Dear Anna,
Thank you for the whisky. It was indeed as superb as I thought it would be. I shared it with Iain who said it so good that putting water in it would be a crime against all great distillers.
Katrina is following up on the leads you gave her so far for more gigs. With any luck, we’ll be joining you for the holidays next year as we’ll be over as long as I’ve got the new staff doing grounds work settled in for Winter chores.
You asked me in your last letter to ask Iain for a reading recommendation based on the Tam Lin story. Checking the books you borrowed here from the Library during the Summer you stayed here, he was impressed with what you had read — Christina Rossetti’s ‘Tam Lin’, Elizabeth Bear’s Blood and Iron, Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, Diana Wynne Jones’ Fire and Hemlock, and even Joan Vinge’s ‘Tam Lin’ story, which most folks don’t even know exists!
So Winter Rose and Solstice Wood by Patricia MacKillip is his recommendation. He says that ‘These novels are unique because the story they tell is set in two different times, one long ago and one now. The first one is quite obviously based on the Tam Lin story, the sequel is too but less obviously so. I’m not a big fan of her work beyond The Riddle-Master trilogy but both these books were lovely to read!’
I’ve shipped the books to you so you should be getting them shortly.
Until next time, Gus
