This Is Why It’s Important for Men to Be Feminists
Women don't owe men anything. We, as men, owe it to women, and to ourselves, to be feminists. Here's why. Originally written for and posted by bestlifeonline.com. I have no trouble sharing my opinion. Why would I? I'm a guy. More than that, I'm a...
Democratic Candidates’ Closing Arguments, via Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Watching the latest Democratic debate, a crazy thing happened to me. Someone asked me how the debate was going, and I said, “It’s a shit show.” Which immediately made me think of this song from Rachel Bloom’s amazing, criminally-underwatched show “Crazy...
Open Letter to President Trump
Dear Mr. President - real talk. You don’t want to be president during this #coronavirus mess. Heck, you hardly wanted to be president before this. But now things are gonna be bad. You’re gonna be attacked, pilloried and vilified. Everyone’ll be hounding...
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Sources
My sources were many and varied. The major ones were Barbara Tuchman’s A DISTANT MIRROR, Allison Cornish's READING DANTE’S STARS, ASIMOV'S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE by Isaac Asimov, and a collection of differing versions of Romeo & Juliet (ironically published by the...
Chapter 1 – Journey’s End pt. 1
The Road to Verona, the Same Night “Giotto’s O.” In the middle of a dream in which no one would let him sleep, it seemed to Pietro that the words were deliberately meant to annoy him. Almost unwillingly he dreamed of a rock, a paintbrush touching the rock, forming a...
Dates
Those who have studied Shakespeare’s sources will be critical of my choice of years. As I’ve stated earlier, Luigi da Porto, whose version of the story was penned in the early 16th Century, firmly places the events of the play between 1301 and 1304. This is during the...
The Death of Benvolio
If you wanted to throw my whole theory about the cause of the feud out of whack, you could point out to me that Lady Montague does not, in fact, have the final death in the play. I would answer with a nod, a sigh, a smile. “I know. Benvolio does.” The first legitimate...
Mugged
I firmly expect to get mugged by Shakespeare and Dante scholars alike. The Dante folk will take issue with several of my choices. His movements prior to his arrival in (or return to, as it certainly was) Verona are much debated, and I’ve chosen one of the more...
Prologue – pt. 2
In another quarter of an hour Ciolo found the house, right where it was supposed to be. There was the hanging garden. There was the juniper bush. The house was frescoed with a pagan god holding a staff with two snakes on it. The god...
The Title
The title has given me fits, far moreso than the actual story. The original title for the first book was ‘Il Veltro.’ Italian for The Greyhound, it has several other, wonderful, connotations. Firstly, it is the title used for the hero of the prophecy in the first...
Genesis of the novel – pt. 2
Not happy with how the novel was progressing, I fought halfway through a bad version before I realized I wasn’t writing the story I wanted to tell. More research, more false starts. Finally I took a deep breath and settled in to read Dante’s Divine Comedy, something I...
Genesis of the Novel – pt. 1
The production of R&J that I directed came and went as shows do. Throughout the following year, however, I was unable to leave the idea of the origin of the feud behind. The play was done, but my research continued. I’d waded shin-deep into the history of Verona;...
Prologue – pt. 1
Padua, 16 September, 1314 Looking about him, Ciolo’s nerves jangled like spurs. During the whole ride they hadn’t seen a soul. Not on the road, not in the fields. No one at all. “What does it mean?” asked...
