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Queenanneboleyn.com is honored and privileged to highlight the giftedness, talent and knowledge of our contributors to the website. Queenanneboleyn.com is a non-income bearing website. You will find no stores or advertisements here. All talent shared and all contributions made are freely gifted by the website’s owner, web designer, guest writers and guest videographers for the enjoyment of QAB’s browsers.
Queenanneboleyn.com extends our heartfelt appreciation to all of our ever-growing group of contributors. Enjoy the listing of short contributor biographies below. You will find historians, biographers, novelists, actors, producers, teachers, bloggers, videographers, craftsmen, QAB’s web designer, QAB’s owner/administrator, and even Twitter’s Queen Anne Boleyn. You will also find links to our contributor’s books available for sale, as well as their blogs and other interesting tidbits.
Sadly, three of our contributors have passed away. Though Simon, M.M., and David are gone, their gifted writing of history lives on. Queenanneboleyn.com is proud to continue to share their contributions here with you.
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Nathen Amin grew up in the heart of Carmarthenshire and has long had an interest in Welsh history and the Welsh origins of the Tudors. This passion has guided him all over Wales to visit a wide variety of historic sites, which he has photographed and researched for this book. He has a degree in Business and Journalism. He grew up in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire and now lives in York. For more information about Nathen, visit his website at RANDOM OBSERVATIONS FROM A RESTLESS MIND.
QAB Interview with Nathen Amin
QAB Guest Article: EXTRACT– Tudor Wales
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For as long as he could remember Simon Anderson was fascinated by the medieval world, in particular, the glorious triumphs and shattering reverses of the period in English history known as the Wars of the Roses. He undertook extensive research on the subject in both England and Wales visiting castles, battlefields, churches, and tombs. Although never a member of any official re-enactment group, Simon practiced archery using an English longbow, amassed a modest collection of reproduction weapons and armour, and occasionally worn a complete outfit of 15th-century clothes. He saw this as the best way get a true feel for the people of those times and gave his writing extra authenticity.
THE CLAIMANT, BY SIMON ANDERSON
QAB Guest Article: Wars of the Roses Places
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Judith Arnopp is a prolific historical fiction writer from Wales, United Kingdom. Always passionate about history, after raising her children to adulthood, Judith graduated with a Master’s Degree in medieval history from the University of Wales, Lampeter, where she also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing. Judith’s writing is varied, focusing on Welsh, early English (Anglo-Saxon) and Tudor English history. For more information about Judith Arnopp, visit her website at JUDITH ARNOPP HISTORICAL FICTION AUTHOR.
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QAB Guest Article: Perkin Warbeck — Imposter or “The Perfect Prince”?
QAB Guest Article: Excerpt from “A Song of Sixpence”
QAB Guest Article: Excerpt — “The Kiss of the Concubine
QAB Guest Article: How I Remember Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Saint Thomas More
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Gillian Bagwell is a historical fiction writer from Berkley, California well known for her life-long fascination with British history and her steadfast dedication to research. With exhaustive experience in the theater as an actress, director, and producer, Gillian is highly respected and sought after for helping authors give effective public readings through workshops and private coaching. Gillian’s expertise in English history is freely shared in her highly engaging prolific blogging. For more information, visit Gillian’s website at Gillian Bagwell/Author.
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QAB Interview with Gillian Bagwell
QAB Guest Article: Bess of Harwick’s 3rd Husband, Sir William St. Loe
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David Baldwin was a highly esteemed historian who taught at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham for many years. He was the critically acclaimed author of The Lost Prince (‘A fascinating new theory’ THE DAILY MAIL), Elizabeth Woodville (‘Inspirational… brings her alive for the general reader’ PHILIPPA GREGORY), Richard III (‘A believably complex Richard, neither wholly villain nor hero’ PHILIPPA GREGORY), Robin Hood (‘Excellent… a pleasure to read’ BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE) and co-wrote the bestseller The Women of the Cousins War. Missed by all who respected and loved him, David Baldwin hailed from Leicester.
QAB Guest Article: The Marriage of Katherine Willoughby and Charles Brandon
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Anne Clinard Barnhill was a writer from Supply, North Carolina who published articles, book and theater reviews, poetry, and short stories for over 20 years. Anne held an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Besides writing, Anne also enjoyed teaching, conducting writing workshops, and facilitating seminars to enhance creativity. For more information, visit Anne’s website at ANNE CLINARD BARNHILL.
