Have you ever heard the term “literary Easter egg”?

Literary Easter eggs are references or messages that authors insert into their books. It can be characters from previous books making an appearance or being mentioned or a shout-out to a fellow author. For example, in my novel Falling Hard, the characters are reading Without a Front by Fletcher DeLancey.

The term originated in the video game industry, where it refers to hidden messages or objects in the games.

Some literary Easter eggs are pretty obvious, while others are more subtle and more well-hidden so you might not notice them on your first reading of the book.

Usually, literary Easter eggs aren’t important for the plot, so if you don’t pick up on them, it won’t take away from the enjoyment of the story. You won’t even notice there’s something you missed. But if you do detect them, it’s like an extra treat.

If you have read a few of my books, you know I love connecting my books and putting in a couple of Easter eggs. It’s like sharing an inside joke with my loyal, eagle-eyed readers.

My latest novel, Chemistry Lessons, has more literary Easter eggs than any of my previous books, so I thought I would create an Easter egg hunt contest.

Here’s how to enter the Chemistry Lessons Literary Easter Egg Book Giveaway

Read or re-read Chemistry Lessons, make note of every literary Easter egg you find, and count them. I suggest making a list while you read.

Remember that Easter eggs can be appearances of (main or supporting) characters from previous books, references to characters from previous books, references to my books, or shout-outs to other authors of sapphic fiction.

For an extra entry into the giveaway, find the additional Easter egg in the free short story sequel “The Principal’s Office.”

Once you think you found all the literary Easter eggs, enter all of them into this form.

The deadline for entering the giveaway is September 13, at 10 a.m. Central European Time, when I’ll draw the five winners using a random number generator. I’ll email winners, so don’t forget to enter your email into the form so I can contact you if you win.

Enter the Chemistry Lessons Literary Easter Egg Hunt & win one of five prizes

Among all participants who found all of the literary Easter eggs, I’ll give away five prizes:

• A test tube spice rack + a signed copy of Chemistry Lessons.
• A coffee mug with the chemical formula for caffeine + a signed copy of Chemistry Lessons.
• A test tube rack of rainbow-colored plastic shot glasses + a signed copy of Wrong Number, Right Woman.
• A “chemistry is like cooking” notebook + a signed copy of Wrong Number, Right Woman.
• The Queeriodic Table + a signed copy of Under a Falling Star

Update: List of literary Easter eggs in Chemistry Lessons

The Literary Easter Egg Giveaway is over, and I have already drawn the winners. You can, of course, still read the book and see if you find all the Easter eggs.

Here’s a list of all the literary Easter eggs I hid in Chemistry Lessons:

1. Hamilton High School —> The school is named after Nora Hamilton from Backwards to Oregon/Hidden Truths, who was a teacher.
2. Denny, Eliza, and Heather from Wrong Number, Right Woman make several appearances.
3. Jenna Blake (Leo) from Perfect Ryhthm is Regan’s favorite singer and they attend one of her concerts.
4. Ky’s roommate, Lilia, is Jo Reyes’s cousin. Jo’s queerplatonic partner, Meg Walsh, is friends with Holly from Perfect Rhythm.
5. Regan’s principal is named after fellow author Karin Kallmaker.
6. Noyes, the teacher whose remote they taped to the SMART Board, is named after fellow author EJ Noyes.
7. Grace Durand from Damage Control is Ky’s favorite actress.
8. The movie they are seeing is Heart Trouble, with Grace playing Hope. Lauren from Damage Control wrote the script for the movie.
9. Eliza’s bosses—Dee and Austen from Under a Falling Star—are helping her move in with Denny in scene 26.
10. Dawn and Aiden from Conflict of Interest are helping Eliza move too.
11. In scene 45, they are watching Central Precinct, the fictional TV show in which Amanda from Departure from the Script stars.

There were also a few additional Easter eggs in the short story “The Principal’s Office”:

• The student with the dairy allergy is named Brayden after fellow author Melissa Brayden.
• Principal Kallmaker makes an appearance again.
• Nora from Backwards to Oregon is mentioned as the pioneer woman Hamilton High School was named for.

Jae