AUTHOR'S NOTES

The first time I saw Kenneth Brannagh's 1993 film version of Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, I fell in love. It's the one and only movie I've seen in the theater multiple times. And by that I mean a number I refuse to admit to. Over the course of that summer, I suddenly understood those fanatics who saw Star Wars 100 times, although I didn't go quite that nuts.

Being an English major, I decided to read the play. I noted how Brannagh adapted it to the screen, what he cut, what things I thought he had added but that were actually in the original, and so forth. I even developed a theory about some of the characters' backgrounds based on their dialogue. Some of it had to do with Don Pedro and how he decides to go about playing Cupid, and others were about Benedick and Beatrice's past. In fact, I wrote a paper on the play for my Shakespeare class, supporting my theory, which is hinted at in the play but not explained overtly.

Fast forward about a decade, when I'm finally (yippee!) publishing novels. I started thinking that a retelling of Much Ado would be a ton of fun to write. But at the time, I imagined it in a contemporary setting. Maybe the men could be coming home from a deployment, I thought. That would fit.

And then, with House on the Hill, I fell smack dab into writing historical fiction. Suddenly, I felt right at home and had no urge to leave the nineteeth century. I pushed aside the idea of retelling Much Ado, because I was no longer doing contemporary writing.

After publishing two temple books (first Logan and then St. George), I knew that I wanted to do Salt next. But what would the story be?

That's when I finally had my "Aha!" moment. Why not retell one of my favorite stories of all time and place it in a historical setting?

The early drafting came smoothly, and I had a ball following my characters and planning how to adapt certain parts of the play. And then I got a bit of a jolt when Phillip and Claude refused to behave like they were supposed to. Worse, Hannah started getting a personality and making decisions that I hadn't expected.

What to do? Forcing them to say and do it Shakespeare's way would have felt forced. I ended up letting my characters tell their own story. Future drafts continued to expand on how my version was playing out, and frankly, I really like the result.

So for readers expecting a precise retelling of Much Ado, you have my apologies. For readers who love the play but are up for a slightly different ride, but a fun one at that, enjoy!