Wintergirls comes out in 4 days…
You all know I live in a small town… well, actually I live on a country road outside of a small town. The town is Mexico, NY. We have a great high school, post office, grocery store, a diner, and two stoplights.
And we have a wonderful library and historical society.
The latter two joined forces yesterday and put on a Revolutionary-era tea. Proceeds from the tea and the book sale went to the Historical Society’s efforts to renovate a tin shop in our town that was a stop on the Underground Railway.
About one hundred people came out to hear me talk about CHAINS and enjoy tea and yummy delights.
Just one of the tables!
The food was all based on food mentioned in CHAINS. Here’s the menu.
Members of the historical society and a bunch of kids and teens dressed in period costume.
A couple of years ago, my neighbors were the first to hear a reading of CHAINS, when I read a chapter in draft at a Christmas celebration. Yesterday, many of the same people heard the opening pages to FORGE. They’ve all been sworn to secrecy!
FORGE probably won’t be out until next fall, but….
Wintergirls comes out in 4 days…
How lovely!
That’s so cool! I wish I had known, I drove from Potsdam to Syracuse yesterday (i.e. through Mexico) and would have stopped by 😛
Were they being period with the tea? Because I’m part of a prop hunt for a 1799 play, and it’s hard finding what kinds of things they actually used, china vs. metal and that sort of thing. But that picture could be a help!
Hopefully Laurie will have a better answer for you, but what sort of utensils and cups were used (and whether they’d have had tea at all) depends in part on the ethnic background of your particular family, what country they lived in (US or England) and what their socioeconomic position was. Middle class and up would likely have had some china tea cups (how many, etc., depending on $), but lower classes would likely not have had them. They may have used pottery or pewter or tin instead, and may not have been able to afford tea, although they would likely have had something like a tisane at hand (herbal).
It the house of a very wealthy doctor, in Newcastle England. It’s not so much tea specifically, they drink a lot of wine in the show and there is one scene after dinner while the table is being cleared. It’s just hard to find what they would have used for wine mostly…and brandy as well. But thanks for that, I was assuming China but my dad mentioned pewter and I got suspicious.
A very wealthy doctor would have had glassware and china cups, for sure. (I do a lot of Austen-related research, and they had a complete set of Wedgewood even though they weren’t exceedingly wealthy.)
Small town life
I just love small town life…I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else! Sounds like you had a fabulous time!
That table is just beautiful!!!
When you say “next fall,” do you mean Fall 2010? That is quite far away but alas, I will wait. Not very patiently, but I will wait.
What a great event and worthy cause. Well done, my cousin!
re: Chains/Forge
I loved Chains, I love Isabel’s story and I am ready for Forge to come out. Please hurry!!!:)
Thank you for creating such wonderful characters.
My mom just picked up a copy of Wintergirls for me at River’s End (I’m currently away at college) and I got it in the mail yesterday…I’m so excited! Supporting our local bookstore AND getting one of your books in the bargain! 🙂
an author practically in my own backyard (i’m in fulton) and i didn’t even know it! i’ll definitely check you out next time i’m in a bookstore. i’ve already started a list of those i want to read…
I can’t believe that you live in Mexico, NY!
I am originally from Mexico, NY…what a small world!! My entire family still lives there and I come home to visit a few times a year. My maiden name is Askew and my mother’s family are the Clark’s that live on Hurlbut Road.
I always stop at the Big M for sourdough chocolate chip cookies when I an in town — my favorite! I can’t believe how much Mexico has changed in the last 10 years. I sorely miss Mimi’s diner — I existed on curly fries and gravy in HS.
I am sure you already know this, but the house that is to the right of what use to be Geivo’s and across the street from the intersection of rt 104 and rt 69 is a house that was part of the underground railroad as well. When I was in high school, the Beadle family owned it…not sure if they still do.
I have just picked up Twisted and can’t wait to read it. I never read the YA genre when I was one myself, I have only recently discovered it but I LOVE IT! I am excited to read a story from a troubled young man’s point of view…should be very interesting! I’ll keep an eye out for you the next time I am at the Big M 🙂