Shakespare's Money

I am interested in money. My father had a coin collection that wasn't really worth much but I loved looking through the old coins, many of them European.

I have a fantasy series in which I've worked out various systems of money and the names and denominations of the coins. Working out your own monetary system really gives you insight into how things work. Why is one thing worth a dollar while another thing is worth five dollars, or fifty dollars?

One of the oldest "stories"' there is concerns the thirty pieces of silver Judas was paid to betray Jesus. I've always wanted to write a story about those coins.

This book caught my eye and it is just so annoying that the Kindle price is ore than you'd usually pay for a trade paperback. (There's a REASON why there are no customer reviews yet.) There are only five left in stock, and I suppose if I were the TRUE Shakespeare geek I claim to be, I'd snap one of them up. Maybe I'll put it on my Christmas wish list.

Shakespeare + President = Meme

Here's the only Shakespeare presidential meme I could find that's nonpartisan. I suppose as the general election approaches we'll see more, butfor right now, there's not much.

Summer of Shakespeare #3 Begins!

Shakespeare and politics...when the bard got political, people died. He would have appreciated our current election cycle, I think.

And so, the third annual Summer of Shakespeare begins!

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler --a review

Like The Devil Wears Prada and Debt and other books about coming of age in New York, this debut novel introduces us to Tess, who is a fish out of water in her sundress and cardigan, trying to bluff her way through an interview when she’s way over her head. We like her, and we enjoy being educated along with her, introduced to the nuances of taste—you will develop a palate—and the intricacies of food service where meals are works of art and presentations like little pieces of theater. We also love the vision she has of her New York self—a sophisticated, better-dressed, better paid version of herself who lives a life filled with art openings and concerts and love and excitement. We KNOW that vision because we’ve all had a version of it. 

Tess is an “Everywoman” who is relatable, not just to Millennials, but also to anyone who ever followed a dream from a dusty town where the residents were obsessed with football and church to New York or Los Angeles, or any other glittering metropolis where the possibilities seem limitless and even the reality is better than the reality left behind. When she first arrives in town, it seems like she’s always being wrong-footed and judged, and her thoughts about the people she meets are bemused and sensible and endearing. She is an OUTSIDER who wants to be an INSIDER in the worst way and if there are few readers alive who can’t remember that feeling, even if they won’t admit it. When she literally “earns her stripes” (the servers all wear striped shirts while the back waiters wear white button-downs), we’re pleased for her.

A Fairytale retelling

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favorite fairytales and you don't really see it retold. I love that this version, A Branch of Silver, a Branch of Gold, went the old fashioned route with the cover. I had books that looked like this when I was a child; they'd been my mother's and they were frayed on the bindings, the fabric worn away at the corners and showing the boards beneath.the author, Anne Elisabeth Stengl, has rewritten other fairytales. She has a story in Five Enchanted Roses (a collection of Beauty and the Beast stories) and another in Five Golden Slippers (five Cinderella stories.)

She has also created her own fanciful world, Goldstone Woods," and there are a number of books in that series with "please read me" titles like Moonblood and Dragonwitch. I can't wait to explore that landscape, which she describes as "an ever-growing world of knights and dragons, mystical forests and hidden demesnes, unspeakable evil and boundless grace."You can read more about the series on her website.

Cover Reveal...Beauty Sleep

Yet another entry into my "Modern Magic" series of fairytale retellings. I saw this pre-made cover by Sarah Beard on the Book Cover Designer and snatched it up over the weekend. It is, as you might be able to tell from the cover, a retelling of the classic story "Sleeping Beauty." This one is longer than the other entries in the series, which are mostly novelettes. I really love this cover and have not seen the model on a bazillion other covers.  I also love the color palette.

Aixa and the Shark

Part two of my three-part La Bruja Roja series is free for the next five days. Check it out here.  It's urban fantasy about a witch who lives in a border town that's not just on the border between Texas and Mexico, it's on the border between life and death. The final story, Aixa and the Spider, will be out next month. I'm fond of the Aixa stories.  Maybe you'll like them too.