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BOOKS BY ANNE CLINARD BARNHILL
QAB Guest Article: Alison Weir and Me
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M. M. Bennetts was a highly respected historical fiction author “with an emphasis on history”. Her writing focused primarily on the Napoleonic Era. A book critic for the Christian Science Monitor for over 20 years, M. M. enjoyed multi-talented and varied interests. Besides being a prolific writer, poet, and researcher, M. M. was also an accomplished cross country horseman and pianist.
The M.M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction was named in her honor.
QAB Guest Article: History Against the Skin
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Nancy Bilyeau, who lives in New York City, is the Deputy Editor at Jon Jay College of Criminal Justice. A prolific award nominated and shortlisted screenplay writer, Nancy also previously worked on the staffs of DuJour, InStyle, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Ladies Home Journal magazines. A lover of medieval English history, Nancy’s debut novel, The Crown released in 2012 and her follow-up novels, The Chalice in 2013 and The Tapestry in 2015 soon followed. Her novels combine historical fiction and thrillers, detailing the exploits of Joanna Stafford, a prelate nun living during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Queenanneboleyn.com appreciates Nancy’s support of the website from its early inception, and we are proud that she is our first contributing published author. For more information, visit Nancy’s website at NANCY BILYEAU — WRITER, EDITOR, LOVER OF WORDS.
QAB Interview #2 with Nancy Bilyeau
QAB Author Highlight: Nancy Bilyeau
QAB Guest Article: Blogging About The Tudors
QAB Interview #1 with Nancy Bilyeau
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Catherine Brooks grew up in Kent, the ‘Garden of England’, but moved to Leicestershire where she gained first her BSc Hons in Sociology and then her PostGraduate Diploma in Psychology. Her career in Forensic Psychiatry took a turn towards health and fitness when she began to work with patients on their physical health, and she now still works in part as a Pilates Instructor.
Her proximity to the Bosworth Battlefield gives it a special place in her heart and led to her representing the Tudor Society during the reinterment of Richard III in 2015. She continues to work for the Tudor Society, being a regular contributor to their monthly publication,
‘Tudor Life’. Alongside this, she works for the history publisher, MadeGlobal.
Catherine lives with her partner and two young sons, and her family is her main priority. She spends her time working to improve her knowledge of royal history, visiting sites of historical interest, and keeping up-to-date on British Politics.
QAB Guest Article: How I Remember Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Saint Thomas More
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Susan Bordo, Ph.D. is a professor teaching Humanities and Gender Studies at the University of Kentucky. Susan’s Pulitzer Prize nominated research contributes to a body of feminist, cultural and gender studies, linking modern consumer culture directly to the formation of gendered bodies. Although much of Susan’s published works focus on her research and frank critiques of modern culture in relation to subject, gender and body formations, Susan published her second detailed research of historical cultural and gender studies in The Creation of Anne Boleyn, A Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen in 2013. Susan’s fascination with Queen Anne Boleyn and how history in created resulted in a thought-provoking look at how our understanding of Anne Boleyn was ultimately shaped. Susan’s most recent book, The Destruction of Hillary Clinton, released April 9, 2016. For more information about Susan’s varied interests, visit her website at THE CREATION OF ANNE BOLEYN.
QAB Interview with Susan Bordo
QAB Guest Article: Natalie and Anne
QAB Guest Article: Anne Boleyn, A Cultural Timeline
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Tracey Borman is a historian and author from Scothern, United Kingdom. She is most widely known as the author of Elizabeth’s Women.
Borman was born and brought up in the village of Scothern, England near Lincoln. She was educated at Scothern Primary School (now Ellison Boulters School), William Farr School, Welton, and Yarborough School, Lincoln. She taught history at the University of Hull, where she was awarded a Ph.D. in 1997. Elizabeth’s Women was serialized and became a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week in September 2009. Tracey Borman appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, also in September 2009.
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Queen Anne Boleyn
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Debbie Brown is a historical fiction writer with varied multi-faceted interests, including homeopathy, art, gardening and interior design. With an intense interest in reading period literature, wrote her first novel The Companion of Lady Holmeshire and began blogging at English Epochs 101. Eventually, Debbie founded the very popular multi-author blog English Historical Fiction Authors, inviting historical fiction writers she met via the social media with the goal of publishing an English historical blog post daily. This multi-author blog became a resounding success, leading to the publication of an outstanding anthology Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales of English Historical Fiction Authors. English Historical Fiction Authors continues to post fascinating blogs and is an outstanding forum for writers and browsers with common interests to come together. For more information about Debbie Brown, visit her website at AUTHOR DEBRA BROWN.
