R. L. Stedman

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Tales For Troubled Times: 9 Books (About Pandemics) That Will Help You Escape

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Pandemic Books Are About Survival

Right now I’m addicted to movies about pandemics.

I’m not alone: According to the Business Insider, the 1995 movie “Outbreak” was the ninth most popular title on Netflix this week – and the 4th most popular movie.

The problem with most movies about pandemics is that quite frankly – they’re stupid. The science is BS, the characters are ridiculously one-dimensional and the dialogue is pretty ropy.

However, there are HEAPS of great books centered around pandemics. Some are historical, based on actual facts – yes, facts, ladies and gentlemen. Such things do exist, much as our beloved leaders may inform us otherwise.

https://youtu.be/dztiBI_BH0A

Pandemics Aren’t New

A slight digression here: I called my father the other day. He’s just over 80, full of ‘pre-existing conditions’ whatever that means, and lives alone.

“Are you worried?” I asked.

“Worried? Not really.”

At first, I thought this was just Dad being his usual stoic-self. But then I realized that this isn’t his first pandemic-rodeo.

Back when my father was young, the schools were closed because of a polio outbreak. (I wonder how my grandmother found this!?) Our ancestors were familiar with disease. My grandfather returned from WW1 right into the Spanish Flu. My grandfather’s grandfather (lots of great-greats there!) died of typhoid in the late 1800s. Disease has always been with us. But we humans forget so fast.

It was widespread, alarming, and then it suddenly all vanished. And by the next year, we’d almost forgotten…

Alistair Cooke on BBC World History, recounting his memories of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic

9 Great Pandemic Reads About Survivors

Please find below a list of great reads, featuring both pandemics and – get this, folks: SURVIVORS. Because that’s the thing about pandemics. People do survive. Life goes on.

About this list: it’s based in no particular order. But all the stories here are particularly well-written, exciting and (in general) highly escapist. Some are deeply thought-provoking: some just keep you turning the page.

Hope you enjoy.

The Doomsday Book - Pandemics

Doomsday Book – Connie Willis

Note: these links are Amazon Affiliate links, so I may gain a small commission if you purchase.

The Doomsday Book is one of my all-time favorite sci-fiction novels. Winner of BOTH the Hugo and Nebula Awards, this is a wonderful read.

Doomsday Book is set in a recognizable future where scientists at Oxford University, England, have discovered time travel. Historians can travel into the period they’re researching. But not all periods are safe, and until now, the 1300s have been off-limits.

But scholar Kivrin determined to visit the period before the Black Death, finally persuades her supervisor to allow her travel. Fatally though, just as she completes the jump back in time, the flu strikes Oxford, and there’s a disastrous error in her co-ordinates …

The narrative jumps back and forth, between present-day Oxford and the Middle-Ages past. The novel explores the nature of love, the purpose of humanity; the importance of faith. It is truly a wonderful read.

As a bonus, Doomsday Book is really, really long. So if you’re stuck in self-isolation, this will definitely keep you occupied.

Extra bonus: Willis’ other stories of the time-travelers at the Department of History, Oxford.

The Passage Trilogy – Justin Cronin

The story of Amy, the most important girl, and how the world changed … The Passage is a story about vampires, plague and survival. Almost operatic in scale, with a diverse, exciting cast of characters, the story starts before the plague begins, and ends with the dawning of a new age.

The Passage is amazingly fun to read, but be warned: each of the trilogy’s three novels is very, very long. Don’t be ashamed if you end up skimming.

(Amazon tells me it’s also a series on Fox – but as the trailer looks pretty sh*t, it’s not surprising that there was only one season. Stick to the books: they’re way better. )

 

The Girl With All The Gifts – M R Carey

Melanie is a very special girl. Her teachers call her “our little genius.”
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointed at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. When she jokes that she won’t bite, they don’t laugh.

Written by the extraordinarily gifted MR Carey, The Girl with All the Gifts is much, much more than a fast-paced zombie thriller. It’s a tale about endurance in a world gone mad, and the courage it takes to save a child. There’s also a sequel: The Boy on the Bridge.

Girl was made into a (disappointing) movie in 2016. It’s okay to watch, but as usual, the book is better.

Station Eleven – Emily St John Mandel

Station Eleven is a masterpiece.

