting themselves to chemistry, (my mother) suffered them to make their rare experiments at her cost, partly to comfort and divert the poor prisoners, and partly to gain the knowledge of their experiments, and the medicines to help such poor people as were not able to seek physicians. By these means she acquired a great deal of skill, which was very profitable to many all her life. She was not only to these, but to all the other prisoners that came into the Tower, as a mother. All the time she dwelt in the Tower, if any were sick she made them broths and restoratives with her own hands, visited and took care of them, and provided them all necessaries; if any were afflicted she comforted them, so that they felt not the inconvenience of a prison who were in that place.

When my father was sick she was not satisfied with the attendance of all that were about him, but made herself his nurse, and cook, and physician, and, through the blessing of God, and her indefatigable labours and watching, preserved him a great while longer than the physicians thought it possible for his nature to hold out.

Extract from Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson by Lucy Hutchinson

Today, I’m asking Sir Walter and Lord Henry to demonstrate their “Signature Bake” remedies, choosing from a selection of curatives I have to hand. Later in my life I shared these recipes with my niece, Lady Johanna St.John, and her complete recipe book from 1670 is available to read online at The Lydiard Archives.

Since this is the New Year, and many of us have resolutions to cleanse and restore our physical beings, I have asked them to provide me their favourite recipes for cordials and blood purifiers. Sir Walter very kindly included a note pointing out that his recipe also cures wind.

Ready boys? 

On your marks

Get Set

Bake

Sir Walter is preparing his efficacious and very costly Gilbert’s Water, a curative created by his half-brother Adrian Gilbert. He assures me

“It is bad for nothing it cures wind and the colick restoreth decayed nature good for a consumption expels poison & all infection from the Hart helps digestion purifies the blood gives motion to the spirits drives out the smallpox for the grippes in young children weomen in labor bringeth the Afterbirth stops floods for sounding and faintings.”

He certainly used some extremely precious ingredients. I’m not sure he’s left himself much time, for the recipe itself is complex, requiring Dragons Burnett leaves (also known as the simple dragon’s mace, a common weed – he’s one for picking his own, is Walter), and then moving on to a page full of rarer ingredients, such as “Crab’s Eyes taken in the full of the moon.”  Promoting the contemporary belief man shared the virtue of the plants digested, Walter is taking no chances with his curative, empowering the recipient with dragon strength to fight his condition.

Now, I see that Lord Henry is also using Crab’s Eyes in his signature bake of Dr Dickinsons great Cordial Powder – along with many other ingredients that only perhaps a wizard would think of consuming. His recipe, I must say, is one I will leave for the judges to sample…he advocates using a Trochisk of Vipers, which is a small lozenge made of the desiccated body of snakes, which is then dissolved into a cordial, powders or held on the tongue. He also insists that his black tipps of crabs are only taken in May. And as for the ambergreies and ivory – the man has no idea of budgeting. However, he does specialize in bespoke, personalised medicine – the Earl recommends “for weomen leave out the musk & Amber greie.”

Lord Henry also kindly included a couple of other recipes with his bake, including that of curing a cramp by laying a decapitated black snayl upon oneself. Personally, I would rather have Sir Phillip Warwick’s recommendation of wearing Briony roote in my pocket.

Well, boys, you have one more turn of the hour glass; that’s one more turn.

For now, we shall leave Sir Walter and Lord Henry in the tent to finish up their recipes. This afternoon, they are insisting on returning to my henhouse to continue their alchemy experiments, where I will be standing close by with a bucket of water, just in case.

I hope you have found this preparation “Bake Off” class helpful, and will return to your modern kitchens full of enthusiasm to replicate these recipes. Be sure to let me know how you get on!

AW: Thank you so much Lady Apsley. I'm sure everyone is feeling inspired. Sorry about the dog embarrassing itself like that. Before you all head back to your desks, give it up one more time for Lady Lucy Apsley and her prisoners assistants, and don't forget to pick up the leaflet giving you more details:

For more information, recipes, and Elizabeth’s novel The Lady of the Tower, you may go to:

Website: www.elizabethjstjohn.com

Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn

The Lydiard Archives: www.TheLydiardArchives.org.uk

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethJStJohn

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElizStJohn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethjstjohn/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14941581.Elizabeth_St_John

Universal Buy Links

The Lady of the Tower (KU, Kindle and Print)  https://geni.us/MyBookLOTT

The Lady of the Tower (Audio)  https://geni.us/LOTTAUDIO

Elizabeth at Lydiard Park

Next time, we'll be welcoming Catherine Wasson Clyde, from the 18th century, sent by author Jean M. Roberts, whom I believe is a distant cousin of hers. Catherine will be showing us how to thresh wheat, so outside if fine, here in the tent if wet.