BOOKS AUTHORED OR EDITED BY DEBRA BROWN
Short Story: Evangeline Alone by Debra Brown
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Susan Breen is the author of the novel, The Fiction Class, which was published by Plume/Penguin. Susan is also the author of the Maggie Dove mystery series, published by the Alibi imprint of Random House. Her stories and articles have appeared in places such as Best American Nonrequired Reading, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and www.composejournal.com. She teaches novel writing for Gotham Writers in NYC and lives in Irvington, NY with her husband and two cockapoos (dogs). She has three fabulous children who are all off in the world, doing remarkable things. She’s at work on a mystery in which Anne Boleyn is a character. For more information, visit Susan’s website at SUSAN BREEN.
QAB Guest Article: On Tour with Alison Weir
QAB Guest Article: Poisoner Anne Boleyn?
QAB Guest Article: Elizabeth Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s Mother
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R. E. Bruyère is a self-described rapscallion and jet-setter from a newer area of Jersey. Bruyère’s education was rounded out by time spent at undergraduate institutions in New York, USA and San Jose, Costa Rica, and doctoral courses taken in Bordeaux, France. Bruyère’s specific interests include illuminated manuscripts, sailing, and bird watching.
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QAB Guest Article: Is it Really Anne Boleyn?
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Sarah Bryson is a researcher, writer, and educator who has a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours. She currently works with children with disabilities. She is passionate about Tudor history and has a deep interest in Mary Boleyn, Charles Brandon, the reign of Henry VIII, and the people of his court. Visiting England in 2009 furthered her passion, and when she returned home she started a website, Sarah Bryson, Author, and a Facebook page about Tudor history. Sarah lives in Australia, enjoys reading, writing, and Tudor costume enactment, and wishes to return to England one day.
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Sarah Bryson Discusses Ann Boleyn and Mary Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor – Forbidden Love
QAB Guest Article: Six Terrific Tudors
QAB Guest Article: La Reine Blanche: Mary Tudor, a Life in Letters
QAB Guest Article: Mary Tudor and Anne Boleyn
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Conor Byrne is a graduate of Exeter University. The author of Katherine Howard: A New History and Queenship in England, this brilliant and enlightened young man has an acute interest in late medieval and early modern European history and focuses his research on ruling women, gender, social history, sexuality, and rebellion. Although Conor enjoys a keen interest in the queenships of Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth Tudor, he also enjoys the social aspects of history, such as the lives of the common, rebellion and revolt, and the societal dynamics of royal courts.
Conor Byrne’s historical interests also include witchcraft persecutions in the 16th and 17th century and modern history, most keenly the Victorian Era of Great Britain. Are you curious about learning more of Conor and his historical insights? Well, visit his two outstanding blogs at CONOR BYRNE and CONOR BYRNE HISTORIAN.
QAB Interview with Conor Byrne
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Ella March Chase is a historical fiction writer from East Moline, Illinois. Ella traveled to England where she fell under the spell of the Tower of London—the infamous Traitor’s Gate, the chapel where beheaded queens lay buried, the story of the two princes allegedly murdered by Richard III. Ella began unearthing the obscure historical details that make larger than life figures painfully human. From that fascination, the concepts for The Queen’s Dwarf, The Virgin Queen’s Daughter, and Three Maids for a Crown emerged. For more information about Ella March Chase, visit her website at ELLA MARCH CHASE.
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Clare Cherry lives in Hampshire with her partner David. She works as a solicitor in Dorset, but has a passion for Tudor history and began researching the life of George Boleyn in 2006. She started corresponding with Claire Ridgway in late 2009, after meeting through The Anne Boleyn Files website, and the two Tudor enthusiasts became firm friends. Clare divides her time between the legal profession and researching Tudor history. Clare has written guest articles on George Boleyn for The Anne Boleyn Files, Nerdalicious.com.au, and author Susan Bordo’s The Creation of Anne Boleyn website.
George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat Co-Authored by Claire Ridgway
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: The Men Who Died in 1536
QAB Interview with Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway
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Historian Jessie Childs hails from London, England. While a student at West Heath, Stowe School and Brasenose College, Oxford, Jessie read history and took a first in 1999. Jessie’s debut biography, Henry VIII’s Last Victim, the Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey was a resounding success, winning the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography in 2007. Jessie is well known for her public speaking and has written and reviewed for many publications, including The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Literary Review, History Today, BBC History Magazine and Standpoint. She resides in London, England with her husband and two daughters. For more information about Jessie Childs, visit her website at JESSIE CHILDS, AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN.
