Hello, my lovelies!
I've had some great reviews this week--and if one of them was
yours THANK YOU!!! <3
However, one particular reviewer expressed a legitimate concern that
I feel I should address here, since it's generally frowned upon for
an author to respond directly to any of their reviews.
As anyone who's read Hemlock or Wolfsbane knows, my characters are
rather partial to their ale. In almost every scene, someone's
swigging it from a bladder or a tankard, or a barrel!
Well, this reviewer was rather concerned, and rightly so, about the
risk of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome-aka FAS. (No spoilers! I'm talking
generally here.)
You know what? I considered addressing this very subject during the
process of writing both books, but I didn't want to turn the
narrative into a lecture or turn Martha into a preacher (because
she's obviously the only person in Erde who knows about the risks of
FAS, right?)
So what I did, rightly or wrongly, I just kept quiet. BUT... I did leave a few clues here and there to intimate that the everyday
ale on Erde wasn't the giggle-making drink we know today. (Martha's
only major hangover was after a night on the mead. Seth went loco
only after he'd been chugging wine. )
In years gone by, because the water could be rather dodgy back then,
people tended to drink ale which they considered safer. Of course,
then as now, there were various strengths of ale.
Dear readers, for the record, PLEASE be assured that any pregnant
characters you may encounter in either of my books will only ever be
drinking the weak and rather watery variety of ale. Well... unless I
specify otherwise.
Cool. I'm glad I finally got that off my chest. It's been niggling at me for a LONG time:)
(For more info on medieval drink, follow the link. This lady explains medieval drink far better than I ever could!)
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