The Man Who Would Be Shakespeare
5/25/10 The June issue of Smithsonian magazine contains a wonderful article by Doug Stewart Entitled “To Be…Or Not” about a hoax perpetuated on literary England in 1795-96 by one William-Henry Ireland. In an attempt to win the approval of his Shakespeare-loving father, the hilariously incompetent William-Henry began his hoax by claiming to have found long-lost, […]
“You’re Nobody Famous”
5/14/10 When my second novel was published in 2007, I contacted a number of bookstores in my area to ask if they would be interested in having me do a book signing. One of those was an independent bookstore whose owner promoted herself as eager to support local authors. But when I reached the owner […]
A Package at the Door
4/30/10 The package that arrived at my door yesterday afternoon looked like a perfectly ordinary, white bubble-wrap mailer. But the size and return address–my publisher–immediately gave it away: here was the final print version of The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare. “I hope you’re excited to see your words in print,” wrote my editor. Actually, […]
All-female Shakespeare
4/20/10 In Shakespeare’s day, women were not allowed to act in plays, and boys and men played all the female roles, including Juliet, Ophelia, Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth. Having women act on stage was deemed immoral, although, as Anne wryly points out in The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare, women were more than welcome to […]
What’s In A Name?
4/9/10 With The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare due out 1 June, this might be the time to relate the behind-the-scenes story of how the book got its title. My original choice was The Shakespeare Chronicles, and I loved it. To me, “chronicles” evokes a sweeping sense of history and legend, of heroism and valiant […]
Are You Lying? – Part 2
3/7/10 Why do people keep sticking their hands into wild animals’ cages at the zoo? Why do politicians keep cheating on their wives and think they’ll never get caught? And why do seemingly intelligent writers keep falsifying information and trying to pass it off as fact? In February, I posted some thoughts on the latter […]
This Novel is a Natural Product
2/26/10 I recently came across the following message as a tagline on a discussion forum: This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and are in no way to be considered flaws or defects. Since I have just finished proofreading the typeset pages for […]
Please Join Me
2/16/10 If you are in the area, please join me on Saturday, 27 February, for a presentation to the Florida Writers Association. I’ll share my experiences in writing The Kingsley House and The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare, followed by a Q&A on any aspect of writing that interests you. What: “15 Tips for Researching […]
Are You Lying?
2/2/10 When a book gets published, the author is typically asked by the publisher to fill out a questionnaire covering the author’s personal and professional background, previous publishing credits, etc. The information is used by the marketing department to promote the book. Having filled out such a questionnaire for my first two novels, I wasn’t […]
RSS Feed Launched
1/21/10 If you are reading this post on my new Author Page on Amazon, welcome! All future posts will appear here as well via RSS Feed. If you are reading this post on my website, welcome also. You can click below to read any posts you may have missed. I try to blog once a […]