Lea Rachel | Literature/Theatre/Art

TOS is an Award Finalist!

February 27th, 2015 → 6:15 am

The Other Shakespeare has just been announced as a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards. What an honor! Thank you so much to all those independent judges and panelists who took the time to read it, and obviously, appreciate it.

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life

Guest Post – College’s Priceless Value

February 13th, 2015 → 5:27 am

“Stay a little.” – King Lear

What’s the most transformative educational experience you’ve had? Newspaper columnist Frank Bruni was asked this question recently, and his answer? Hearing these three little words of Shakespeare, spoken with depth, anguish, and emotion from a teacher in college. Wow. Shakespeare can be hard to understand sometimes, but done right, the bard’s words are transformative.

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ShakeDic: cod’s head

February 1st, 2015 → 6:25 am

“She that in wisdom never was so frail
To change the cod’s head for the salmon’s tail.” – Othello

cod’s head – slang for penis

tail – slang for pudendum

There’s some controversy over what Shakespeare is actually saying here, that the woman would never exchange a lackluster lover for a sexy one? That the woman is wise enough to choose a sexual partner becoming to her? That the woman is smart enough to be first in a lowly group than last in a higher group? Simply that the woman has common sense? I don’t know, but there’s clearly some sexual connotation there somewhere. “Tail” we still use today – but “cod’s head”? These antiquated slang terms are cracking me up.

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ShakeDic: guinea hen

January 29th, 2015 → 5:37 am

“I would drown myself for the love of a guinea hen.” – Othello

There’s your regular dictionary, your urban dictionary, even something called Your Dictionary. Today I introduce ShakeDic – Shakespeare’s Dictionary. In my current reading of Othello I’m coming across a number of words I am not only unfamiliar with, but I find hilarious/interesting once I figure out what Shakespeare meant by them. I’ll post more examples over the coming months, but here’s the first: guinea hen – slang term for a prostitute

Use in a sentence: Honey, you haven’t seen any guinea hens lately, have you?

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Spoken Language

January 26th, 2015 → 5:53 am

“That’s an ill phrase, a vile phrase, [‘ok’] is a vile phrase.” – Hamlet

I am happy to report that the reviews coming in of The Other Shakespeare are mostly positive! It’s really been heart-warming, in fact, to see all the nice things readers have written about the book, and it’s even given me incentive to think about a next novel… The few criticisms I’ve gotten have generally been about the dialogue in the book. That it messes up and sometimes sounds too modern. First, let me say that I agree I should have never used the word “ok” in the book. My bad. But let me add that criticism of dialogue in historical novels is rife, and often quite unsubstantiated. My favorite response on this came from Philippa Gregory, who said that, let’s be honest, no one knows how people actually spoke hundreds of years ago. There were no recordings! And obviously people don’t talk in casual conversation like they write in formal documents, so formal writing from that time period tells us nothing. So anyone who claims definitively that a historical novel’s dialogue is wrong, is basing that opinion on, frankly, personal opinion. Like most historical novels I had to wing the dialogue, and I may have messed up in a few places, but I’ve learned. Watch out – my next novel is going to be even better!!

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life

Shakspearized

January 20th, 2015 → 6:07 am

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” – Sonnet 55

I’ve been reading some commentary about Shakespeare from the Harvard scholar Marjorie Garber, and she claims that the world has become “Shakspearized” – i.e. that the bard’s quotes, images, and allusions are everywhere. I have to admit, I like that word – Shakspearized. Shakspearized. Shakspearized. I’ve got to find a way to use it in every day conversation. 🙂

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Next Novel

December 21st, 2014 → 5:25 am

“The plot is laid.” – Henry VI

Since The Other Shakespeare came out, a surprising number of people have asked me what my next novel is going to be about. I hadn’t really thought much about my next novel. I mean, I have a folder full of scraps of ideas I’ve written down over the years, but for all I know they’re terrible, like the detritus of a bad dream, best left behind and forgotten. And then in bed yesterday morning, while cuddling my son as he slowly woke up, I had an idea. I’m going to spend the next couple of months researching it and getting a feel for its plausibility, but I think the plot may be laid! Happy Holidays and see everyone in 2015!

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life