So...Is Mary Shelley Black Related to THE Mary Shelley?

I haven't yet received enough frequently asked questions to create a FAQ page, but one question that keeps coming up is whether or not my In the Shadow of Blackbirds protagonist, Mary Shelley Black, is related to THE Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.

No, she's not. My fictional Mary Shelley's mother gave her that name because Frankenstein was her favorite novel.

Like her mother, and like Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Black is scientific minded and madly in love with modern technology and electricity. She frequently wears gadgets and contraptions that reflect her scientific curiosity (hence, the goggles around her neck on the cover).

However...even though In the Shadow of Blackbirds isn't a retelling of Frankenstein or anyway related to the famous Shelley family, I have inserted other Frankenstein references throughout the book. I'll be curious to see if readers and reviewers pick up on all my tributes to the real Mary Shelley's classic tale of horror.

What you won't be seeing in the novel, however, is a scene like this:

(Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in one of my favorite movies,
Young Frankenstein).

Contest Winner...and an Introduction to My Protagonist's Name

Congratulations to Diane! She was the first person to guess the name of my protagonist after I gave the following two clues about my central female character:

Hint #1:

Her mother named her after a 
famous author from the 1800s.

Hint #2:

Her mother named her after the author of a 
famous HORROR novel from the 1800s.

And the full name of my In the Shadow of Blackbirds protagonist is...

MARY SHELLEY BLACK

Yes, my main character was named after the author of Frankenstein. Her mother loved Mary Shelley's classic horror tale and was a student of science. Look for a few other nods to Frankenstein throughout the book when you read it.

Diane will receive the In the Shadow of Blackbirds prize package I announced in my original post. She did not come up with the correct last name (I gave a hint that it was a color), but three other visitors who entered did guess Black. I'll send those three people signed bookplates featuring a sneak peek at a quote from my novel.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I definitely have more giveaways in the works, so be sure to follow this blog or keep track of me through Twitter and Facebook.  

Frankenweenie

There's a Frankenstein connection to In the Shadow of Blackbirds (I won't say how at this point—I'm sealing my lips closed about the plot until there's an official synopsis). Therefore, I have a soft spot for Frankenstein stories, especially Tim Burton's tributes to Mary Shelley's classic tale of horror. He's given us Edward Scissorhands and his short live-action film "Frankenweekie," and now he's created a full-length stop-motion version of Frankenweekie, which will hit movie theaters this upcoming Halloween season.

Here's the just-released trailer:



The main character, Victor, is the spitting image of The Corpse Bride's Victor, but in the world of Tim Burton, characters often look and sound like each other, and that's just how it goes. He's even using past Burton cast members for the voices, such as Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Martin Landau.

Yes, I'll definitely be seeing Frankenweenie this October. My weakness for Frankenstein tales and Tim Burton movies will be impossible to fight.

If you're curious about the original 1984 version, here's an early example of Burton filmmaking: