Vampire dream
Twilight series of novels, written by Stephenie Meyer, has the story revolve around the main characters who are vampires, and the romantic encounter with humans. The story idea, the author stated, that came through a dream, where she saw a vampire and a girl arguing, discussing in a meadow. The topic of it was the contradiction of falling in love for her and wanting to drink her blood. The rest is now a popular novel series and a movie adaptation.
Book signing fiasco
The contemporary author of “The fault in our stars”, John Green promised he will personally sign all of the pre-ordered copies of his book and promised that he will use a different sharpie colour according to the buyers. He ended up signing over 150,000 copies and had to use different colours proportional to the poll result.
Hercule Poirot's obituary
Hercule Poirot was despised by his creator, Agatha Christie called him: “a detestable, tiresome and egocentric little creep”. However, the retired Belgian, and not French police officer as he would often describe himself, and famous detective was the only fictional, to date, to have an obituary record on the front page of the New York Times. Find out more about Agatha Christie
F. Dostoevsky
December 1849 finds Fyodor Dostoevsky in front of an execution pluton. Condemned for allegedly having a role in anti-government activities. Through a royal order he was saved on the last moment, and his sentence was changed for labour in Siberia. Often the author said this close death encounter has increased his Christian belief and impacted his writing style for the better. Find out more about Fyodor Dostoevsky
Charles Perrault's fountains
Charles Perrault one of the authors that brought us the fairy tale genre, and stories like: Cinderella, Little red riding hood or Sleeping beauty, convinced the King of France, Louis XIV to build 39 fountains as a tribute to the fables of Aesop. The gardens brought extra beauty to the already fabulous Gardens of Versailles palace. Find out more about Charles Perrault
Emily Bronte's dog
Emily Bronte had a dog named Keeper, and it seems that the loyalty and love for their humans, that dogs are renowned for was once more proven. Keeper followed the funeral procession with his master to her burial place. And even after December 1848 her faithful dog would still go and cry in Bronte’s room. Find out more about Emily Bronte
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans wrote under a male pen name, George Eliot, as at the time to be a female author was not that facile. While she wrote under a male pen name, numerous poems and novels were highly regarded and received their deserved recognition. One of her famous works is Middlemarch in which she describes the mid 19th century situation, regarding women's status and marriage.
Lord of the ring
The idea for the LOR plot revolving around a powerful yet cursed ring, might have came while Tolkien was working alongside the architect Sir Mortimer Wheeler. The two discovered a wonderful inscribed ring who might have belonged to a Roman citizen named Silvianus. A connected tablet was also discovered with a curse, placed by Silvianus on the thief of his ring. The rest is now a wonderful story we call: “Lord of the rings”. Find out more about J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien and cellar door
In a lecture that Tolkien presented in Oxford 1955, regarding his essay: “English and Welsh” Tolkien explains the beauty of sounds in a word. “Most English-speaking people will admit that cellar door is beautiful, especially if dissociated from its sense”. As such spoken on different tones and not thinking of the meaning the words could mean something magical or gain a whole new feeling through the pronouncer. Find out more about J.R.R. Tolkien
Fur Elise muse
Beethoven wrote Fur Elise in 1810 but was never discovered and published until 1867. There are multiple theories on who is Elise, one of them says that Beethoven fell in love with a student, hence the first part of Fur Elise is in an easier to learn composition, while because his love was rejected, the rest of the masterpiece is on a much harder level so to be sure, she (the muse) will never be able to play it.
Reducing conviction
A study from 1995 concluded that 85% of young people who appear before the juvenile courts of the US are functionally illiterate. Another study, in 2009 found that 63% of American adult prisoners are illiterate. While a 2019 poll, showed 69 per cent of employers are looking to hire people with “soft” skills, like the ability to communicate effectively. Reading books is the best way to increase your exposure to new words, increase your vocabulary.
Social media vs literature
The average person will be working on a task, checking their email, chatting online with a couple of people (teams, WhatsApp, etc.), while keeping an eye on Twitter, Instagram or a youtube vlog, all in a 5-10 minutes time-span. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise and lowers our productivity. While reading a book, all of the attention is focused on the story, the rest just falls away.
Reading effects
A study into reading effects, found that reading for just six minutes a day can reduce stress by 68%. This is because when you make a habit of reading, the brain can relax more easily by temporarily transporting itself to a fictional world. The brain functions are enhanced when a person reads, visual and auditory processes, comprehension, fluency, communication and imagination sections of the brain are all triggered.
E. Hemingway cheated death
Ernest Hemingway survived through a couple of close encounters with death: four car accidents and two plane crashes (on consecutive days). The two plane crashes occurred in the same year that Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1954). In 1961, while cleaning his favourite shotgun he accidentally shot himself and died. Find out more about E. Hemingway
M. Twain nearly drowned 9 times
Author of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" Mark Twain enjoyed going to the lake as a child, although he was not a good swimmer, and he almost drowned 9 times as a child, before learning how to swim. Find out more about Mark Twain
C. Dickens had OCD
Charles Dickens suffered from obsessive-compulsive behaviour, reason for which he rearranged his furniture at home constantly, sometimes he did this in the hotel rooms where he stayed, as well. He was combing his hair 20 times a day. Find out more about Charles Dickens
James Joyce left Ireland
James Joyce never set foot in Ireland after he turned 30. In 1904, at age 22, he settled in Trieste, Italy with the woman who would eventually become his wife, Nora. 1904 was also incidentally the year in which his masterpiece, Ulysses, is based. “For Joyce, Dublin was always the Dublin of 1904,” says David Norris, who runs the James Joyce Centre in Dublin. Find out more about James Joyce