SHAKESPEARE’ SECRET (23 page)

Writing may seem a solitary act, but in reality it depends on the goodwill and generosity patience and support of so many others. It is a privilege to thank the following people for their many contributions to this book:

• First, last, and always, my amazing family: my husband, Ward Wheeler, and my children, Zoe, Harry, and Grace. They put up with a lot in order for this book to be written, and incredibly, they seem to feel it was worth it.
  

• Christy Ottaviano, my gifted editor, who graced this project with a keen eye and a sure touch, asking all the right questions and wisely letting me find my own answers.
  

• My writing group—Claire Carlson, Anne Gaston, Laurie Krebs, Mary Reilly, and Peggy Thomas—who began this journey with me and were peerless traveling companions: exceptional readers, writers, and friends.
  

• Patricia Reilly Giff, whose generosity as a teacher and colleague is legendary in the field, and whose many insights guided me through a first draft of this novel in her class at the Dinosaur's Paw.
  

• Liza Pulitzer Voges, who believed in the story and found it the right home.
  

• Steven Malk, who offered thoughtful advice and encouragement as the book made its way into the world.
  

• And finally, my talented company of readers, fact-checkers, and friends who lent this manuscript their valuable
  perspectives as historians, writers, mystery buffs, legal experts, artists, gardeners, jewelry appraisers, English teachers, middle-school parents, and above all, lovers of fiction: Pamela Benepe, Barbara Broach, Bill Broach, Mary Broach, Jane Burns, Laura Forte, the staff at Michael Goldstein Antique Diamonds, Jane Kamensky, Carolyn Meek, Carol Sheriff, and Susanne and David Smith. I am especially indebted to my middle-school readers: Sophie and Julia Broach, Alexis and Taylor Smith, Ellen and Jane Urheim, James Wayne, and Zoe Wheeler.
  

 

ELISE BROACH

 

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A cowgirl, until I found out it wasn't really a job, and then a veterinarian, until I turned out to be terrible at biology.

 

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I always loved to tell stories, from the time I was old enough to talk. When I was six or seven, I started writing little books, poems, and plays, sometimes with friends. In college and graduate school, I decided to study history because it allowed me to write other people's stories. I feel so lucky now to be writing my own.

 

What's your first childhood memory?

When I was three, living in Alabama, my brother and I climbed into the front seat of our station wagon to play. It was parked in the driveway and I pulled the gearshift into neutral, and the car promptly started rolling down our hilly
backyard toward a creek. I have a vague memory of my panic-stricken mother running along next to us, the yard blurring past, and my brother looking quite impressed. Fortunately, it all ended undramatically, in a bank of shrubbery, with nobody hurt, not even the car.

 

What's your most embarrassing childhood memory?

Maybe the time we went skinny-dipping at a friend's lake house and it turned out the neighbor boys were already in the water. Or the first time I went skiing, when I misjudged the tow rope and got so tangled with the person in front of me that they had to shut the whole thing down. Or the time I knocked out my front tooth at a party for my grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary, right before the family picture. I used to think my entire childhood was just one embarrassing incident after another.

 

As a young person, who did you look up to most?

A great role model for me when I was little was my aunt Annette, also my godmother, nicknamed “Auntie.” She was the fun, single aunt, always up for anything, passionately involved in various political and social causes, endlessly doting on us and ignoring the rules.

 

What was your worst subject in school?

Any kind of science. I did, however, marry a scientist to genetically improve my children's chances in this area. . ..

What was your first job?

My first job ever was as a telemarketer for NBC when I was a teenager. My first real job when I graduated from college was as a management consultant for Bain and Company in Boston.

 

How did yoy celebrate publishing your first book?

Champagne, chocolate, flowers—the best way to celebrate anything. Actually, I'm still celebrating.

 

Where do you write your books?

Usually at a desk in an alcove of my bedroom, near a window that overlooks the woods. But I take my laptop computer everywhere. I often end up writing in libraries, coffee shops, or at my son's chess tournaments.

 

Where do you find inspiration for your writing?

This is the hardest question to answer. Stories come in so many different ways—from a phrase that gives you the perfect title, or something that happens right in front of you, or a snippet of conversation you overhear, or a memory or dream. I tend to get good ideas while I'm walking my dog. Something about the fresh air and quiet is inspiring.

 

Which of your characters is most like you?

There is a little piece of me in all of my characters. I have a lot in common with both Hero and Danny, even though they're quite different from each other. In her curiosity and willfulness, Lucy, the main character in my teen suspense
Desert Crossing,
is also like me.

When you finish a book, who reads it first?

I am incredibly lucky to have a great circle of readers for my work, including my sister, my teenage daughter, and several close friends. They're all avid book-lovers, so they look at a story in terms of what seems believable, or what needs to happen for the reader to feel satisfied. I like to have my editor read the first draft, and then give it to my other readers in the course of revision.