Skills Workshops: Survival with Anya Pavelle's Leilani Lo

Last year, I invited a number of authors to send suitable characters from their books to interview for an imaginary job in my imaginary company.

Now a New Year is upon us, and as CEO of this company I've decided that my workforce needs to learn new skills for 2022. I've invited some more characters along to the blog, this time to deliver some workshops, and my employees have gathered in the car park to hear what Leilani Lo (courtesy of author Anya Pavelle) has to tell them.

Leilani Lo asked for the following to be made available for her demonstration: pieces of bamboo, a knife for cutting and carving, a jug of sand, pieces of hardwood, loose gravel, kindling for building fires, ten small rocks, two vessels to hold water, dried coconut shells, palm fronds, rocks for grinding charcoal, and a pair of tongs. I got some strange looks at the checkout of the local hardware store, but anyway...

AW: Settle down everyone, phones off, don't worry about the fact that I'm standing by with a fire extinguisher, and please give a big welcome to Leilani Lo!

LL: Hello, Course Attendees,

My name is Leilani Lo, or Leilani Ani, the name I was born with. I am from Anya Pavelle’s book, The Moon Hunters. I refer to my birth name as my “cult name” because I grew up in a restrictive religious environment that people have told me is a cult. However, I do not wish to focus on that sordid part of my life. My main purpose here is to teach about survival. You see, I was born on a remote island, one without electricity or phones of any type. I imagine you’re cringing at the thought of living without these conveniences. Although people in your world call my home island “primitive,” those conditions were normal to me. I knew of nothing else. It was only when I escaped my home island that I learned just how important technology can be. 

That said, I firmly believe people should be able to survive without modern devices. Natural disasters happen, after all, both on my home island and in your world. I hope this class will help prepare for such an eventuality. 

Today, I will be teaching you about water purification. Without water, people die within days. You can immediately drink rain that falls from the sky, but you should purify water before drinking if it has been stored in cisterns. Microorganisms can grow in water storage systems, and drinking this water may make you ill. 

Boiling Method: Most people know how to boil water, so if you have a metal pot but no stove, all you must do is build a fire and set the pot and water over the flame. What if you don’t have a metal pot, though? What if you only have a wooden bowl or vessel that can’t be placed over a fire? Well, fear not. You simply need to build a fire and place your rocks in the flame. I recommend many small rocks for this method of water purification, as they are easier to pick up and set into your water when heated. On my home island, we used solar stones and friction methods to start fires. If you do not have matches or lighters, you may attend my fire-starting seminar to learn this survival technique. [AW: If anyone is interested in this seminar, see me afterwards. Not you, Simons. We all know very well that you know how to start a fire...]

LL: In any case, let’s return to water purification. Let the rocks heat in the fire for at least half an hour. After this time has passed, get your pair of tongs. You do not need to use fancy kitchen tongs. Two hearty sticks that have been joined by vine or string will suffice. The important thing is to use a tool that will allow you to safely pick up the hot rocks. Remove these rocks from the fire one by one, placing them into your vessel of water carefully. The water inside should boil, thereby killing potentially dangerous microorganisms. 

Please remember to let the water cool before you drink it. For good measure, you may repeat this process a few times if you worry the water hasn’t boiled enough. This method of purifying water works well for rainwater that is stored in cisterns. You could also purify water from a fast-moving river or stream using hot rocks. 

Charcoal Filtration Method: If the water you want to drink has visible impurities, I recommend filtering it before drinking or even before using the boiling method. I know many of you have water filters installed in the plumbing of your homes, so think of my demonstration as a more antiquated version of those filters. I am first going to teach you how to make the charcoal needed for the filter. If you already have charcoal on hand, you may skip the following steps. 

First, dig a pit in the ground. I recommend you make this pit in sturdy soil instead of sand, but sand will work if you have no other choice. The pit should not collapse in on itself. You will also be covering this pit after the fire has started, hence the need for palm fronds or other leaves. You want this fire to be in a low oxygen environment to help the wood and coconut shells carbonize. 

Next, place your dry, mature coconut shells in the bottom of the pit, along with pieces of hardwood that are no more than four inches long. You will be using the charred hardwood and charred coconut shells as charcoal for your water filtration device. After you cover the bottom of your pit with shells and wood, light your kindling and edge the burning pieces under your layer of coconut shells. Make sure the kindling does not go out as you place it under the shells. Continue building the fire by adding kindling as needed. The hardwood should also be burning. 

