Taking Tea With Kim Falconer — & A Few WALL Series Characters :-)

KimFalconer

Over on the Supernatural Underground currently, fellow author and friend Kim Falconer has another post-of-excellence on Books, Tea, and Magic. Kim’s post looks at the wider literary connection between books and tea, as well as the direct connection to the tale told within her about-to-be-released new novel, Crown of Bones — which will be out on 5 January (2021: oh my!) Only 15 sleeps to go!

Books, Tea, And Magic — with Kim Falconer, writing as AK Wilder

Kim very kindly invited me to contribute to the post with a reference to tea in The Wall Of Night series, but unfortunately I didn’t receive the message until too late, being far awa’ in the vasty wilds of writing retreat and so off t’interwebs.

Nonetheless, I thought, “Why not feature Kim’s post here today and feature a WALL series reference by way of added interest?” So far, the chief reference to tea comes in WALL #3, Daughter Of Blood.

Mistress Ise, who is the former governess to Myr, one of the main characters, hails not from Myr’s House, which is Blood, but from the House of the Rose. Drinking tea, or tisane as Ise and Myr refer to it—since the teas they take are chiefly herbal—is definitely part of the Rose culture, although not so much in the House of Blood. OK, not at all, in the House of Blood… 😉

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The following passage introduces the reader to both tisane and the Rose custom:

“The night lamp in Ise’s sitting room was turned down, and Myr tripped against a low table in the dimness. Her heart pounded as she crouched down, steadying the antique silver tray on its stand. Each leg was carved into the shape of a dragon, with the tray held between their open jaws. When Myr was very small she had liked to rub the snarling heads and trace the moon-and-star patterns incised into the tray. Ise had brought the table with her from the House of the Rose and always used it for their court’s rituals of calligraphy and taking tisane. Now Myr left her note there…”

~ from © Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three: Chapter 23 — The Midnight Keep

Now you may be thinking, Helen wrote: “So far, the chief reference to tea comes in WALL #3.” I wonder if that means that tea appears in some way in WALL #4?

The answer is yes, as the work-in-progress currently stands, it does. It doesn’t concern the House of the Rose either, but although I can’t tell you more than that right now, it may be the basis for a sneak preview at some stage in the future…

In the meantime, Kim’s book is coming out very soon, plus there’s that genuine in-this-world Ochee tea. To find out more about Crown of Bones, you can go here: