Favorite Literary Couples

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm doing better, though it'll probably be a couple more days before I'm feeling 100%.

In honor of the day, I thought I'd mention some of my favorite literary couples. In general, I like reading about relationships where there's more focus on witty banter than body parts and the love develops over time. For banter, I like Benedick and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing (particularly since I've seen the movie version a few times) and Alexia Tarabotti and Lord Maccon in Soulless. (In my opinion, their banter is best in this book.) I also liked The Time Traveler's Wife, since we see Henry and Clare's relationship develop over time (though it does feel a little odd that she developed a crush on him as a child).

What are your favorite literary couples? And would anyone be interested if I wrote a four-part series about the couples in the Season Avatars series? Let me know in the comments.

Shakespeare and My Stories

According to Goodreads, this is the start of Shakespeare Week. Goodreads has some activities planned on their site, but they didn't appeal to me. Instead, I thought it would be more interesting to talk about how Shakespeare has influenced my work.

Shakespeare borrowed many of his plots, and in turn many other writers have borrowed his plays and lines. One way to borrow a play is to transfer it to a different setting. Twinned Universes takes Hamlet to a spaceship traveling through a wormhole to a parallel universe. The protagonist, Paul Harrison, is a young actor who dreams of playing Hamlet some day and quotes constantly from Shakespeare. When Paul's mother dies, he's convinced his great-uncle is behind the death, even though his friends and family think him a little mad for doing so. They even want him to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Rose Stern. (Yes, that name is a deliberate reference to Rosenkrnatz and Guildenstern.) How does Paul plan to test his suspicion? Why, by staging a play to catch "the conscience of the king," of course. Does Paul's story end in tragedy like Hamlet's? You'll have to read Twinned Universes to find out.

I'm not sure if Romeo and Juliet is more famous or popular than Hamlet, but it's definitely a very well-known play. In "Letters to Psyche," I explored the history between the two feuding families and brought Cupid and Psyche into the mix. An earlier romance between the Montagues and Capulets goes awry, and Cupid learns much about humans as the curse affects generations of the two families.

Sometimes it's good to get away from tragedy and enjoy a little comedy, as I did with a Beatles fanfic story called (I think) "A Hard Midsummer's Night." The Beatles actually performed a skit from the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream." You can catch it on YouTube:



My story had the Fab Four tangling with the fairies from the play--with some not so fab results. I think this appeared in an issue of Indie Writers Monthly, which no longer seems to be available. Maybe when I revive my mailing list, I can share this story with subscribers as a bonus.

Do you love or loathe Shakespeare? Even if you don't like the original plays, are there pop culture references to Shakespeare that you like? Feel free to share them in the comments.

May the Fourth/Force Be With You! (Guess My Costume)

Today the rest of the world catches up to our house, as we have Star Wars Day every day. (That's just how you roll when you have an almost-eight-year-old boy in the house.) Here are a few of the many ways we celebrate a galaxy far, far away....

Twinned Universes isn't the only combination of Shakespeare and science fiction out there. Both trilogies have been rewritten in iambic pentameter by Ian Doescher. (I've only read the Original Trilogy, so I don't know if they've managed to redeem some of the lines from the prequel. I'm waiting for Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge to come out to see if they do a box set of the prequel trilogy.) They make great audiobooks too.

Jeffrey Brown creates comic collections such as Darth Vader and Son, Vader's Little Princess, Good Night Darth Vader, and his latest, Darth Vader and Friends. I've been reading his Jedi Academy graphic novel series with Alex and am looking forward to the final book, which is coming out this summer.

Lego sets. Boy, do we have Lego sets. Here are a couple pictures from the collection, but this isn't complete. Alex has so many Lego Star Wars sets we're planning to turn the playroom into a display area. (Hey, we need some place to put the Death Star when he gets it.) We already have some shelving units picked out, but they're not in stock. We also plan to frame reprints of the movie posters from the Original Trilogy and hang them on the walls.

Here are Alex and me in our Jedi costumes. (My husband has one as well.) Alex will be enrolling in the Galactic Academy (costuming for kids) after his birthday. He could join now, but this way he'll be put in the right age group immediately. My husband would also like us to join the 501st Legion for Imperial Star Wars costumers--not that I have time or skill to make a costume. Eugene isn't sure yet if he would like to be an Imperial officer or a fighter pilot. I know what I would dress up as. It's a little like a Jedi, but you won't be able to see my face. Can you guess what it is? Keep in mind I'm a little short for a stormtrooper. Come back Wednesday when I reveal the answer. Better yet, leave your guess and e-mail in the comments. The first person to guess correctly wins an eBook from me!

