Marshall Thornton is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright and author living in Long Beach, California. He has an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA where he won the Carl David Memorial Fellowship for his romantic-comedy, Husband Material, as well as a BA in Creative Writing from California State University at Long Beach. He has had plays produced in both Chicago and Los Angeles. Marshall has published in literary journals and is currently exploring the world of on-line downloadable fiction.
<p><span><span>Shakespeare's Witches tell Banquo, "Thou Shalt 'Get Kings Though Thou Be None". Though Banquo is murdered, his son Fleance gets away. What happened to Fleance? What Kings? As Shakespeare's audience apparently knew, Banquo was the ancestor of the royal Stewart line. But the road to kingship had a most inauspicious beginning, and we follow Fleance into exile and death, bestowing the Witches' prophecy on his illegitimate son Walter. Born in Wales and raised in disgrace, Walter's efforts to understand Banquo's murder and honor his lineage take him on a long and treacherous journey through England and France before facing his destiny in Scotland.</span></span></p>
<span style="color:#333333;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;"><strong style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;font-weight:bold;">Review by: </strong><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/boxeroxny" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:#336699;">Cynthia Roberts</a> on Feb. 24, 2009 : <img src="http://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="http://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="http://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="http://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <img src="http://www.smashwords.com/static/img/star.png" alt="star" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:100%;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;border-top-style:none;border-right-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-left-style:none;" /> <br />A brutal homicide shocks the residents of a tiny snow-covered town in Marshall Thornton’s “Coffee Clutch”. Stylish and atmospheric, this story is a detailed Whodunit set within the wider context of the idiosyncrasies of small-town life. The quirky yet oddly appealing characters who inhabit Thornton’s fictional hamlet are well defined and easily recognizable. Refreshingly streamlined and free of clichés and gimmicks, “Coffee Clutch” will leave you wanting more of this tiny municipality and its inhabitants. One can only ask, “Where is the novel?”</span>