Keep adding kindling and more hardwood until you see the coconut shells begin to glow. Next, cover the burning shells and wood with a layer of palm fronds. Then, cover the fronds with layers of sand or earth. Let the fire burn for at least twelve hours. It will sometimes take twenty-four hours to create usable charcoal. Cooking time for the charcoal is a process of trial and error. 

When the appropriate amount of time has passed, uncover the fire. The coconut shells and hardwood should look like charcoal briquettes. Remove these pieces of charcoal and put out any remnants of the fire. Let the charred wood and coconut shells cool. When the charcoal is no longer hot, grind it using rocks as a mortar and pestle. You now have charcoal for a water filter. Because charcoal takes hours, or days, to prepare, I recommend having some on hand. You do not want to die of dehydration while you wait for coconut shells to carbonize. 

To make the filter itself, grab a piece of bamboo. Bamboo is hollow, so works as an ideal container for a water filter. You should use a piece of bamboo that is around two feet long. You will also need a plug for the bottom of the filtration device. Carve a piece of wood (bamboo is fine) that can plug the bottom of your piece of bamboo. Then, drill a small hole in this plug. Your filtered water will drip from this hole and into your collection vessel. 

Secure the plug to the bottom of the bamboo tube. Then, put two inches of loose gravel into the bamboo tube, followed by an inch of sand. Next, add two inches of ground charcoal. After the charcoal, add another layer of gravel. You should then add at least one more layer each of sand and charcoal. Make sure six inches of space (or more) remains at the top of the bamboo tube. 

You are now ready to purify water in the bamboo tube. Place a vessel for collecting water under the bottom of the tube. I suggest suspending the filtration device a few inches above this vessel so that you can monitor the flow of water and its purity. Finally, slowly pour unpurified water into the top of the bamboo tube. Do not let the water overflow. Filtration with this method will take time, but the water that emerges at the bottom of the tube should be relatively clear of sediment. The charcoal and sand will trap impurities. 

Drinking clean water is important, so you may use the rock boiling method as described above to further purify the water that drips out of the bamboo tube. The charcoal filtration method removes impurities from the water, but these two methods work best when used in tandem. You may also boil the water first and then send it through the bamboo filtration device. If you choose this order, then wait until the water cools before you pour it into the bamboo tube. I suggest replacing the charcoal, sand, and gravel in your bamboo tube after several uses. You may use new bamboo, as well. 

I hope this class has been informative and that you never have to purify water using the rudimentary methods described above. Knowledge is power, though. If you want to learn more about my life on my home island, you may follow Anya Pavelle on social media or visit her website. 

AW: Thanks so much to Leilani Lo for that informative talk and demonstration, and I'm pleased to see so many of you were taking notes. You just never know what this kind of information will come in handy. Let's give another huge round of applause and on your way back inside, please take one of the flyers which shows Anya's book and details of where to find her:

http://www.anyapavelle.com 

Twitter: @anyapavelle

Instagram: @anyapavelle

The next workshop will be delivered by Lucy Apsley, a real-life 17th-century character, sent by author Elizabeth St John, and it's called Lucy Apsley's Tower Bake-Off, so please come dressed appropriately. It could get messy...

Interview with author Lisette Brodey

I'm delighted to welcome author Lisette Brodey to the blog today. She's written numerous books and the first thing I had to ask was:

AW:You write in various genres, but would you say there are any themes which connect your books? 

LB: As different as my book genres have been, yes, there are many themes which connect them. First, strong interpersonal relationships between flawed characters are very important to me. Another theme, which is present in every book I write, is secrets. We all have them … to a greater or lesser degree, but there are some secrets which only embarrass. The ones I write are usually the kind that rock the collective world of many. 

I’ve never written a book, no matter how serious, without humor in it. Many years ago, before I decided to write novels, I thought I might wish to be a playwright. I went to an event for the Dramatist’s Guild where the well-known playwright Neil Simon was speaking. I remember him talking about how humor is often the best at the most depressing, stressful, or tragic moment of a story. Of course, I am paraphrasing, but his point resonated with me then as it does today.

To digress for a moment, at that same event was the playwright Peter Stone. During the Q&A, someone asked him what he thought of critics. Though this was decades ago, I still remember his answer verbatim, which brought forth a huge laugh: “They all blend into one hideous man.” It was easily the funniest moment of the night. (AW: this made me chuckle!)

