Shakespeare – A Wordsmith For All Seasons
Shakespeare: A Wordsmith For All Seasons Shakespeare's unmatched linguistic prowess allowed him to coin and popularize a staggering number of words. It's estimated that he introduced around 1,700 words to the English language—at least, his plays are the first recorded...
Shakespeare’s Othello – A Prayer Before Dying
I am often asked what's my favorite Shakespeare play. It's like asking me to pick my favorite ice cream. Sure, there are favs, but it's ice cream - the worst I've had is terrific. Having performed about two-thirds of the canon, any list of mine would have Much Ado and...
Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet: Comedy Subverted, Tragedy Reinvented
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” William Shakespeare’s The Tragedie Of Romeo And Juliet reinvented theatrical Tragedy by taking standard Comedic elements and subverting them, with unhappy outcomes. This makes Romeo & Juliet...
Recent Posts
Love is Love
Here's a guest piece I wrote for Bilerico.com that ran last Sunday. I’m getting some lovely praise for my new novel, HER MAJESTY’S WILL. I wrote it as a tongue-in-cheek spy story starring Will Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, and it seems to be received...
Richard III has Left the Stage
The 18th season of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival is down! It's been a particularly wonderful run, with a great company and amazing reviews and audience response. The only downside is that I haven't been writing or promoting books. The upside is, I now have...
Answer for Nancy
Last week I received an e-mail from a reader named Nancy who wanted (nay, nigh on demanded!) to know when THE PRINCE'S DOOM was coming out. I wrote her back, but for some reason the e-mail address was undeliverable. So I'm answering the question here:...
Typos
One of the things that drove me mad over the printed editions of THE MASTER OF VERONA was that there were typos. I take typos as a personal affront, a judgment on my character, a deep failing. Reading, they make me crazy. So the fact that not only myself, but an...
The Aurora Shooting and the Herostratus Effect
On July 21, 356 BC, an arsonist burned down one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. His sole goal? To be famous. He was apparently a comman man, owning no talent, no skill or wit or wisdom. He had only an appetite for fame, and...
My Birthday Gift To You
Today is my birthday. And the best gift I can ask isn't for me. I'd like you to give one of my books to someone you love. Whether it be The Master Of Verona or one of its sequels, or the first book of the Colossus series, or even my short stories or essays....
AuthorBuzz Winners – COLOSSUS
Here are the 5 winners of free digital copies of COLOSSUS: STONE & STEEL, through the AuthorBuzz giveaway! David C. Barbara D. Donna Saia D. Patty J. Cindy M. I'll be contacting you this week to deliver your copies! Thanks to...
THE FOUR EMPERORS – Prologue
Prologue Roma, Italia 13 October, 64 AD Made of Cyclopean stones, the Tullianum was a prison without bars. There was nothing to prevent the prisoner from walking out into the open air, yet Symeon did not escape. It was a perverse honor to be held there, where...
A Different Kind Of Gift
Yesterday I offered up THE MASTER OF VERONA for free on Kindle, and was astonished by the eager enthusiasm of Kindle readers, who snapped up 5,579 copies. Thank you all. The notion of that many new readers - more in a day than I could have dreamed - is truly...
Today Only – The Master Of Verona is FREE!
Today on Amazon I'm giving away FREE copies of The Master Of Verona! Tell your friends! It's still my best-selling book (though HMW is catching up fast!), and that start to the Star-Cross'd series - and for this one day only, it is completely FREE! Check...
