C. Margery Kempe Spoons up some Lovin’ in Ambrosia

C. Margery Kempe is another one of the Ambrosia contributors that is prolific and gifted, but she is the only contributor that’s a medievalist—which has nothing to do with her story, but still it’s interesting, don’t you think? Her story “Love on a Spoon” builds a wonderful, palpable tension. So delicious…

Q: Your pen name is interesting. Would you care to explain why you use it?

A: I’m a medievalist at a small llberal arts college going up for tenure next year. It’s likely that the stories wouldn’t matter much to anyone in the process, but we used to be a Catholic college and think there are still some elements it might shock, so a layer of slight distance between us is probably wise. Most of my friends know and it’s so thinly veiled that other have easily seen through it — she has a Facebook page, webpage and tweets. The profile photo is me (ever so slightly disguised) so it’s a bit of a giveaway. The real Margery Kempe is a fascinating medieval mystic who brought a sensual vibrancy to her interpretation of faith, fought for a way to express it in the secular world and had the story of her life transcribed in a time when only important men would be chronicled so — kings and bishops. Consequently, she got in trouble a lot! She saw Jesus as a kind of gorgeous BFF who was always supportive and understanding, which is quite revolutionary for the time, when he was seen as a distant and authoritative figure, albeit one who suffers as a man. Her contemporary — and supporter — Julian of Norwich has a much more orthodox approach, although she too innovates, seeing Jesus as a mother who cares for his/her children. Anyone who thinks women in the Middle Ages had no influence is wildly mistaken. There have always been amazing women! Oh, and the “C” is a wink that friends will understand and anyway, all romance authors should have three parts to their names, right?

Q: I like the way your story builds on the underlying sexual tensions between two friends. Has anything like that ever happened to you–or anybody you know?

A: I’ve known a couple of friends who wanted something to happen with other friends and I encouraged them to pursue it. I suppose the ur-text version in the back of my mind is Emma Thompson’s character in the film Peter’s Friends, but she tries a much more direct approach, appearing in the friend’s room naked telling him “fill me up with your little babies!” It’s a very funny scene. It’s a very hard thing to do, to reinvent yourself in someone else’s mind. We like to compartmentalize so much.

Q: I also like the way it involves food. It’s quite clear that you know your food. I read that you operate a bakery. How does that inform your writing?

A: Well, that’s a part of the invented persona (the real Margery ran a brewery and a mill), but I could easily imagine doing it. I’m not much of a cook, but I love to bake. My specialty is the three pound cheesecake. I used to work in one of those giant cookie mall stores, decorating the cookies. We had lots of standardized designs, but somehow when we had odd requests, they always seemed to be given to me. I think the oddest one was a nun — a woman’s sister had just finished her postulancy and they wanted to celebrate with a giant chocolate chip cookie! I had fun trying everything from cars to a dragon.

Q: Have you ever thought about the links between food and sex? (Before writing this particular story…)

A: Oh absolutely! Food affects everything, from your mood to your physical sensations, so part of every special night begins with “What will we eat and drink?” What will delight the senses and bring that sense of euphoria? It’s all about balance — you don’t want to overeat and feel logy! Food speaks to experience, too. My husband never had Indian food until I introduced him to it (my fave) and he loved it. So I bought him a little cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey and he started buying spices and becoming quite adept at figuring out the flavours of every dish we tried. He’s quite the chef now which is great for me, of course!

Q: You are a prolific writer–academic, fiction, and so on, why erotica?

A: It’s something that I’ve written ever since I discovered Anäis Nin when I was about 18, though mostly for special friends. I didn’t really think of it as something that could sell. When Lori Perkins announced she was starting Ravenous Romance and wanted erotic romance writers, suddenly the penny dropped. Hey! I could do that! It’s great fun.

Q: If you could be a food what would it be?

A: Oooh — tough question. It would have to be something with chocolate, surely. There’s a recipe for chocolate curry that we found when we decided to have a chocolate feast with some friends – every dish had to have chocolate somewhere. We started with chocolate martinis (of course) and had mole and a lot of amazing sauces, but I think we all collapsed by the end of the evening. You can only do that once in a great while.

Q: Do you have any projects coming up?

A: I have a number of short pieces coming out in anthologies at RR and I’ve pitched a kind of thriller novel to them as well (fingers crossed!). I have another story coming out with another erotic publisher about a tarot card reader and have another under submission to a third publisher. My “other self” has a short story collection coming out the beginning of the year, is revising a novel, working on a new play and has numerous academic pieces coming out (and others being revised). It may seem like a lot, but I always joke that nothing exists until I write about it. That’s why I have three blogs, too — a news blog, an on-going pseudo-gothic serial and podcasts.

Q: Who are your favorite writers?

A: Oh, another tough question! The anonymous writer of Beowulf, Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Shakespeare and Marlowe, John Donne, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Clive Barker, Charles de Lint, Octavia Butler, Elizabeth Gaskell, Anäis Nin, Liz Hand, Storm Constantine, Alan Moore — I could go on and on! J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is another touchstone like Travers and Carroll that changed me forever as a child. Early on there was a strange mix of whimsy and the macabre that flavours a lot of what I write. I don’t think the horror angle has played much of role in the erotic stories yet, but the humour always sneaks in — sometimes obscurely, as I have a fondness for a lot of classic British comedy and steal names from them. There’s a reference in “Love on a Spoon” to a routine by Irish comedian Dylan Moran who’s not well known over here yet, but anyone who recognizes it will laugh out loud, which always makes me happy. Laughter is not only the best medicine, it’s also the fastest way to my heart.

Thanks, Margery!

Advertisement