One last place I seek inspiration is from all of the discarded pieces of writing that I’ve collected since my early 20s. In Hotel Obscure, there are a few stories and ideas that came directly from earlier writing. Sometimes, we have great ideas that just don’t have any place when we come up with them. I always tell writers, especially younger ones: save your ideas; you never know.

That's such good advice, and now I feel justified in keeping piles of notes and ideas everywhere! Where does your inspiration come from; real-life experience/observation, or is it pure imagination?

My inspiration comes from absolutely anywhere. All I need is that seed of something that entices me to plant it and help it grow. Once place I look to for inspiration, when I’m actively searching for some, is paintings. Sometimes, I see a story in one and it gives me an idea. Songs are another source of motivation. That doesn’t mean I’ll write the story in the song … far from it. But there may be one line that gives me an idea. Inspiration is truly everywhere. And yes, quite a bit comes from observation and real-life experience. But I have never written one character to be a specific person. Even if I tried to do it, by the time I wrote the book, the character would be different. But sometimes, just to get myself started, I will envision someone – whether it be a TV character or someone I know. 

A great tip there for those who might be wondering just where to start when they get stuck. And talking of new things, can you tell us a little about The Waiting House? You describe it as a ‘novel in stories’ and I’ve recently read your wonderful book Hotel Obscure. There, the characters appeared in more than one story and were all connected in some way to the hotel. Is The Waiting House in a similar vein?

Yes, The Waiting House is in a similar vein, but there are many differences. After being told by some readers that Hotel Obscure read like a novel, I decided that I would challenge myself and make my next collection an actual “novel in stories.” Even more so than Hotel Obscure, while most stories introduce new characters and situations, each one is structured to also advance the overall story arc. I’ll tell you a secret, Annie, if you promise to keep it between the two of us: there is a character from Hotel Obscure in one of the stories. (AW: That's very exciting and of course, I won't tell a soul...😉)

The other difference in the books, which I didn’t set out to do, is the tone of the book. The Waiting House has a definite “Twilight Zone” vibe as well as a good amount of dark humor. That said, I tried hard to write thought-provoking stories that reflect the depth, struggles, and decisions that human beings make … as well as much in life/death that is undefined. And lastly, the characters all live in The Waiting House, an apartment house that used to be a fancy hotel for those seeking a Hollywood-like atmosphere. All of the apartments are uniquely decorated with vintage Hollywood Regency furniture … and in many ways, the furniture is part of the stories.

It sounds really interesting, not to say intriguing. When you sit down to write a new story, is the end already in your mind, or do you give you characters free rein? And which do you find hardest - characterisation or plotting?

As I said above, ideas can come from absolutely anywhere, but plotting definitely is more difficult. I won’t write a book unless I know the beginning, middle, and end. That said, the book often changes course as I write, and layers are always added. For me, and many writers, I would imagine that the greatest ideas come when we’re actually writing. I need to know where I’m going, but when writing, I may decide to take a train instead of an airplane, and usually get a hankering for a few unplanned side trips.

Although I know what the ending will be, the way I present it may change drastically from how I first envisioned it. I’m always surprised when authors say they’ve written the last chapter first. Through interviewing so many authors over the years, I’ve learned that authors’ processes are as similar as they are different.

Yes, I think even though we all share certain aspects of the writing process, we all approach it differently. Can you tell us what you’re working on at the moment?

Well, that’s a tough one. Every day, the first thing I try to do is not bang my head against the wall of nails that awaits me. (I’ve already bruised my forehead many times on it!)

I can tell you that it’s a novel, and it centers around a very strong character I have envisioned. I would like to have had more done on this book, but I don’t like developing books (too heavily) while I’m with a current WIP because I want my passion and focus to stay put and not go elsewhere. However, I can’t help but think about next project, and I have a Word document where I type in all possible ideas to be examined and developed later. I try to write every idea down. I think most of us can relate to having had “great ideas” that we promptly forgot after assuring ourselves they were “too good to forget.” (AW: Oh yes, especially in the middle of the night!)

Right now, I’m developing the character’s back story and how it has impacted who he is today. It’s in the very early stages.

And yes, I am jotting down ideas for another short story or novel-in-stories collection, but I don’t want to publish two in a row. It took me a long time to settle with the location for The Waiting House. I really had to feel it with every fiber of my being.

It seems that you have plenty of inspiration and material to keep busy! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat today and I'm very much looking forward to reading The Waiting House.

Thank you so much for inviting me your blog, Annie. A true pleasure chatting with you.

Readers can find Lisette's books here:

http://author.to/lisettebrodey