July Issue of Indie Writers Monthly Is Out!

It's a Midsummer Issue of Indie Writers Monthly! Here are just a few of this month's features:

• A new article in the "Lies Writers Tell Other Writers" series by Andrew Leon
• Briane Pagel discusses and illustrates how to pick the right point of view for your story
• An article by me explaining how to prepare an audiobook through ACX
• A short story by me in which the Fab Four find themselves in A Midsummer Night's Dream

 And much more! Plus, find out how you can become our next featured author!

Download the issue here for only $0.99.

It's a Summer Smashwords Sale!

If it's July, then Smashwords must be holding their annual Summer/Winter Sale. This year, I have four works enrolled in the sale:

Click here for "Letters to Psyche" and use code SW100 at checkout to get it for free.
Cupid must find a way to break a curse on love between the Montagues and Capulets. If he doesn't, he'll never see his beloved Psyche again.

Click here for "The Mommy Clone" and use code SW100 at checkout to get it for free.
Set between Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes. Bouncy houses prove to be more scary than fun when a kidnapper stalks the clone of a rock star.

Click here for Lyon's Legacy and use code SW50 at checkout (Normally $2.99, on sale for $1.50).
A geneticist who blames her rock star ancestor for ruining her life is forced to travel back in time to clone him.

Finally, click here for Twinned Universes and use code SW50 at checkout (Normally $4.99, on sale for $2.50). 
 The way to solve a murder may be in an alternate universe--but an assassin lurks there too.

If you want to sideload one of these stories to your Kindle, all you have to do is look up your Kindle e-mail address (go into "Manage Your Content and Devices" on Amazon, then click the "Your Devices" tab) and e-mail the mobi file to that address. 

This sale runs through July 31, so make sure to take advantage of it. As Shakespeare said, "Summer's lease hath all too short a date."

Trivia Contest: Win an Audiobook of Twinned Universes!

There's a slight break in the Blog Ring of Power interview schedule, since the next one doesn't start until Wednesday. (It'll be on Terri's blog.) So we're going to do something a little different this week. I have coupon codes for five free copies of the audiobook version of Twinned Universes. Below are five trivia questions; the first person to answer any of them correctly gets a coupon code. Please answer only one question. I'll try to update when questions have been answered so you know which ones are still available.

1. Near the beginning of Lyon's Legacy, Joanna refers to a famous clone. Who or what was it?

2. How many versions of "Strawberry Fields Forever" were used to making the final recording, and how were they put together?

3. Which Shakespearean character has the most lines in a single play? What did Shakespeare leave his wife in his will?

4. What famous Chicago sculpture do tourists frequently use to photograph their reflections?--Cloudgate/The Bean--Alex

5. What is the name of the spaceship in Twinned Universes? (Hint: it's the same one from Lyon's Legacy.)

Good luck, and please make sure I have a way of contacting you to give you the coupon code!

Back on the Blog Chain: The Ones You Love to Hate

Amparo has come up with a twisted topic for the Valentine's Day blog chain:

Since Valentine's Day is around the corner, I think it's only appropriate to pay homage to those we love. But instead of our better halves, family members, and friends, this blog chain will be all about loving the haters: write a love letter to your favorite literary villain/villain-ish character. It can be short, long, serious, funny. You can use song lyrics or poems instead. Choice is totally yours :)

It took me a while to figure out which character to write to. He's a very famous character; he's been around for hundreds of years, and many people still fear to say his name in certain locations. In deference to my actor character Paul, who does not speak this character's name, I won't name this villain either. Can you figure out who he is?


Hail, Thane of Glamis! Hail, Thane of Cawdor! Hail, King thereafter!

I should hate you, as you caused the destruction of many innocent lives in pursuit of your own ambitions. But were they really your ambitions? It could be argued that those three women you met set you on your treacherous path. Your wife isn't innocent either; you two make a pair of very bad hosts. Yet I've also read that you and your wife had the best marriage of all those your author immortalized with his words. And how can I hate you when your author made you so eloquent, so full of sound and fury? If anything, I should feel sorry for you, so trusting in your superstitions. They built you up, but they also tore you down. Do I see some trees moving in the distance? Fortune may have raised you up high, but that's only to dash you to the ground. You prove indeed that fair is foul and foul is fair. Begone; something wicked this way comes.

Do you recognize this character? Please leave your guess in the comment section, then head over to Matt's blog for his letter.

Ten-Word Tuesday: Monkeys and Shakespeare

Digital monkeys are writing words of Shakespeare--but not together.