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| Dead Steward's Gift by Stefania | 6 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Agape4Gondor | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 2/6/2008 |
| Very interesting! And how Faramir is going to react to this woman who has 'breached' his father's private room! Author Reply: Only the next chapter will tell. Could Denethor have known the woman? Did her life and Denethor's ever intersect? That's enough hints for you. - Steff | |
| sarasrati | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/28/2008 |
| I just love Faramir interacting with Cirri! That cat is a great character, and you have written Faramir so wonderfully. Can't wait for the next installment! Also, ew. That soup sounds horrific! Author Reply: Sarasrati, Larner, and others - The soup is based on Cioppino, a popular fish soup that my home town of San Francisco claims as its own. The base for Ciopino is tomato broth and our delicious Dungeonnes crabs. However, that type of crab is only found in Northern California, USA. My Minas Tirith concoction had to have other types of seafood, including mussels and clams, neither of which I find particularly appealing. And by the way, Cioppino does stink to high heaven, IMHO, if you happen to make it in your kitchen. The smell is guaranteed to make all the cats in your neighborhood sing and dance. - Steff | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/28/2008 |
| Oh, dear! They are interrupted, and she falls. Now, who is she, and what's she doing up there? And that soup does sound awful! Author Reply: Gotta wait until next chapter to find out about the woman. But here's a hint. The ghostly woman is someone with a very good reason to be in the Observatory. Because "Dead Steward's Gift" is really a comedy/mystery, there is a logical, mundane world explanation for the spookiest stuff. - Steff | |
| irene | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/28/2008 |
| How delightful! I love your prose, your ideas, your everything -- by the way, interesting to know how a mariner from Belfalas would sign ok... it's the international code or was but to put this tiny detail into a story-- that's you! No ghost, of course, but the interest is piqued even more. Why, oh why don't you write much more stories? Yes, I know, to earn a living has priority... I can somehow imagine how it will go on although I find the bruises on the woman's arms hard to explain. You will do that. Thank you, thank you! Irene Author Reply: Hi Irene - Thanks for supporting my writing over the years. The arcing of the torch that the woman uses to signal "all clear" is my invention. It might very well be a real world international standard, but I just meant it to be a Steff-verse plot device. Now the mystery remains, who is this ghostly woman and who is she signaling "all clear" to? Hee hee. The bruises on the woman's arm have a very logical, real world explanation, which is revealed in the next chapter. She's a mess, poor thing. - Steff | |
| Edlyn | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/28/2008 |
| And the pot thickens! I must say I love Cirri. He reminds me of Mischief-Micah, a large black cat who once owned me for nine years, especially when Cirri tried to climb into the soup pot (Micah attempted to share everything I ate, particularly if it was fish)! So who is this mysterious woman? I suppose you'll tell us eventually. I am enjoying this story very much and love the descriptions and atmosphere. So I will sit back and pet my current feline familiar (Balian de Meadowburne, an 8 month old Bengal kitten) and consider whether to make fish soup as I wait for the next chapter. Author Reply: I'm sure your realize that in this story the black cat's familiar is Faramir :) . Cirri is as much the sleuth in this story as Faramir, helping his master in the way Carole Nelson Douglass' character Midnight Louie assists his mistress Temple Barr. Cirri's antics are based on some of my cat ZouZou's pranks, and also on other cat behavior that I've seen. Indeed, I once saw a young cat try to climb a man's leg in a begging frenzy. I don't remember what food the man carried, but that kitten clearly wanted it. Enjoy your little Bengal cat. A friend of mine has a female Bengal who is quite a character. - Steff | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 1/28/2008 |
| I just loved Ciri in this chapter and could see my Leo in his actions.The humour was truly delightful. A very scary conclusion leaves me eager to know what happens next.I'm enjoying this story very much. Author Reply: Hi Linda - Cirri is Faramir's assistant in his own kitty cat way. The next chapter is the big reveal in which we find out: o Who the heck is this woman? o What is she doing in the Observatory? o Who is she signaling? o What happenned to the palantir? I'll try to complete the next chapter in the next week or two. - Steff | |