Age: 17
Synopsis: All the world's a stage.
Enter Stage Right
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie): Our heroine.
Nate: A dashing young pirate who will do anything to protect Bertie
Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom: Four tiny, mischevious fairies, and Bertie's loyal sidekicks.
Ariel: A seductive air spirit. Disaster follows in his wake, but Bertie simply cannot resist him.
Welcome to the Theatre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. The actors are bound to the Theatre by the Book, an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of the actors, but they are her family. And she is about to lose them all because The Book has been threatened, and along with it the Theatre. It's the only home Bertie has ever known, and she has to find a way to save it. But first, there's the small problem of two handsome men, both vying for her attention. The course of true love never did run smooth . . .
Why We Love Her (Annabell): Bertie has always been ONE of my ABSOLUTE favorite characters from the moment I started reading her!! She is spunky, mouthy and sarcastic. She can be reckless and impulsive at times which leads her into some nasty trouble. But she makes up for it through how loyal of a friend she is and the courage she shows to fight for the people she loves the most. Bertie isn't afraid to be different and even though the truth can scare her sometimes, she is still determined to search for it. With blue hair and a fashion sense any girl would envy, Bertie will make you laugh from the moment you meet her and will make you feel right at home in her crazy world of plays and magic.
SNEAK PEEK
Bertie didn't let him {Ariel} corner her alone again. For the next forty-eight hours, she positioned herself in the center of the noise and chaos, well guarded by the fairies, constantly surrounded by unwitting chaperons. Even now, the morning of the performance, a string of minions carried props backstage while carpenters smashed bits of scenery in and out of place. Mrs. Edith and a horde of fluttering assistants seemed to be everywhere at once as they pinned, trimmed, and hemstitched costumes.
The Players kept at their lines, and every page acted back into the The Book repaired a bit of Theatre. The healing was as noisy as the destruction had been. Dust swirled and coalesced to reconstruct plaster statues and moldings. Gilt paint spread like gossip. Rents in both fabric and wood knit themselves back together. Bertie led the cast of Hamlet through, the Players coped better with the decorative changes. But Bertie still fretted over every dropped cue, every misstep. If the play was a failure, she could blame the lack of time to prepare compounded by the constant stream of interruptions and the shouting that threatened to deafen them all.
"Get out of the way!"
"Line! Someone give me my line!"
And always, the never-ending litany of "Bertie! Bertie!"
"The next person who calls my name gets a boot to the head," she told Peaseblossom just before a scenic flat came crashing down on Oberon and Titania.
"Bertie!"
"That's my cue." She ran for the stage and arrived just as Mr. Tibbs and the Stage Manager levered the fallen pyramid off the fairy king and queen. "I know the acting was bad, but attempted murder is a bit much."
"I beg your pardon!" Oberon struggled to his feet and still managed to look haughty with a scrape down his cheek. "There wasn't a single thing wrong with my performance."
Bertie corrected him. "Certainly you're the ultimate personification of the Bard's vision for the fairy king, but I've noticed a few changes for the worse since you started reading entrance lines."
"Such as?" Titania righted herself and sulked as hard as someone covered in glitter and flower petals was capable of sulking.
"Overacting, posing and posturing, giving in to inherent ego, hogging the limelight, upstagging one another . . . Shall I continue?"
Titania didn't look the least but abashed. "Perhaps we wouldn't have to overact if you could do something about these people running amok."
"The people running amok are loading the scenery for the performance scheduled to take place tonight."
"The scenery normally moves of its own accord-"
"Yes, but normally Hamlet doesn't take place in Egypt, does it? The show must go on, but that's contingent upon your ability to move your royal backsides and finish reading the entrance lines you were assigned."
"The impudence!" said Titania.
"The rudeness!" said Oberon.
"The schedule!" Bertie repressed the urge--for the hundred millionth time that day--to run everyone through the nearest wood chipper.
Surely they have one on the Scenic Dock? I can be the Demon Director of Whatever Street the Theatre is on. Double bonus points if the Stage Manager has a heart attack when he sees the resultant mess.
Bertie's homicidal thoughts must have shown on her face, because Peaseblossom spoke out of the side of her mouth, "You can't kill them. You need them."
"For now," Bertie added in an undertone before she raised her voice. "I'm sorry that pyramid landed on your head, but it's not like someone yoinked your brain out through your nose."
"Did someone call for mummification?" Moth appeared, armed with a buttonhook. "We're prepare you for eternal slumber, internal organs removed and body wrapped in gauze, for one low, low price!"
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