Opening with the sudden death of once-great movie star Arthur Leander, the Station Eleven plays out against the backdrop of a devastating flu pandemic. The narrative moves from one time-line to another; threading the future to the past as we follow a group of traveling players as they traverse the midwest, performing Shakespeare against the eerie backdrop of civilization’s collapse.

Station Eleven is more than a disaster novel: it’s a story about the strength of the human spirit and the transformative power of art. It is also brilliant. Read it.

I am Legend – Richard Matheson

A small, perfectly formed story, that became a terrible movie, I Am Legend is a tale of a lone survivor and how he comes to terms with his loneliness. I especially recommend the audiobook.

Love in The Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I included Love in the Time of Cholera because I mean, that title!

Personally I didn’t love the book. In fact, I’ve pretty much forgotten what happens! (Wikipedia tells me that it’s about unrequited love and a second-chance romance.) So if you like that sort of thing, knock yourself out. It’s been made into a movie, too.

A Journal Of The Plague Year (Written By a Citizen Who Continued All The While In London) – Daniel Dafoe

Published in 1722, Journal purports to be an eye-witness account of the 1665 outbreak of Bubonic Plague. (Actually, it’s probably not autobiographical, as Dafoe was only 5 in 1665. But Dafoe, who also wrote Robinson Crusoe, is a brilliant story-teller, so don’t let that stop you).

Full disclosure: I’ve not read Journal yet, but here’s a great article from The Guardian if you want to find out more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/13/plague-coronavirus-british-panic-buying

The Breakers – Edward W. Robertson

The Breakers Series: If you thought the pandemic is bad, just wait until the aliens arrive.

The Breakers is good old-fashioned excitement. It should be made into a movie. Robertson’s written 6 books in the Breakers series, so if you enjoy fast-paced action, this series is definitely for you

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

After all this heavy apocalyptic fare, chances are you’ll need a light and frothy dessert. Fear not, my friends – here it is!

Where’s the connection with pandemics, you ask? Don’t you remember the Golgafrinchams?

It was the absence of Golgarfincham’s telephone sanitizers (those same sanitizers that were encountered by Arthur Dent in the first book of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), that ended Golgafrinchim’s civilization: the entire planet was wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone.

Finally

It’s taken me nearly two hours to write this blog post, and all the while I’ve been worrying that this content could be too much for folk in quarantine, or for those desperately concerned about family or friends.

Sometimes it’s better to escape; to forget the pandemic. I get that totally. Just don’t forget that if it’s escapism you want, book is always best!

Feel free to check out these blog posts for links to other great, escapist and light-hearted reads.

And wherever you are, stay safe.

God Bless.

 

How to Create a Writing Place: The Story of Zeph

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Every writer needs a special writing place, where their imagination can soar. This is mine.

Meet Zeph. He’s a 1977 caravan. We bought him about 16 years ago, when our kids were little. Here they are, still small, when Zeph was looking pretty cool.

Zeph the Caravan - My Writing Place

I started writing in Zeph about 10 years ago. The first story I wrote was A Necklace of Souls

The track led steadily downhill towards the cliff. Just when I feared that we would fall over the edge it turned, descending through daisies and yellow bracken towards the sand. Breakers pounded, spray drifting in a white mist. The ocean’s roar blended with the wind, so it seemed the world was all noise.

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Then came Inner Fire, set in Devon. We didn’t take Zeph to Devon, it was too far, but I wrote these words inside him, much later:

‘Look.’ Rowan said. ‘See? A stone circle.’

And now I could see it — flat rocks placed upright in the shape of a ring. It was fairly atmospheric, with the mist and the gray sheep and the silence. There were … I counted the stones out loud … twenty stones.

‘Count it again.’ Rowan sounded amused.

So I did, going back the other way. Which was widdershins? And was widdershins good luck or bad? While I was trying to work this out I forgot which number I was up to. ‘Twenty-two,’ I said. ‘I think.’

He counted too. ‘Twenty-one.’

‘You must have left one out.’

‘And how could I do that, with the stones here in front of me?’

‘And how could I do that, with the stones here in front of me?’

Inner Fire

He grabbed me, pinning my arms to my sides. ‘What do they say?’ His face was close to mine.

‘Just … that they can’t count properly.’

He smiled, and kissed me full on the mouth.

Oh. My. God.

