INTRODUCING THE MORGANS (XII), VANESSA MORGAN

Hi, I'm Vanessa Morgan. I'm Chinese. I was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu and I am a vampire.

A few months ago, I discovered that the famous Welsh pirate Henry Morgan was an ancestor of mine and that I had brothers and sisters to meet. Thanks to The Grandma, an Andorran grandmother, who made every effort to locate us, today I know them all and to celebrate this meeting we decided to spend two months together travelling and reviewing our level of English because we have all decided to retire to Kingston, Jamaica, to enjoy the Morgan fortune, and English is its official language.

-What's your full name?

-My name is Vanessa Morgan Lin.

-How do you spell your second surname?

-L-I-N

-Are you a student? What are you studying?

-No, I'm not a student. I've spent many years learning about history, literature, and different cultures.

-Are you working? What is your job?

-Yes, I am. I'm a vampire. I spend my nights travelling, meeting people, and learning about the world.

-Do you like your job? Why?

-Yes, I do. It allows me to experience different cultures and historical periods. Every night brings a new adventure.

-Where are you from?

-I'm from Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province, China.

-How long have you lived there?

-I lived there for many years before travelling to other places. Suzhou will always be special to me because it is my birthplace.

-Why are you studying English?

-I'm studying English because I meet people from many different countries. It helps me communicate and learn about their cultures.

-How long have you been studying English?

-I've been studying English for a very long time. Over the years, I've had plenty of opportunities to practise it while travelling.

-Tell me about your city.

-Suzhou is famous for its beautiful classical gardens, canals, and traditional architecture. It is often called one of the most beautiful cities in China.

-What music do you like?

-I enjoy classical music, traditional Chinese music, and modern instrumental music. I find them relaxing and inspiring.

-Can you play any instrument?

-Yes, I can play the guzheng. I learned it many years ago and still enjoy playing it on quiet evenings.

-Tell me about your favourite place.

-My favourite place is Humble Administrator's Garden. I love its peaceful atmosphere, elegant design, and beautiful scenery.

-What do you like doing in your free time?

-In my free time, I enjoy reading historical novels, visiting museums, walking through gardens, and learning new languages.

-Do you practise any sport? Which?

-Yes, I do. I enjoy tai chi and swimming. They help me stay active and focused.

-How long have you been a vampire?

-I've been a vampire for many centuries. During that time, I've seen many changes in the world and learned a great deal about different cultures.

-What is the best thing about being a vampire?

-The best thing is having the opportunity to learn continuously and travel to many different places.

-What is the most difficult part of your life?

-The most difficult part is moving frequently and saying goodbye to people I care about.

-Are people afraid of you?

-Sometimes they are at first because of the stories they have heard. However, once they get to know me, they usually realise that I'm friendly and respectful.

-What has changed the most in the world during your lifetime?

-Technology has changed the most. Communication and travel are much faster than they were in the past.

-Would you like to live in another country?

-Yes, I would. I enjoy discovering new cultures and meeting people from different backgrounds.

-How is a normal day with The Morgans?

-We haven't got similar days. Every day is different and this is something very important because it offers to you the possibility of living fantastic experiences every day and you can enjoy them with all your heart because you know that next day you're going to put the score to zero and we're going to start again. It's a non-stopping life.

-Which is your best memory with The Morgans?

-It's difficult to choose only one. I remember when we were invited to visit the British Museum and we created a great performance in the Egyptian room. I had a special performance and my role was of particular importance in achieving the final success.

-Which is your favourite song?

-As everyone knows, China is not a democratic country at all and we do not have the freedom that other people in other countries enjoy. Artists are always among the first victims in repressive states and, for this reason, we do not have a powerful and modern cultural industry, so I will choose a classic.

The most famous Chinese song in the world is 茉莉花 ('Mo Li Hua'), which translates as 'Jasmine Flower'. This traditional melody originates from Jiangsu Province, where I was born, and dates back to the 18th century.

好一朵美丽的茉莉花
好一朵美丽的茉莉花
芬芳美丽满枝桠
又香又白人人夸
让我来将你摘下
送给别人家
茉莉花呀茉莉花

Hǎo yī duǒ měi lì de mò lì huā,
hǎo yī duǒ měi lì de mò lì huā,
fèn fāng měi lì mǎn zhī yá
yòu xiāng yòu bái rén rén kuā,
ràng wǒ lái jiāng nǐ zhāi xià,
sòng géi bié rén jiā, mò lì huā, mō lì huā.
    
Beautiful jasmine flower
Beautiful jasmine flower
Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds
Fragrant and white, everyone praises
Let me pluck you down to give to someone
Jasmine flower, jasmine flower.

