work in progress - new novel - coming soon!
Your Venus by Laura Shamas
Terra, a single curator at a Los Angeles museum, finds her quiet life interrupted by a beautiful new neighbor named Ivy, who's a therapist. Romantic adventures ensue when Ivy's group of male friends involve Terra, and her best friend Jo, who's getting married in four months, in a series of fun outings.
But Jo's wedding is soon in question. Terra's boss at the museum suddenly leaves. Terra goes to dinner with a handsome TV actor, but then he departs L.A. to work in another location. Ivy gives Terra lots of romantic advice about healing her past. But what do we really know about the mysterious Ivy?
Pop Mythology: Collected Essays
New essays in this volume: "Pieces of Athena (and her Head)"; "Martha Hearts Hestia"; "Acts of Protest, Athena and Lysistrata"; "Matters of Heart and Soul: Courtly Love"; "Facing the Dragon: Of Presidential Nominees and Acceptance Speeches"; "A Few Thoughts on Adaptation"; and "Swimming in the Tweet Stream."
ISBN e-book ($2.99): 978-1-938135-22-4
ISBN Paperback ($12): 978-1-938135-23-1
Seventeen previously published mythological essays, plus six new ones. Published on July 4, 2012 in digital (Telemachus Press), and available on Amazon.com (Kindle)/Barnes & Noble (Nook); the paperback version is available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Seventeen previously published essays plus six new ones. Cover by Ty Donaldson.
“From dark matter to domestic goddesses, Laura A. Shamas illuminates the relationship between mythology and our daily lives. A must read for any thinking writer!”
—Thelma de Castro, verified Amazon reviewer
"We Three": The Mythology of Shakespeare's Weird Sisters
Publication Date: 2007. Peter Lang USA.
ISBN-13:978-0-8204-7933-0.
www.peterlang.com.
From the cover: "The Weird Sisters, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, are arguably the most famous trio of witches in English literature. Shakespeare's Weird Sisters are a complex trinitarian mythological construction--a unique amalgamation of classical, folkloric, and socio-political elements. This book is an archetypal exploration of the Weird Sisters. By examining this feminine trio through the lens of mythology, new insights about their significance may be understood. The ramifications extend from classical comprehension to twenty-first century pop culture observations related to female trios."
"Laura Shamas's 'We Three': The Mythology of Shakespeare's Weird Sisters opens with a concise, detailed account of the stage history of the 'Weird Sisters' from Macbeth, including the useful reminder that the only extant contemporary description of their on-stage appearance comes from the diarist and astrolger Simon Forman, who refers to them as 'nymphs and fairies' (p. 2) This provides Shamas with a sold base for launching her investigation into what Shakespeare was up to in presenting these ambiguous figures to James I. Shamas pays close attention to probable sources for Shakespeare's depiction of the witches...Shamas also considers the mythological background of female triads at length and discusses the witch as a scapegoat-figure. - The Year's Work in English Studies [Oxford Journals] (2010) 89 (1): 337-450.
"Laura Shamas explores...various backgrounds to early modern witchcraft belief; her effort may assist producers and directors of the play." - A. R. Braunmuller, ed. Macbeth (Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 104)
“Excellently researched...This creative weaving of the mythological heritage is unique to Shakespeare. It suggests that the politics of Macbeth is more mysterious than other scholars have perceived... Laura Shamas is to be congratulated for giving to Shakespeare's most dramatically powerful creatures of darkness their proper place as guardians of the 'weyward path' to the Other... 'We Three' is now an indispensable resource for that most spell-binding of plays.”
—Susan Rowland, book review, Spring Journal, Volume 78 (Fall 2007, pages 377-379).
A review of “We Three: The Mythology of Shakespeare's Weird Sisters”
“Laura Shamas has stirred the witches' cauldron once again! The magic of the weird sisters comes to life wondrously in this most remarkable brew of history, folktale, mythology, psychology, contemporary cultural criticism, and the phenomenology of the meaning of 'threeness.'“
—David L. Miller, Watson-Ledden Professor of Religion, Emeritus, Syracuse University