QAB Interview with Jessie Childs
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Nicola Cornick studied History at the University of London and has a Master’s Degree in Public History from Ruskin College Oxford. She acts and a history consultant for TV and radio and gives talks on local history and creative writing. Nicola also volunteers as a guide and historian for the National Trust at Ashdown House, where her newest novel House of Shadows is based. Her award-winning novels are international bestsellers and have been translated into 26 languages. She lives in Oxfordshire. For more information, visit Nicola’s website Nicola Cornick, International Bestselling Author. You can follow her on twitter at @NicolaCornick.
QAB Guest Article: Why Remember and Discuss Women from History?
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Sean Cunningham, Ph.D., author of the newly released Prince Arthur: The Tudor King Who Never Was, is a prolific researcher of late English Medieval and early Tudor History. Already highly respected for his previous works, Henry VII and Richard III, a Royal Enigma, Dr. Cunningham the Head of Medieval Records within the Advice and Medieval Records Department of The (British) National Archives. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and co-convenor of the Late Medieval Seminar at London University’s Institute of Historical Research.
PRINCE ARTHUR: THE TUDOR KING WHO NEVER WAS
QAB Guest Article: A King in Waiting – Building Prince Arthur’s Power in the Welsh Marshes
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Sheila Dalton has published novels and poetry for adults, as well as picture books for children. Her YA mystery, Trial by Fire, from Napoleon Press, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award. Her literary mystery, The Girl in the Box, published by Dundurn Press, reached the semi-finals in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest and was voted a Giller People’s Choice Top Ten. Stolen is her first book of historical fiction. Visit Sheila’s website at SHEILA DALTON, AUTHOR.
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QAB Guest Article: Scents and Sensibility in 17th-Century England and France
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Pinky is the web designer of Queenanneboleyn.com. Pinky also provides hosting and technical support for the website. A lover of Tudor History, QAB’s domain name, “google gold”, was gifted to us by Pinky to insure a safe haven for history lovers.
Pinky is a master video-gamer of the tallest order. The host of The Pink Latex Show on TWITCH, Pinky enjoys a loyal following in the tens of thousands. Techie Queen, variety caster, comedian, gamer, cosplayer, costume designer, GOT fanatic, and artist, Pink Latex is “Reason #1” why Queenanneboleyn.com is here on the world wide web today. We love you, Pinky!
Daenerys Targaryen Facebook Page
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Heather R. Darsie lives in the United States with her family and three parrots. Heather’s biography Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s ‘Beloved Sister’ was released by Amberley Publishing on 15 April 2019. Heather is an apprentice bowyer, who also enjoys knitting. She holds a BA in German languages and literature, as well as Juris Doctorate. For more information about Heather, do visit her website at Maidens and Manuscripts. A valued contributor to Queenanneboleyn.com, also enjoy her content here at the website.
QAB Guest Article: The Ark Royal
QAB Guest Article: Philip II of Spain, King of Ireland
QAB Quest Article: The Four Wives of Philip II of Spain
QAB Guest Article: Shooting Stars – The Bright and Short Careers of the Limbourg Brothers
QAB Guest Article: Margaret of York, Duchess Consort of Burgundy
QAB Guest Article: The Revenge of Margaret Pole
QAB Interview with Heather R. Darsie
QAB Guest Article: Sir Thomas More: Ethics, Duty and the Law
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Kristi Dean holds a Master’s Degree in History and now enjoys teaching the subject, following a successful career in public relations. She has been published in several online magazines and local newspapers and presented a paper at the International Congress on Medieval Studies. She lives in Tennessee, USA. To learn more about Kristi, visit her website at KRISTIE DEAN.
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QAB Guest Article: Excerpt — Margaret of York and Mechelen
QAB Guest Article: Fotheringhay
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Adrienne Dillard, author of Cor Rotto: A Novel of Catherine Carey and The Raven’s Widow: A Novel of Jane Boleyn is a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in History from Montana State University-Northern. Adrienne has been an eager student of history for most of her life and has completed in-depth research on the American Revolutionary War time period in American History and the history and sinking of the Titanic. Her senior university capstone paper was on the discrepancies in passenger lists on the ill-fated liner and Adrienne was able to work with Philip Hind of Encyclopedia Titanica for much of her research on that subject. Visit Adrienne’s website at ADRIENNE DILLARD: REVEALING THE HIDDEN FIGURES OF HISTORY.