 

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Neither, really ... I'm kind of an afternoon person. I hate getting up before it's light out, and I usually go to bed before midnight, though I'll always stay up late for a good movie or a good conversation. My best writing time is the middle of the day.

 

What's your idea of the best meal ever?

Breakfast or brunch, because I love croissants, fresh fruit, scones, coffee cake, and cinnamon buns. So the best meal would probably be a bountiful breakfast, with family and friends (and if it were in Paris, that would be even better).

 

Which do you like better: cats or dogs?

Dogs, because they are funny and playful and always happy to see you. I like cats, but I've never had a cat, so I'm a little wary of them. My brother used to have a crazy cat that would hide and then jump out when I walked past, latching onto my leg with its claws.

What do you value most in your friends?

Insight, sense of humor, kindness. Bonus points for a good imagination and a taste for adventure.

 

Where do you go for peace and quiet?

I take long walks with my dog on the country roads and in the woods near my house. It's very peaceful (until she
sees
a deer or coyote).

 

What makes you laugh out loud?

Oh, many things! But they are often related to my kids and my dog.

 

What's your favorite song?

Can't pick one. Musicals: I love almost anything by Sondheim, especially “Finishing the Hat” from
Sunday in the Park with George.
Rock: I think The Who's “Baba O'Riley” is one of the truly great rock songs. Hymns: I love “Amazing Grace.” Recent pop: I like Snow Patrol's “Chasing Cars.”

 

Who is your favorite fictional character?

This is too hard! Here are a few: Huckleberry Finn, Elizabeth Bennet from
Pride and Prejudice,
Almanzo from the
Little House
books, Charlotte from
Charlotte's Web.

 

What are you most afraid of?

I've always been afraid of the dark. Our electricity went off one night while my husband was away, and I had to go up the hill to the dark garage to get something, so I took the dog with me. When I pulled up the garage
door, she refused to go inside; literally wouldn't budge. She just kept cocking her head at the blackness and looking at me like, “Are you crazy? Who knows what's in there?” Which is basically how I still feel about the dark.

 

What time of the year do you like best?

I love the summer, because it's lazy and warm, with trips to the beach, late nights, ice cream, and no school. Time stops in the summer.

 

What is your favorite TV show?

Seinfeld
is probably my all-time favorite, but I also like
Grey's Anatomy
and
Project Runway.

 

If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you want for company?

Well, if it could be anyone, and we rule out my family and friends, then I'd have to say Shakespeare. Good sense of humor, good perspective on human nature, good with words—who would make better company? And then I'd find out who he really was!

 

If you could travel in time, where would you go?

I would like to see dinosaurs. I think that would be amazing (but only if I could come right back again).

 

What's the best advice you have ever received about writing?

I like the quote from Ovid: “Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.” It's good advice for writing and life. Great ideas and
experiences are everywhere, but you have to go looking for them, and be open to finding them in unexpected places.

 

What do you want readers to remember about your books?

I would just be happy to have readers remember my books. The best books give you a feeling of being swept up in another world, totally absorbed, with characters you like and worry about as much as your own friends. If readers remember that feeling from my books—well, as a writer, I couldn't ask for more.

 

What would you do if you ever stopped writing?

I can't imagine I'd ever stop writing, even if I stopped publishing. But there are lots of other things I do and would still do. I
serve
in town government and am active in politics; I'm involved in local arts centers and libraries; I help with fundraising for several causes.

 

What do you like best about yourself?

Probably my willingness to see things from a different perspective, and to embrace new experiences.

 

What is your worst habit?

Procrastination. I can always come up with very inventive and plausible reasons for not doing something that I should have done a long time ago.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?

This will seem strange, but it was probably leaving the history PhD program at Yale. Quitting hardly sounds like an accomplishment, but being willing to walk away from something that isn't right for you can take more courage and conviction than sticking with it. It was very hard for me—and scary—to step off the path I was on, without being sure of the future. But it was the right decision. It's led me to where I am as a writer (not to mention as a parent, since I had three children in the process).

 

What do you wish you could do better?

So many things! But if I had to choose one, I wish I were a better gardener. I love flowers and love the idea, in theory, of a beautiful garden in my backyard. My mother's garden has winding paths, beautiful flowerbeds, benches, and a fountain. But I have the total opposite of a green thumb. I have trouble even keeping plants alive, much less coaxing them to flourish.

 

What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?

It's funny, but I don't think there's much about me that would surprise my readers. One way or another, it's all in my books.

 

What do a lonely ten-year-old-boy named James, the great Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer, and a beetle with excellent night vision have in common? Find out in Masterpiece by Elise Broach, coming in 2008.

That night, when the house was quiet, Marvin and Elaine sorted through the treasure box while their parents played a game of Staples in the other room. Staples was the beetles' modified version of the human game of Horseshoes, in which two teams threw staples at broken toothpicks stuck in the floor. Because each beetle could throw as many as four staples at once, using his front four legs, the air was filled with sharp whizzing objects, and the grown-ups preferred to sequester the children in another part of the house before they began.