When I look at DVDs, I spend a lot of time hanging around the extras. If they're good, like Run Lola Run or The Libertine, they tell you a lot not only about the movie but about moviemaking. If you have an interest in making movies--and who doesn't--you can get an education.

I always wanted to do the DVD extras of novels, too. Deleted scenes? All those fun little bits that fell screaming to the cutting-room floor? All the cool stuff that really didn't fit into the novel, but was fun to think about anyway? Maybe fun for some writers. Fun for me to talk about.

Until eBooks come along, the next best thing is to put it here.

So this section contains the usual blatant self-promo and reviews (all good DVDs must have trailers), but also contains some background yummy bits. For Chasing Shakespeares, the yummy bits are hyooodge because CS is about the Shakespeare authorship controversy.

Click on the books to see the extras.

Some highlights:

• Where characters come from:The Vanished Child (to come)
• A tour of flooded Paris: The Knowledge of Water
• Witches, stage magic, and the Theater of Blood: A Citizen of the Country
• A new Shakespeare poem? Chasing Shakespeares
• Shakespeare's library
• And don't miss the Shakesweirds