QAB Guest Article: The Black Legend of Lady Rochford
QAB Guest Article: Casting the Story
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Jane Parker, Lady Rochford
QAB Guest Article: The Hidden Gems — Compelling People of the Tudor Court
QAB Guest Article: The Knollys Children
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Anne Boleyn
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Leanda de Lisle is a renowned, award-winning journalist and historian. Leanda is the highly acclaimed author of four books on the Tudors and Stuarts, including After Elizabeth (Saltire First Book of the Year Award), The Sisters Who Would Be Queen (New York Times Top 10 Best Seller), Tudor- The Family Story (Sunday Times Top 10 Best Seller), and The White King: Charles I – Traitor,Murderer, Martyr (Historical Writers Association Non-Fiction Crown). She also regularly writes and speaks on historical matters for TV, radio and a number of publications including The Times, the Spectator and Daily Express. She lives in Leicestershire, fittingly near Bosworth Battlefield. For more information, visit Leanda’s website at LEANDA DE LISLE.
10 Minute Tudors Podcasts — Leanda de Lisle
QAB Guest Article: Katherine Grey’s Confession
QAB Guest Article: The Virgin Queen
QAB Guest Article: The Strange Death of Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: King Henry’s Niece
QAB Interview #1 with Leanda de Lisle
QAB Guest Article: The Tudor Family and Two Battles of the Wars of the Roses
QAB Book Excerpt: The Stuart Boleyn Girl – Queen Henrietta Maria and the Countess of Carlisle
QAB Interview #2 with Leanda de Lisle
QAB Guest Article: ROYAL JEWEL
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Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian writer who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of two Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner-up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, and The Light in the Labyrinth, her first young adult novel.
While she continues to have a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder (Tom told the story of Anne Boleyn in Dear Heart, How Like You This?), serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channeling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Wendy is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter—named after a certain Tudor queen, surprisingly, not Anne.
After successfully completing her MA (Writing) at Swinburne University Wendy became a tutor for the same course. She gained her Ph.D. (Human Society) in 2014. For more information, visit Wendy’s website at WENDY J DUNN.
QAB Guest Article: Dialogue with Katherine of Aragon
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: How Anne’s Story has been Changed by Fiction Writers
QAB Guest Article: The Dawning of the Tudor Sunne
QAB Guest Article: Anne Boleyn, My Hero
QAB Guest Article: How I Remember Anne Boleyn
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Grace Elliot, who lives near London, England is multi-talented. She is a licensed veterinarian and a highly accomplished historical fiction writer. As she highlights in her “Good Reads” profile, Grace believes that intelligent people need to read romance as an antidote to the modern world. Grace shares her home with five cats, two teenage sons, her husband and a bearded dragon. For more information about Grace Elliot, visit her beautiful blog at GRACE ELLIOT – BLOG.
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Christy English, from Wilmington, North Carolina, is a long-tenured Shakespearean actress and fiction novelist. Christy’s writing focuses in the genres of historical fiction and historical romance. Christy’s love of Shakespearean theater heavily influenced her writing of How to Tame a Willful Wife, a re-telling of The Taming of the Shrew. Christy extensively researched her favorite medieval Queen consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The results of her research create the historical detail and tone of To Be A Queen and The Queen’s Pawn. For more information, see Christy’s website at CHRISTY ENGLISH: A WRITER’S LIFE – WORKING WITH THE MUSE.
QAB Round Table Chat with Christy English
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Born in Sydney, Australia, Teri Fitzgerald is a retired systems analyst with a passion for history. Well acquainted with the Tudor court from an early age, Teri is presently researching the work of Hans Holbein and the Cromwell family. In 2016 her article on Gregory Cromwell, co-written with Diarmaid MacCulloch, was published in The Journal of Ecclesiastical History.
Teri Fitzgerald and DIARMAID MacCulloch (2016). Gregory Cromwell: Two Portrait Miniatures by Hans Holbein the Younger. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 67, pp 587-601
QAB Guest Article: The Rediscovery of Elizabeth Seymour
QAB Interview with Teri Fitzgerald
QAB Guest Article: All that Glitters – Hans Holbein’s Lady of the Cromwell Family
QAB Guest Article: Sir Richard Cromwell, A King’s Diamond
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Catherine Fletcher, Ph.D. is a historian specializing in the history of the Renaissance and early modern Europe. She is a Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Professor Fletcher is an expert in Renaissance and early modern diplomacy, particularly European “permanent resident” papal diplomacy in Rome, Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. From her extensive research, Professor Fletcher completed a microhistorical study of Gregorio Casali, an Italian nobleman in the diplomatic service of Henry VIII of England, culminating in her premier historical biography, Our Man in Rome, Henry VIII and His Italian Ambassador. Beyond Professor Fletcher’s research specific to 15th and 16th-century diplomacy, she is extensively researching the Public Histories of the Renaissance. She is currently composing a comprehensive biography of Alessandro de’ Medici to be published by Bodley Head. To learn more about historian Catherine Fletcher, Ph.D., visit her website at CATHERINE FLETCHER.
