Appendix/Bibliography
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't." – Polonius, Hamlet
"Oh, matter and impertinency mixed,/Reason in madness!" – Edgar, King Lear
"Shakespeare geek? Me? Why, however did you guess?" – Tierfal, Real Life
NAMES
Sparky – Sparky was my first cat. He started out as a four-legged cat, but he had some sort of cancer and had to have one of his legs amputated. (He did, however, retain both of his ears in all their entirety.) Real Sparky wasn't very friendly. I took some creative liberties.
Henry and Eleanor Johnson (in the newspaper article) – after Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine from The Lion in Winter. The movie's all right, I guess. But it was a live performance of it that blew me away. I saw it five times. (Did I mention I'm a GEEK?) Oh, Henry and Eleanor have a son named John, so "Johnson." Geddit?
Maximilian Venturous, Alexander Lace, and Xavier Weirwood – I just made those suckers up. I should write seamy romance novels, I know. I'm all cut out for it.
Giles Helicane – Helicanus is Pericles's advisor and assistant in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, a play Shakespeare wrote. (Well, wrote half of.) I'd come up with the name before I realized what an important part of the plot Helicane was going to be, or I wouldn't have christened him after a good guy. Well, Hell, it's more unexpected that way. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
Dionyza's Ice Cream Parlour – Dionyza is the queen of Tarsus in Pericles. She kills Lychorida (see below) and tries to kill Marina (also see below!). Yeah, I basically just picked a Pericles character every time I needed a name for something… They should make an ad—This is your brain. And this is your brain on laziness.
The Hersperides – in Greek mythology, three nymphs who take care of the tree that grows the golden apples that show up in all the other stories. Incidentally, they get referenced in—you guessed it—Pericles.
Lychorida Bolton – Lychorida is Princess Thaisa's nurse in Pericles; when Thaisa dies (temporarily, anyway… it's complicated…), she becomes Marina's nurse. Later Dionyza kills her off. "Bolton" was just an English name that sounded all right, though there is also a character named Boult in Pericles. That one was purely accidental, I swear.
Marina Irving Granger – As you may have gathered, Marina is a princess in Pericles. "Irving" is a Scottish name that means "green water," at least according to Behind the Surname.
Arturo Leonine – Leonine is the assassin Dionyza conscripts to kill Marina in Pericles. Are we sensing a bit of a pattern here?
Dynesy Cranot – an anagram of Sydney Carton, who inspired my very first fan fiction. (Don't read it. It's all Dickens-y.) Subtle nod; subtle nod.
Andray Rachels – an anagram of Charles Darnay, though I (evidently) switched the order of the names so it would make sense. When it rains A Tale of Two Cities homage, it pours.
Tarsus – I thought it was pretty funny to name a restaurant after the kingdom in Pericles that starts out in the middle of a famine. But then, I'm a dork.
Ilsa Engelman Weasley – "Ilsa" just sounded right. I picked a last name that matched.
Pericles Tyrus – I'm not even going to say it.
STRANGE AND OBSCURE REFERENCES
Chapter Title "Death of a Bookshelf" – Death of a Salesman is a play by Arthur Miller. Y'know. I actually thought it was kind of a boring play. But I needed a chapter heading.
Chapter Title "Curioser and Curioser" – a reasonably well-known quote from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which is the trippiest book… ever.
"Well, shall we go?" "Yes, let's go." – from Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett. I just thought it was too funny to miss. But, as we know, I'm a dork.
MUSIC (SOME OF IT MENTIONED ONLY IN AUTHOR'S NOTES)
"Toreador Song" (from Carmen) – Bizet; premiered 1875
"Ride of the Valkyries" (from Die Walküre) – Wagner; premiered 1870
"No One Lives Forever" – Oingo Boingo; 1985
"You Give Love a Bad Name" – Bon Jovi; 1986
"Rock and Roll All Nite" – Kiss; 1975
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" – Simple Minds; 1985
ZOMBIE MOVIES
"Night of the Living Dead" – 1968
"Resident Evil" – 2002
"28 Days Later" – 2002
OTHER MOVIES
"Jeepers Creepers" – 2001
WORDS COINED
Enigmaticness
Edibilities
Fantabulousiriffic
IN CONCLUSION
Thank you very much for humoring me. It means a lot. Though I think Shakespeare is rolling over in his grave…
Reviewers get imaginary candy and genuine gratitude. The esteemed list of them (at press, of course) goes as follows:
tennissoccerfreak; smartiesncoke; Kid At Work; fahzzyquill; Katie; Sordinmyhart; Take Your Pick; kogarocksmysocks; elspethana; Mufflebit; pluto; wingsrookie; S.Atkins; x.Kaley.x; SuperSheila; Wolf the Braineater; Eltea; peddyviolin; xEmmax; doornumberthree; saige; BlewStar101; beck; Krissy; Ninga Monkey - jellybeans; NikolaBel; nadia the demented one; em; TennesseeSweetheart; Eltea; Querida Goddess; Pink-Ichigo; doodlebug19; Rebell; insert-fancouple-username-here; Elithiel; ctc; suisei no mitsukai; Isadora120; Liz; duj; oliverwoodsgirl; ReineMauvaise; Psych3; InASwirlofSnow; Eviljellybean88; GirlEnigma; reader101; DariaM; iceprincess800; ColdPersianFusion; Intricacy; w1cked angel; Ehlonna; izzienkate; Michelle Pruitt; PeanutluvsHP; Akira M; bluenavydragon; Lemur76; magic2007; Alina; Aequalitas; 'loha; Kae-Lae; tawni butterfly; Pointe92; sleepie-kid; xpenguinx99; mahlee; vampassassin; XeclipseOnewmoonXtwilightO; izzaay; ToManyLetters; Slythersnake2000; JadedLadyoftheSpeculativeNight; fallenfromgrace17; BeInMyEyes; AlinaLotus; mha78; justamuggle; nikki1990.
You have all made me very happy. For someone who is used to getting the occasional desultory review from an average of two dedicated people… This is incredible and unprecedented. You guys handed me the jackpot. And for that I thank you one last time.
"Last" until the sequel, that is. Until then…
(Tierfal takes an extremely ostentatious bow and exits stage right, at a run. Pieces of her costume fall off, and she sheepishly sidles back onstage to retrieve them before exiting for real this time.)