(Can you guess what genre Inner Fire is? 🙂 )

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Another visit, another story. This time, based in Berlin.

GS 0793-Peralta.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolperstein#/media/File:GS_0793-Peralta.jpg

These are Stolperstein – literally ‘stumbling stones’: small bronze plaques placed in the cobbles outside the houses of those taken by Nazis. They’re speckled throughout Germany, especially Berlin, and we stayed in the Jewish Quarter, so you walked over people’s names and the dates of their forced removal and death every day.

I wrote this story, staring out at the rain-streaked windows of the old caravan:

In Berlin, the sidewalk marks the dead. Small bronze plaques, set into the cobbles, remembered those who’d once lived here. … Fatima took up her violin and laid her empty case, open for stray coins, near the Kessler family. They had been murdered in various camps over 1943, so at first, Fatima had felt guilty for choosing this spot. But it was a good place because the pavement was warmed by the train station underneath, and anyway, the Kesslers didn’t mind. If anything, they seemed to enjoy her music.

Alice
Alice: A Short Story

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Over the last few years, Zeph’s been deteriorating. We’ve been using him less and less for camping, and I’ve been writing at home, where it’s been warmer and dry-er.

Zeph - ugly caravan writing place

Last year, we decided it was time to improve Zeph, to take him out of his old paddock and make him pretty. Plus, the kids have just left home, so we needed a project.

We’ve been doing Zeph up over the last year.

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It’s been difficult to find the time to write, but I have managed to squeeze one story out – it’s coming out in the ODT this summer.

Petra always finished her run at the Esplanade. Here she’d treat herself to a take-out espresso from the café beside the shark bell, sipping the hot coffee slowly while she watched the surfers dancing with death on the tops of the waves.

She watched for sharks, too, but never saw any. They were out there though, because next to the bell was a memorial to the surfers taken by Great Whites, over forty years ago.

Petra liked to think of the enormous killers, swimming silent through the deep. They were apex predators. No-one messed with sharks.

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And – finally …

Here is Zeph, all bright and shiny new. We have just finished! He came home on Thursday night.

Now he’s ready for new stories.

Pretty caravan writing place

Here’s to Zeph, and more stories to come!

P.S. This blog post was first given as a talk at Wild Imaginings Hui, 2019

How To Be Lucky – A Short Story

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Luck Takes Many Forms

Cover Image: Magic book
Image from Unsplash

Mabel Merriweather grew up knowing she was lucky.

“Luck of the O’Gormans,” said Ma, drawing a line on Mabel’s palm with a finger. “See that mark there?”

“It’s a freckle.”

“Maybe, maybe. But that freckle is the shape of a heart, see? That’s the sign of the Luck. We’re lucky, you and I. Aunt had it, and me Grandma too. And her ma a’fore that, and back before that.”

Mabel, aged seven-and-three-quarters, was naturally cynical. She was aware that adults can be tricky beasts, prone to teasing the innocent – but also, being a child, she was naturally curious.

“Me and mine,” said Ma, folding Mabel’s small hand into a fist, “who bear that mark are naturally lucky. ‘Tis a fact.”

Mabel thought they didn’t seem that lucky, being as Da had just died, run over by a runaway horse in the middle of the street. “But –” she began.

Ma shook her head vigorously. “But me no buts, girl. Accept it, and do right, that’s what my Ma always said, aye, and her Ma too, and that’s what you should do as well.”

Later that day, dressed all in black, the widow Merriweather and her daughter visited the lawyer. Mabel felt overwhelmed by the richness of the office: shiny leather, polished wooden chairs and stained glass windows, just like those in church. She sat on the edge of the chair nervously swinging her feet and held her laced-edged handkerchief to her face, as Ma had instructed.

The lawyer-man, a be-whiskered gentleman by name of Master Smitherson said many things to Ma in long words that Mabel did not understand. But she did as Ma bade her and spoke when spoken to and said please and thank you and ask they left Mister Smitherson pressed a bright shilling into her hand and patted her on the head.

“You’re a good girl, Mabel,” he said, “A very good girl. And I’m sorry about your Da, but at lease he had the forethought to provide for you. Most fortunate that.”

Mabel nodded, but she missed Da. He wasn’t ever coming back again. Her lip trembled.

Then Ma curtsied and the lawyer bowed and there they were, out on the street.

