Hello, Mr. Capella, I have read your book “Food for Love”. I have been deeply interested in most of the recipes nearly all described with great accuracy, but I wonder if you have ever considered the possibility to correct all the enormous mass of typos and mistake in the Italian texts you largely inserted in your book. Probably your readers of English mother tongue won’t notice any of them, so why did you decided to use so many Italian words, put here and there in the text like parsley in a recipe?. Best Angela Doriani- Smith

Dear Angela,

Thanks for this, and for the examples you gave in your (originally longer) post. The mistakes were of course my own, but thanks to the kindness of some Italian readers they''ve now been corrected in later editions - ie anything printed after 2005. Apologies!

regards, Anthony

Hello Anthony, enjoyed " the food of love " soooooo very much. As a member of a large Italian family of self proclaimed foodies I just passed it on to my Auntie who lives in Monterey Ca. She will definetly enjoy it. She has been all over Italy, cooked her way through the cordon Bleu cooking school in France and done catering all her life. Can't wait to see which recipes she tries out. My family is both Northern Italian on Mama's side( last name Milano, of coarse Milan) and on My father's side 100% Sicilian (Di Mercurio , being my maiden name) just wondered with all the recipes do you have a ultimate favorite? I found myself craving everything through-out the entire book & wanting things I didn't even know existed nor needed to live . This coming from a non-red meat-eater for over 25 years. I so wantd to try something with rabbit...which I never in my life would have ever considered being a former rabbit pet owner...You just may have converted me ...we shall see. Looking forward to your other books, with much appreciative food fondness, Michele Eakin

Hi Michele,

No, I don''t have a favourite. What I particularly love are dishes (and wines) that are integral to the region wherever I am - lagoon fish, crabs and duck in Venice, cous-cous in Sicily, oxtail stew in Rome. The Italians have a lovely word - ''typico'' - which is considered high praise in Italy; one can''t imagine an Englishman saying that something is ''typical'' with quite so much approval!

Hi Anthony, I was just wondering if there will be a hardcover version of The empress of ice cream? If so, where will it be available? Looking forward to a good read! Regards Mieke Zwart

Hi Mieke,

There isn''t a hardcover currently scheduled for the UK but other countries such as Canada may produce one next spring.

best, Anthony

Hi Anthony, I'm greatly looking forward to reading The Empress of Ice Cream, which will be released in just a few short weeks. And I was thrilled to find the first chapter of the book available to read on your website. It definitely whets the appetite, no pun intended. However, being a fan of stories set at Louis XIV's Versailles, one thing struck me as unusual. In 1671, Madame de Montespan had been Louis' mistress for four years, was in the prime of her beauty and was entering the zenith of her power. Yet in the excerpt, no mention is made of her. Rather, Louise de LaValliere -- the mistress whom Madame de Montespan had already replaced in Louis' heart -- is mentioned in passing and Olympe Mancini, an even older royal love interest, seems to have been given the role of the sexiest seducer at Versailles. Don't get me wrong: I love the scene in which she beckons Carlo to fill her bathtub with his creations, which is a very imaginative passage. However, why did La Montespan, the "It Girl" of the time, not get a bigger part in the Versailles portion of your novel? Especially since she was not merely a legendary lover, but a legendary gourmand as well! Best of luck with the release! Regards, Harry

Yes, I cheated a little. I decided to simplify the workings of the French court as it's only a very short part of my book. The events I describe as taking place in 1670 are conflated from the period from about 1660 to 1680 - so, for example, the new palace at Versailles wasn't even built when the limonadier Audiger really turned up with his gift of frozen peas.

However I am much more accurate with the English section of the book, which starts with Louise de Keroualle's arrival in England in 1670. 

Whether to take liberties with history is always a tough call. I tend to try to stick with the facts until I feel something isn't working. Shaping real events into a story is both the hardest and the most interesting bit, but I tend to come down on the side of saying the story takes precedence, so long as the changes aren't too obvious. 

However, I draw a distinction between making up facts and re-arranging them - the major events and figures of my story are real, even if the narrative I use to join them up is conjecture.  

Hello Anthony, im a musician so i feel i have a strong creative side. Im starting to write fiction but i'm finding the process hard. Is there any advice you can give me? Thank you, Marc Hayes

Hi Marc,

I get asked this a lot, and I wish I had an answer. The truth is really that it''s trial and error, and perseverance. A well-established writer once told me that the only difference between published authors and everyone else is that the authors finished their books. There''s something in that.

Writers'' groups are useful, as much for the discipline as the craft. And books on storycraft, such as those by Robert McKee or Christopher Booker, can be good, even though they''re mostly aimed at screenwriters.

Good luck!

Hello Anthony, I so enjoyed your wonderful book "Food of Love" -- especially as the first scene seems to take place at the bar just down the street from where I lived in Rome (the little bar on Viale Glorioso...) -- I lived at Via Calandrelli (up those stairs, across Via Dandolo)!! I'm now looking to replace a copy of your book for a friend who lost hers (lent out and never returned -- now that's a good compliment to the writer I think!) - she had one with the putti on the cover -- is that the first edition? I ask so that I can find the right one through "bookfinders.com". Thanks for such an enjoyable reading experience --I'm looking forward to finding your other books now. All best, Claire

Hi Claire,

yes, that''s the first UK edition - although the second edition had fewer mistakes in the Italian....

best,

Anthony

Would you ever do a book signing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada? And if so, where would it be held? -Jess Noelle

Sorry, too far away I suspect! But I''ll ask my Canadian publisher if they have any plans.....

Last night at our reading group discussion of The Various Flavours of Coffee we all agreed it was a good read. Where did you get the inspiration to write of so many themes in one book.. and why were those themes used?

That''s a big question...

First of all, I''m glad you liked the book. Writing it was an organic process, really - I started with the bare bones of the story (a man falling in love with a slave, and needing to set her free before he could tell whether she really loved him) and a general desire to write about one of the big global food commodities (tea, coffee, spice) of the time, and it gradually took shape as the story evolved. I tried to be guided by what were the most pressing concerns for people like my characters at the time - for example, I didn''t initially intend Emily to be  a suffragette, it just seemed inevitable, eventually, that someone of her mindset would have to be one.

There''s some more information on the genesis of ''Coffee'' in the pages on this website.

Anthony 

Hello, do you do any talks about your books in the oxfordshire area? Thank you

Hi,

I don''t usually do talks, but I do live in Oxfordshire. Is this for a book group, or were you just asking generally? Email me directly using the email address under ''contact'', and I''ll let you know if anything comes up.

Anthony

Fantastic news about your latest book!! Can't wait to read it!!!