QAB Interview with Catherine Fletcher
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Charles Gibson first started reading about history and geography when he was seven. He wrote his first short story at the age of nine. He continues to read and write whenever he can. It is not uncommon to find him pulling off the road into a park or parking lot to record some sublime thought (or try to write down his to-do list) before it slips into oblivion.
Charles has spent many years researching the Middle Ages and the Crusades, and has traveled to the Languedoc region in France.
He has combined the passions of history and geography and prose to finish his first novel, Taking the Cross. It takes place during the summer of 1209 in France.
Charles Gibson has previously written for the inspirational book series God Allows U-Turns as well as for a Twin Cities newspaper. In his spare time (i.e. his day job), he works as a technical writer for a medical device company. He also loves travel writing and would like to start his own magazine some day about travel as a journey through life.
The dominant theme of his writing is freedom: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
He lives in Minnesota with his lovely wife and energetic sons. For more information about Charles Gibson, go to his website at CHARLES GIBSON, AUTHOR OF TAKING THE CROSS.
QAB Guest Article: Eva the Beguine
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Louise Goldsborough is a doll craftsman and owner/ doll designer of Angelique Miniatures. Originally, Louise started by making up and dressing bought porcelain doll kits and selling them at a local gift shop. Early on, one of the shops asked her to consider dressing a miniature doll for them, and the rest is history. After a few years, she learned the art of making miniature porcelain doll parts, thus enabling Louise to create exactly the type of character dolls that her customers wanted. Louise was taken on as a designer at the British doll company “Alberon” and has since become a guest designer for the American “Clea Bella Company”. To see Louise’s delightful doll collection, visit ANGELIQUE MINIATURES.
QAB Interview with Louise Goldsborough, Doll Craftsman
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Sarah Gristwood is a best-selling biographer, novelist, a former journalist, and commentator on royal affairs. A prolific historian of the influence of women in Tudor Era England and Europe, she wrote two bestselling Tudor biographies, Arbella: England’s Lost Queen and Elizabeth and Leicester; and the eighteenth-century story Perdita: Royal Mistress, Writer, Romantic which was selected as Radio 4 Book of the Week. Presenting and contributing to several radio and tv documentaries, she also published a book on iconic dresses, Fabulous Frocks (with Jane Eastoe); and a 50th anniversary companion to the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, as well as collaborating with Tracy Borman, Alison Weir and Kate Williams on The Ring and the Crown (Hutchinson), a book on the history of royal weddings. 2011 also saw the publication of her first historical novel, The Girl in the Mirror. In September 2012 she brought out a new non-fiction book – Blood Sisters: the Women Behind the Wars of the Roses. Sarah’s newest history book, Game of Queens, released with outstanding reviews.
QAB Interview with Sarah Gristwood
Natalie Grueninger graduated from The University of NSW in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts, with majors in English and Spanish and Latin American Studies and received her Bachelor of Teaching from The University of Sydney in 2006.
Natalie has been working in public education since 2006 and is passionate about making learning engaging and accessible for all children.
In 2009 she created On the Tudor Trail, a website dedicated to documenting historic sites and buildings associated with Anne Boleyn and sharing information about the life and times of Henry VIII’s second wife. Natalie is fascinated by all aspects of life in Tudor England and has spent many years researching this period.
Her first non-fiction book, co-authored with Sarah Morris, In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn, was published by Amberley Publishing and released in the UK in late 2013. Natalie’s and Sarah’s second book in the series, In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII, published in 2016.
You’ll find Natalie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (themosthappy78).
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: A Glimpse of Tudor London
QAB Guest Article: The Power of Places
QAB Guest Article: How I Remember Anne Boleyn
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Dean Hamilton was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He spent the first half of his childhood chasing around the prairies and western Canada before relocating to Toronto, Ontario. He has three degrees (BA, MA & MBA), reads an unhealthy amount of history, works as a marketing professional by day and prowls the imaginary alleyways of the Elizabethan era in his off-hours. Much of his winter is spent hanging around hockey arenas and shouting at referees.