Anonymous

ANNE RICE, GOTHIC & BIBLE FICTION FROM NEW ORLEANS

Today, Joseph de Ca'th Lon is in New Orleans, Lousiana. He has some business to do in this incredible and magic city, and he has been talking with The Grandma about this wonderful place where Anne Rice was born on a day like today in 1941.

Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941-December 11, 2021) was an American author of Gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Bible fiction. 

She is best known for writing The Vampire Chronicles. She later adapted the first volume in the series into a commercially successful eponymous film, Interview with the Vampire (1994).

Born in New Orleans, Rice spent much of her early life in the city before moving to Texas, and later to San Francisco. She was raised in an observant Catholic family but became an agnostic as a young adult. She began her professional writing career with the publication of Interview with the Vampire (1976), while living in California, and began writing sequels to the novel in the 1980s.

In the mid-2000s, following a publicized return to Catholicism, she published the novels Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, fictionalized accounts of certain incidents in the life of Jesus. Several years later she distanced herself from organized Christianity, while remaining devoted to Jesus. She later considered herself a secular humanist.

Rice's books have sold over 100 million copies, making her one of the best-selling authors of modern times. While reaction to her early works was initially mixed, she gained a better reception with critics in the 1980s. Her writing style and the literary content of her works have been analyzed by literary commentators. She was married to poet and painter Stan Rice for 41 years, from 1961 until his death at age 60. She and Stan had two children, Michele, who died of leukemia at age five, and Christopher, who is also an author.

Rice also wrote books such as The Feast of All Saints (adapted for television in 2001) and Servant of the Bones, which formed the basis of a 2011 comic book miniseries. Several books from The Vampire Chronicles have been adapted as comics and manga by various publishers. She authored erotic fiction under the pen names Anne Rampling and A. N. Roquelaure, including Exit to Eden, which was later adapted into a 1994 film.

Born in New Orleans on October 4, 1941, Howard Allen Frances O'Brien was the second of four daughters of parents of Irish Catholic descent, Howard O'Brien (1917-1991) and Katherine "Kay" Allen O'Brien (1908-1956). Her father, a naval veteran of World War II and lifelong resident of New Orleans, worked as a personnel executive for the U.S. Postal Service and authored one novel, The Impulsive Imp, which was published posthumously. Her older sister, Alice Borchardt, later became an author of fantasy and historical romance novels.

Graduating from Richardson High in 1959, Rice completed her first year at Texas Woman's University in Denton and transferred to North Texas State College for her second year. She dropped out when she ran out of money and was unable to find employment. Soon after, she moved to San Francisco and stayed with the family of a friend until she found work as an insurance claims processor.

The Rices moved back to San Francisco in 1962, experiencing the birth of the hippie movement firsthand as they lived in the Haight-Ashbury district, Berkeley, and later the Castro District.

Rice cited Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, John Milton, Ernest Hemingway, William Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, Jean-Paul Sartre, Henry James, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, and Stephen King as influences on her work.

In 1973, while still grieving the loss of her daughter (1966-1972), Rice took a previously written short story and turned it into her first novel, the bestselling Interview with the Vampire.

Following the publication of Interview with the Vampire, while living in California, Rice wrote two historical novels, The Feast of All Saints and Cry to Heaven, along with three erotic novels (The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment, and Beauty's Release) under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure, and two more under the pseudonym Anne Rampling (Exit to Eden and Belinda).

Rice then returned to the vampire genre with The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned, her bestselling sequels to Interview with the Vampire.

Shortly after her June 1988 return to New Orleans, Rice penned The Witching Hour as an expression of her joy at coming home. Rice also continued her Vampire Chronicles series, which later grew to encompass ten novels, and followed up on The Witching Hour with Lasher and Taltos, completing the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. She also published Violin, a tale of a ghostly haunting, in 1997. Rice appeared on an episode of The Real World: New Orleans that aired in 2000.

Rice began another series called Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, published in 2005, chronicling the life of Jesus. After moving to Rancho Mirage, California in 2006, Rice wrote a second volume Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, published in March 2008, and was working on a third Christ the Lord: Kingdom of Heaven in November 2008. She also wrote the first two books in her Songs of the Seraphim series, Angel Time and Of Love and Evil, and her memoir Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession.

On March 9, 2014, Rice announced on her son Christopher's radio show, The Dinner Party with Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn, that she had completed another book in the Vampire Chronicles, titled, Prince Lestat, a "true sequel" to Queen of the Damned. 

In 2015, a sequel to the Sleeping Beauty trilogy, Beauty's Kingdom, was released.

Rice died in Rancho Mirage, California, on December 11, 2021, at the age of 80.

More information: Anne Rice

 

The thing should have plot and character, 
beginning, middle and end. 
Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. 
Those were the best principles I was ever taught.

Anne Rice