Shakespeare and Guns

Today is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Yesterday, there was a shooting at UCLA. Not long ago, there was a shooting at the college where my brother got his law degree. On Thanksgiving, there was a shooting at the college where a friend's son goes to school. We all remember the Virginia Tech shootings, and I have ties to there as well--my father, my brother, my aunt, my uncle, and a cousin all spent time there.So today we're supposed to wear orange to show our solidarity and support for the victims of gun violence and their families. It's a start, I suppose. I remember when the red ribbons first started showing up at celebrity events to promote awareness of AIDS.  And the ribbons spread. And with the awareness came the benefits and the research.

I really hope that the orange t-shirts do the same. Guns have been around a long time--longer, probably than you think. We know Shakespeare mentioned them in his plays, but so did Geoffrey Chaucer two hundred years earlier. Guns and Ammo magazine online has an interesting article that argues William Shakespeare was a "gun writer." The article is well worth reading and the citations are right on the money.

Behind the Scenes of Shakespeare's Stories

I always read the Afterwords in books. I like knowing what bit of stray inspiration sparked a novel, or what random collision of events spawned a tale. (I remember reading Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and thinking he'd read the same eBay listing I had, a listing where a woman was offering her father-in-law's suit for sale because her kid was afraid of his ghost. I've never seen an interview where he talks about it, but I'd bet that's where he got the idea.)

In school we always get the bare bones explanation for where Shakespeare got his plots but they never explained that King Lear is actually related to Cinderella, as Shakespeare's Storybook does. I read that in the book blurb and now I HAVE to get this book.

Shakespeare-inspired cocktails? Why not?

Over at Shakespeare & Beyond today, there's a little background and a link to a podcast interview with Caroline Bicks and Michelle Ephraim who have put together Shakespeare, Not Stirred: Cocktails for Your Everyday Dreams, a whimsically illustrated collection of drink recipes "inspired" by Shakespeare. (The drinks have names like "Caliban's Wrong Island iced Tea.") You'll find a couple of the drink recipes there as well. (If you enjoy this sort of literary/liquor match up, you should check out Tim Federle's books, Tequila Mockingbird, Gone With the Gin, and Hickory Daiquiri Dock.)

Free Frantasy...Bride of the Midnight King

Free for the first five days in June, my vampire version of Cinderella, the first in a three-book series. Check it out here.

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!