He is married with a son, a dog, four cats and a turtle named Tortuga. THE JESUIT LETTER is his first novel of a planned series THE TYBURN FOLIOS.
BLOG: Tyburn Tree
Twitter: @Tyburn__Tree
Facebook: Dean Hamilton
QAB Guest Article: Law & Order – Policing & Prisons in Elizabethan London
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Susan Higginbotham, J.D. began her professional career after receiving her law degree as an “adult learner”. After several years as a private practice attorney, Susan first began writing biographical historical fiction after reading an online version of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II. Susan “caught the bug”, first writing The Traitor’s Wife, and then authoring four additional historical fiction novels. Naturally gifted in research, Susan is well known for her blogs educating internet browsers on a variety of topics related to medieval history. Susan’s historical research ultimately culminated in the release of her first non-fiction book The Woodvilles: The War of the Roses and England’s Most Notorious Family. For more information, visit Susan’s website at SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM – AUTHOR OF HISTORICAL FICTION AND BIOGRAPHY.
QAB Guest Article: England’s First Printing Press and Earl Rivers’ Influence
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Roland Hui received his degree in Art History from Concordia University in Canada. After completing his studies, he went on to work in Interpretive Media for California State Parks, The U.S. Forest Service, and The National Park Service.
Roland has written for Renaissance Magazine and for Tudor Life Magazine. He blogs about 16th-century English art and personalities at Tudor Faces at: tudorfaces.blogspot.com.
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The Turbulent Crown: The Story of the Tudor Queens of England
QAB Guest Article: Anne of Cleves – Henry VIII’s Luckiest Wife?
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Gayle Hulme is a blogger who is well-known and respected in “Facebook Tudor Circles”. A lover of English History, Gayle is in process of composing her first novel — about Queen Anne Boleyn, of course. Gayle lives in Glasgow in the UK with her husband Paul and son Jamie.
While not indulging her passion for all things 16th century and Queen Anne Boleyn in particular, she is busy running her group fitness business or following her favorite football (soccer) team. Go Rangers FC! Visit Gayle’s blog at ANNE BOLEYN REFLECTIONS.
QAB Blog by Gayle Hulme: Anne Boleyn – Reflections
British Sovereigns & Royals Facebook Group
A Sunday Afternoon with British Royalty Enthusiast Gayle Hulme
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Anne Boleyn
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Born in 1971 to an English father and Irish mother, Conn Iggulden is a British historical fiction author. He studied English at the University of London and later taught English for seven years, becoming head of the English department at St. Gregory’s RC High School. He eventually left teaching to write his first novel, THE GATES OF ROME.
Conn Iggulden’s first five-part series of novels, entitled EMPEROR, focus on the remarkable life of Julius Cesaer, from childhood to death. Conn Iggulden’s next series of novels, the CONQUEROR series, is based on the lives of Mongol warlords Genghis, Ogedai and Kublai Kahn.
The Wars of the Roses is the extraordinary novel series spanning the thirty-year-long civil war when two families, the Yorks and the Lancasters, ripped England apart during one of the most bloody and brutal periods of British history. Releasing in the United Kingdom in 2013, Wars of the Roses Stormbird was Conn Iggulden’s first novel focusing on British history. War of the Roses Margaret of Anjou followed in 2014 and War of the Roses Bloodline in 2015. Visit Conn’s author website at CONN IGGULDEN.
QAB Conversation with Conn Iggulden
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Editor’s note: Kyra’s biography is provided by her website, Krya Cornelius Kramer and is provided to us in her own words.
Kyra Cornelius Kramer is an author and freelance medical anthropologist. She holds BS degrees in both biology and anthropology from the University of Kentucky, as well as a MA in medical anthropology from Southern Methodist University. She and her beloved husband live in Wales, UK with their three young daughters.
Kyra is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. Kyra is high-functioning, meaning that most of the time Kyra can pass for “quirky” with a dash of “gauche”. As a function of being an “Aspy”, she has a deep and abiding love for facts, which she stuffs into her writings like chestnuts in a Christmas goose. Seriously, you will knee-deep in facts by the time you are three paragraphs into her work. Moreover, she has a sardonic sense of humor that flavors her writings, no matter how academic they are in nature. Her editors appreciate this, but the review board usually makes her take any humor out before publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Kyra hopes that the academic reviewers were at least amused before they crossed the sentence out with heavy red pencil marks. She suspects not.
