Word has it that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as the result of a dare from a friend.  The friend was poet, Lord Byron and he challenged her to write a ghost story.  Drawing from state of the art medical experimentation at the time, Mary, born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, wrote one of the most influential books in the history of popular literature, a book that has transcended time and space.

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” – Frankenstein, 1818

Frankenstein was published in 1818 when Mary Shelley was 21 years old.  She wrote it at 19, a fact that is ever fascinating to me.  The book was a huge success and, in a real sense, played a very important role for women and their acceptance as credible contributors to literature.  Although, poet Percy B. Shelley (Mary’s husband) wrote an introduction to the original publication that lead many to…