“Well!” said Ma. “Well!” Her face was flushed. “What did I say about luck? Who’d have thought poor Charlie would have thought of life insurance? But there you go, that was Charlie. Bless him, bless his kind soul.”

Ma seemed suddenly affectionate to Da, which seemed strange after all the shouting and name-calling and bottles being thrown. Still, it was a relief to see her smiling.

“And the first thing we’ll do,” Ma decided, “is to get you into a really good school, Mabel.”

Abruptly, Mabel’s spirits sunk. “Ma –”

But her mother wasn’t listening. “Yes my dear, you should always be grateful for your luck. Always.”

Book cover - how to be lucky

If you want to listen to this short story, just push this button here:

Do You Love Tiny Stories?

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writer's notebook

I’m always scribbling in notebooks. I have stacks by now: multi-coloured and full of crazy words. The other week, I started reading through them, searching for a half-finished tale about a witch-finder and a midwife.

I couldn’t find that particular story, but I did manage to discover other story snippets. Here’s one you might enjoy.

5 Books I Fell in Love With

Thumb

Once upon a time, Berta found a baby on the subway: a baby boy, only a few months old, with brown eyes and curly black hair.

Berta, who had been reviewing her diary on her phone while swaying gently to the train’s rhythm, at first didn’t notice the infant. Becoming aware of eyes fixed on her, she looked up.

“Where did you come from?” she breathed.

The child was perfect, but oh so tiny: no larger than a tea cup. He’d been placed in a car seat and covered neatly with a woollen blanket, embroidered with blue flowers. That’s how Berta knew he was a boy.

She and the baby were the only ones in the carriage. (It was still very early, so most people were still asleep.)

A baby shouldn’t be alone, Berta thought. Glancing down at her phone, she tried to put the child from her mind. Perhaps if she ignored it, it might go away.

The baby sneezed.

A baby sneezing is the most amazing thing. Unlike adults, a baby sneezes with its whole body: feet twitch, legs bend, tiny hands clench into fists. And Berta smiled, because the kid was so cute.

The tiny-but-perfect baby smiled back.

And Berta, who had never wanted children, who had never felt the slightest urge to even spend time with kids? She fell in love.

Baby boy

Child-Thief

Berta left the train with the baby.

The car seat was no larger than a shoe box, and the child fitted inside it perfectly. It felt was like something from a fairytale; like a dream. Not at all like something you’d find on the subway.

Berta was on a career fast-track. She loved her job in commercial law; she loved her independence. She had no wish for a child. Anyway, there was the small matter of that ovarian cyst. But yet, most nights she dreamed of carrying a child and in the morning her arms felt heavy with its absence.

Three stops to go.

The platforms were nearly empty, with only the odd passerby outlined against the yellow-tiled walls. She glanced again at the tiny, perfect infant. He was dressed in a hand-knitted white matinee jacket, embroidered with small blue ribbons. Someone loves this child.

Bending she whispered into the baby’s ear: “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

The baby stirred, as though it understood the question, and Berta heard quite clearly – all her life, she believed this – a voice. It said: Take him. He is yours.

Swoosh! The train doors slid open.

And Berta, in a moment of craziness, or indecision or just mad, pure love, lifted the child’s car seat by its handle, the baby still inside, and stepped from the train onto the empty platform where the CCTV camera was turned away.

Heading for the stairs, she whispered, “What should I do with you?”

The baby opened sleepy dark eyes. “Take me home,” he said, so clearly that Berta nearly dropped the seat, baby and all.

***

When Berta arrived at the office, her assistant, Stefan, stared at the infant. “What?” he asked slowly, “is that?”

“A baby. I found him on the subway.”

“A baby? On the subway? And you just took him?”

“I know,” said Berta wearily, “I’m crazy.”

The child opened dark eyes and smiled at her, and she knew that if she had to do it all again: choose a child and steal him, car seat and all – she would.

“What’s his name?”

“Name?” Berta blinked. “Um …” In the car seat, the child stirred. “Daumen. Yes. His name is Daumen.”

“Thumb?” said Stefan. “What kind of a name is that?”

How to Make the Perfect Chocolate Cake …

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Recipes for Writers

This recipe never fails! This chocolate cake is also called Dana’s Chocolate Cake, so of course it’s perfect for me, because the heroine of my SoulNecklace Stories is Dana, and she’s strong and feisty, just like … this cake? Actually, I’m not sure about that analogy. But whatever, this is a great recipe.

