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In this mini-episode, we sit down with author Julie Hammonds to discuss her debut novel, Blue Mountain Rose: A Novel in Five Acts. Set against the backdrop of a fictional Shakespeare festival in the Arizona mountains during the 2009 financial crisis, the story follows theater director Richard Keane, company manager Kate Morales, and enigmatic actor Peter Dunmore as they strive to save their beloved open-air stage.

Julie shares insights into how Shakespeare's works inspired the novel's structure and themes, the challenges of portraying the behind-the-scenes world of theater, and the enduring relevance of the Bard's plays in times of personal and collective hardship.

Whether you're a Shakespeare aficionado, a theater enthusiast, or a lover of character-driven narratives, this conversation offers a compelling look into the intersections of art, community, and resilience.

Blue Mountain Rose is now available at booksellers near you and on our Bookshop.com storefront.

About Julie Hammonds

Julie Hammonds fell in love with Hamlet during a high school trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and has nurtured her passion for Shakespeare ever since. She learned to run a light board on an Army base in South Korea, studied the plays on her own and in school, stage-managed The Winter’s Tale and Much Ado About Nothing, and became the founding board president of the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival. Along the way, she decided to complete the canon as an audience member by seeing Shakespeare’s plays performed on as many different stages as she can reach. The quest has taken her from a community hall in Juneau, Alaska, to the noteworthy festivals in Stratford, Ontario, and Cedar City, Utah, to Shakespeare’s Globe in London and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. She has four plays to go. This is her first novel.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

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Works referenced:

Hammonds, Julie C. Blue Mountain Rose: A Novel in Five Acts. Soulstice Publishing, LLC, 2025.