Easter Eggs that can be found in Quiver

I’m a massive fan of “easter eggs“, meaning when intentional hidden messages, inside jokes, motifs and homages are hidden inside other works. That, plus my love of puns and other word bastardry, means I have included several easter eggs within my new novel “Quiver”.

Here are just a few that keen-eyed readers might spot:

  • Throughout the story the characters encounter several boats – these all start with the same letter.
  • I’m a fan of the UK series “Shameless”, and I’ve included many riffs that pay homage to this show. Character names, several references to Manchester (a brief mention of a community of survivors, a moment where Tamsyn wears a Man-U scarf etc) and others that fans might spot.
  • Going against the threads and tropes of postapocalyptic fiction, everyone in a position of legitimate civilian authority is female. The only male community leader found in “Quiver” is the Mayor of Gravesend, and his rule is FAR from legitimate. Most of the military leaders are male, and the polished war machine of today is rapidly devolving into barbarism. This is a very deliberate homage to one of my favourite postapocalyptic books, “The Gate to Women’s Country” by Sheri S. Tepper.
  • Most of the villainous military officers that Tamsyn encounters have surnames starting with the same letter.
  • References to other postapocalyptic or dystopian works such as “Lord of the Flies”. There’s the deliberate inclusion of a cat for Tamsyn as an antonym to the Harlan Ellison classic “A Boy and His Dog”.
  • Finally, while I’ve reined in my natural instinct to pun, there are at least two whoppers that I can think of that made it to the final version.
  • EDIT: Also, the titles of the original novellas attached to the After the World project were all  puns riffing on place names, death, and whatever Tamsyn was doing at the time. These are (in chronological order) Gravesend, Corpus Christi, Army Corpse, and Better Red than Undead. Hint for the last one: Cuba.

I’ve gotta say, this book was a lot of fun to write. If you’d like to nab yourself a copy, head over to the official website tamsynwebb.com. You can order the book in hard-copy, or get an e-book through either Smashwords or for the Kindle. By all accounts it’s selling well – I’m one proud and excited author!

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