This cake is based on a recipe by Sophie Grey at The Destitute Gourmet – check out her website and books for more ideas.

Dana’s Chocolate Cake

  • 1 2/3 C flour
  • 1 1/2 t backing soda
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 2/3 C cocoa
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 1/2 C skim milk
  • 100 g melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 t vanilla
  • 1 t instant coffee (granulated is best)

Pre-heat oven to 180 C. Line a large cake tin (about 30 cm) with baking paper.

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl, mix well.

Then add melted butter, milk and vanilla and eggs (preferably in that order, otherwise the eggs begin cooking), and mix well. The resulting mixture will be quite wet.

Pour into cake tin and bake for approx 40 mins.

Don’t overcook this cake: it’s quite dense, so you can take it out a few minutes early and it will continue cooking on the bench.

Frosting

  • 50g butter, softened
  • 1/3 C cocoa
  • 1 C icing sugar
  • 1 t coffee
  • 1 t vanilla essence

Cream butter and icing sugar. Add other ingredients and mix well. If too dry, add a smidgeon of milk. (Don’t overdo this, or you’ll be left with wet gooey icing.) Add cream cheese or marscapone and decrease the butter if you want a creamier flavour.

This cake is perfect for birthdays!

Variations: Sometimes I bake this cake in two smaller cake tins – this makes the cake go a little further. (Decrease the cooking time if you do this, or both cakes can end up too dry.)

How To Make the Perfect Pavlova …

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Recipes for Writers

Over the last few months, I’ve been posting recipes out in my newsletters, and my readers love them! So I’m posting them here on my blog too. Hope you enjoy.

Recipe based on Nadia Lim’s Blueberry and Lemon Curd Pavlova

In the 1920s, the celebrated prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, star of the Imperial Russian Ballet, toured Australia and New Zealand. In honour of her visit the pavlova was invented: a meringue-based desert with a soft, caramel-like interior and crispy exterior.

There’s ongoing debate over which country was responsible for its invention. Me, I think it was New Zealand. I’m not biased. 😀

Today there’s many variations on the pavlova: my stepmother used to make a gorgeous one with coffee and walnuts. But usually a pav has a plain, creamy-coloured base, topped with whipped cream and fruit.

This particular pavlova is ideal for Christmas, as it looks somewhat like a wreath, with these beautiful seasonal colours.

The trick to a good pavlova is to separate the eggs correctly – the recipe will fail if there’s even a hint of egg yolk. And place it in a HOT oven, but allow the pav. to cool for ages – preferably overnight – before removing.

Recipe

  • 6 egg whites
  • 1 1/2 C caster sugar
  • 2 t cornflour
  • 1 t white vinegar

To serve:

  • 1 – 2 C whipped cream
  • 1/2 t vanilla (or vanilla seeds)
  • 1/4 C pomegranate seeds
  • 1 punnet blueberries
  • 1/4C sliced almonds
  • fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a baking tray with backing paper and mark an 18 – 20 cm circle on it. (You can use a plate or a bowl as stencil.)

  • Whip egg whites with electric beater until stiff peaks form (they must be really stiff)
  • Add caster sugar while beating.
  • Continue beating on high speed. The meringue mixture should be thick and glossy.
  • Beat it cornflour and vinegar.
  • Spoon onto circle on baking paper. You can smooth the top to look like a ballet-dancer’s skirt, or keep it rough, to form the idea of ruffles.
  • Put it in the oven and TURN THE OVEN OFF!
  • This is very important. Do not let anyone else open the oven, not for any reason. Not even your children, and especially NOT your husband. You may need to stick a sign on the door of the oven.
  • Leave the pav in the cooling oven for as long as possible, ideally overnight. Do not worry if the surface cracks, this is totally normal and will add to the homemade authentic look. Besides, you can fill up these imperfections with cream.
  • Once removed from the oven, and cooled, decorate with generous amounts of whipped cream and fruit, as in the picture above.
  • Alternatively, top with whipped cream and fruit of your choice.

An untopped pavlova will keep in a dry container for a while, so you can make this a few days before serving. But once it’s smothered in cream, keep in the fridge and eat quickly.

Nutritional information: best you don’t know.