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What do you mean, a glass of tea?
In Turkey, tea is served in these little thin-waisted – ince belli, they call it – clear glasses. You grasp them by the very top rim, so as not to burn your fingers, and you sip the piping hot black liquid. The glasses sit in little saucers to catch any spillage. In my own kitchen, I have a stack of them, with designs of ladybugs, flowers and hearts, but the ones that seem to be universally available at tea gardens have red stripes. You might drink several glasses at one sitting – with sugar if you prefer, but never with milk. Tea seems… Read more…
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Research makes the story come alive
I squeaked in some travel in the summer of 2021 that was really important. There’s a small part of Another Glass of Tea that’s set in the Turkish town of Datça on the Aegean coast. I’ve heard people talk about it, and seen photos of friends vacationing there. And for some reason I knew it had to be there. Another part takes place in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Kuzguncuk. Colourful houses of Kuzguncuk There was only one problem. I’d never actually been to either of those places. So when Canada’s COVID numbers were declining at the same time Turkey’s were, and second vaccines… Read more…
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Where it all began
My first published piece! I’ve been writing all my life. As a kid, I scribbled stories in a little notebook I kept hidden under my mattress. I was first published at the age of 12, in my father’s company’s employee publication. I won a contest showcasing my family’s Christmas traditions. Spurred on by that success, the next year I “published” my first book about my dog Frisky – how she came to live with us, the villagers who fed her treats on her daily jaunt and the puppies she birthed (all nine of them!). My mother helped me type out… Read more…
