Guest Kathryn Johnson -- Romance, Shakespeare & The (New) Tempest

The Gentleman Poet
By: Kathryn Johnson
Genre: Historical
Available in print here
Available for kindle here



BLURB:

En route to the Americas in 1609, Elizabeth Persons, a young servant girl, sees her blinding headache as an ominous sign. Sure enough, a hurricane during the final leg of their journey tosses the ill-fated Sea Venture and its one hundred and fifty passengers and crew onto the dreaded shores of the Bermudas, the rumored home of evil spirits and dangerous natives.

In the months that pass--time marked by grave hardship, mutiny, adventure, danger . . . and a blossoming love between Elizabeth and the wrecked ship's young cook--she despairs of their ever being rescued. But she finds hope and strength in a remarkable new friendship, forming a fast bond with the Sea Venture's historian, a poet traveling under the name of William Strachey. But Will is more than he seems.

To many back home in England, he is known by a different name: Shakespeare. And he sees in their great shared travails the makings of a magical, truly transcendent work of theater.

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Kathryn Johnson here, dropping by to say, “Hi!” to all of Ali’s friends. Like you, I love a good romance. I don’t think I’ve written a single story without some type of love connection—and yet many were called mysteries, suspense, contemporary or historical fiction. We’re so lucky as readers. Love is all around us, in so many wonderful forms. And soon, it seems, it will be coming to us in very special film: Shakespeare’s last great masterpiece, The Tempest.


Imagine my surprise when a friend asked, “Have you seen the cool trailer for Helen Mirren’s new movie? She’s doing your story.” Well, not my story. Writer-Director Julie Taymor has finished filming her version of the fantasy play, complete with amazing special effects, and it will be in theaters December 12. This seemed news almost too good to be true for any author, since my novel, a reimagining of how Shakespeare might have been inspired to write The Tempest just hit the bookstores two months ago. What a lovely coincidence! Do you think Dame Helen might invite me for tea? (Na-a-a-w!)


I for one can’t wait to see Mirren in her female version of Prospero, the powerful sorcerer bent on revenge. And her daughter, Miranda, is played by Felicity Jones. I’ll have to wait and see what my readers think of my Miranda. I actually imagined her as very like Felicity, but you’ll have to tell me what you think.


It’s a super exciting time for readers. We’re renewing our love of the classics, sometimes even discovering amazing stories we never had a chance to read earlier in our lives. That’s one reason I wrote The Gentleman Poet. I wanted to give readers who love Shakespeare a fun story reminiscent of the movie Shakespeare in Love. But I also wanted to encourage those readers who were a little timid about Shakespearean plays, because they felt intimidated by the language, to discover how thrilling these stories could be. I hope you read my book, see the movie, and lose yourself in timeless romance and adventure!


Hugs, Kathryn Johnson

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Big thanks to Kathryn for visiting us today!

Stay tuned tomorrow for my review of The Gentlemen Poet by Kathryn Johnson :-)

**Leave a question/comment regarding Kathryn's post and I'll pick a winner for a $10 GC to Amazon.com**