Easter Eggs as a Literary Device

A member of a writers group I belong to brought up an interesting topic yesterday: Easter eggs.

Not the kind a giant rabbit distributes all willy-nilly on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Nor the chocolate kind you find in the candy aisle of your local grocery mega mart. And definitely not those cheap plastic things you hide candy and trinkets in for your kids (or grandkids) to find in the yard.

The Easter eggs Mary referenced were examples of a literary device authors (and some software developers) use. Often, software developers/designers will embed a private code, clickable image or series of keystrokes that, when engaged by the in-the-know user, yields entry to a secret dimension, level or portal – or unveils a fun visual… For instance, this one.

Mary told about having recently listened to an author who used Easter eggs in the text of his children’s book – references to significant moments in (or facets of) his life that would seem to be minutiae to a casual observer. One such Easter egg was the date he began a particular job (January 7) that showed up in the book as the mathematical equation 1 x 7.

Other examples of Easter eggs in The Milkshake Man escape me because, while Mary was speaking, I confess I was fretting about my sweet kitty who’d gone missing two days earlier. But more on Tab later.

When she asked whether any of the fourteen of us at the meeting had heard of literary Easter eggs, it didn’t surprise me so few folks said they had. Perhaps they were familiar with the concept, just not the particular nomenclature.

I’ve been implanting Easter eggs in my fiction for years, mostly with regard to significant dates for me – dates no one would necessarily notice. In the Sheldon Family Saga, one character’s birthday is my name day; her daughter Amanda’s due date was my mom’s birthday and her actual birth date is my birthday.  I’ve also used snippets of actual conversations. And doubtless I’ve included other such Easter eggs, but my brain’s cloudy right now and I can’t think of any of them.

Why is it cloudy? you may ask. And with what?

It’s cloudy with grief.

This past Thursday, I fastened Tab’s collar a little past noon and let him outside, confident he’d be back in time for his supper around 5. He wasn’t. He didn’t come back at all that night, or the next day… or the following night.

Saturday morning, as my husband returned home after breakfast with a friend, he noticed a yellowy patch amid the brown grass a little way off the driveway. When he got out to investigate, he found Tab’s body. He was still wearing his collar. His Jiobit device (which provided up-to-the-minute information on Tab’s whereabouts for over a year) had what looked like a tooth mark in it. Apparently, the pack of roaming dogs that’s been terrorizing our neighborhood for months surrounded and snapped his neck, killing him (we hope) instantly.

Ironically, my sweet boy’s senseless death came less than three hours after I approved the final eproof of The Purringest Kitty Finds His Home. Tab had indeed found his forever home; unfortunately, his forever proved to be way too short for my liking.

That said, I’ll let you in on a little secret: The newest Easter egg I’m including in my children’s book series is the address of the home where the three main characters (the lady, her husband and The Purringest Kitty) live: 552 Hunter Lane. That’s because 552 is the precise number of days Tab had brightened my life. And Hunter, because – once I learned I was the happy companion of a neutered male and not a female, Tabitha – my sweet kitty boy was a fierce hunter… and Tab Hunter was a popular actor in the 1950s and ’60s.

Have you ever included Easter eggs in your literary work? Where? What are they? Please include links in the comments if appropriate.

Just a reminder: There’s still time to take advantage of early-bird pricing for the Women in Publishing Summit (affiliate link). And, guys, don’t be dissuaded. You can attend, too… the event’s just organized by women and all the presenters are women. But the conference is open to everyone.

About the Author:
Rita M. Reali is a two-time international award-winning author and longtime editor who most enjoys editing memoir, general fiction and romance, along with inspirational writing. She’s self-published five novels: Glimpse of Emerald, Diagnosis: Love, The Unintended Hero, Second Chances and Tender Mercies – the first five in the seven-volume Sheldon Family Saga. The sixth novel in the series, Brothers by Betrayal, is scheduled for an early 2024 release. Her first children’s book, The Purringest Kitty Finds His Home, is due out at the end of this month. As a former disc jockey in her native Connecticut, Rita used to spend her days “talking to people who weren’t there” – a skill which transferred perfectly to her being an author. Now she talks to characters who aren’t there on “a little chunk of heaven in rural Tennessee.” Contact Rita.