BOOKS BY KYRA CORNELIUS KRAMER
QAB Guest Article: Edward VI and Thomas Cranmer
QAB Guest Article: Cromwell was not a Nice Guy
QAB Guest Article/ Tudor Life Highlight: She is My Death and I am Hers
QAB Guest Article: The Slut Shaming of Catherine the Great
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Barbara Kyle is a highly accomplished and popular Canadian historical fiction writer. Also an accomplished actor, Barbara studied classical theater at the National Theater School of Canada and starred in a variety of made- for-TV movies, TV series, TV sit-coms, and soap operas. After twenty years if the performing arts, Barbara began writing fiction and to date authored ten popular works, most set in Tudor Era England and Scotland, selling over 425,000 books and counting. For more information about the multi-talented Barbara Kyle, visit her website at BARBARA KYLE.
QAB Guest Article: Book Excerpt — The Queen’s Lady
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England’s Gill Leaf is enjoying a highly meaningful and productive retirement. Not only is she committed to her loving family and cherished borzoi dogs, she has developed a remarkable talent based on her love of medieval history. Gill Leaf’s hobby is recreating history through handcrafting remarkably detailed and beautifully costumed dolls. Who is her favorite subject? Well Queen Anne Boleyn, of course! Gill’s craftsmanship is painstaking, and given the work involved in creating her art, dolls are not sold on commission. Fortunately, she occasionally needs to part with a few.
QAB Interview with Gill Leaf, Doll Craftsman
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Lydia Leonard is an English stage, film and television actress. Lydia portrayed Anne Boleyn in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s plays Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, based on the brilliant multi-award winning novels of Hilary Mantel. She reprised the role on Broadway. Lydia was selected as Queenanneboleyn.com’s representative Anne Boleyn based on her noteworthy Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Tony Award nominated performance of the Tudor Era Queen, along with her graciousness and support of the website. Queenanneboleyn.com caught up with Lydia in New York, and we found her to be an outstanding ambassador to the memory of England’s first “modern” Queen.
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David Lee is an Irish historian, specializing in women’s history. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an author, and wrote many stories, essays and poems. He first became interested in Elizabeth I as a teenager. He was fascinated by her mother Anne Boleyn’s tragic story and wanted to know more. David’s interest in Tudor history, particularly Tudor women’s history, attracted him so much that he soon found himself on a path towards a career in the historical profession. In his endeavor to understand Elizabeth as a woman, he began by studying her position as a queen. To his surprise, he found that few have attempted to unravel the woman behind the overwhelming burden of monarchy. He finds the term ‘Herstory’ a much more appropriate application to the research and work that he does. David earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Maynooth University and is about to complete a Master’s Degree specialising in nineteenth-century women landowners and heiresses. He lives in South Dublin with his husband Victor. If you found this article interesting, keep an eye out for more of David’s work. He aims for his first non-fiction book The Queen’s Frog Prince: The Courtship of Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou to go to publication by the end of 2021.
QAB Guest Article: Elizabeth I – The Woman Behind the Mask of Monarchy
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While Lydia portrays Anne Boleyn on stage, Marisa Levy actually has more followers. Marisa holds court on Twitter, where she portrays the only true Queen Anne Boleyn on the Internet. Marisa’s Queen Anne is exceptionally popular. Over 10,000 followers enjoy the Queen’s tweets, bending a knee to her every whim. Beyond Marisa’s valuable marketing exposure of Queenanneboleyn.com on Twitter, she also was the main administrator of the website’s reenactment courts for over five years, leading and organizing historical plot development and story-telling while engaging emerging writers in developing their craft.
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Amy Licence is an English historian of medieval women, powerful and common, Queens consorts and monarchs, rich and poor — particularly women living in the late 15th and 16th centuries. Topics of special interest include gender relations, Queenship, and identity, rites of passage, pilgrimage, female orthodoxy and rebellion, superstition, magic, fertility, and childbirth. Besides Amy’s non-fiction historical books, she also is a prolific journalist, regularly contributing the New Statesman and The Huffington Post. For more information on Amy’s varied interests, check out her website at AMY LICENSE.
QAB Guest Article: The Tudor Child
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Olivia Longueville, author of Between Two Kings, has degrees in finance and general management from London Business School and currently helps her father run the family business.
Olivia loves historical fiction and is passionate about historical research, genealogy, and art. She has undertaken in-depth research into the history of the Valois dynasty, the French Renaissance and the Tudors and Plantagenets.
As an amateur historian, Olivia has chosen to explore her interests through fiction. Her most cherished dream has always been to re-imagine Anne Boleyn’s life, leading her to recreate the story of Anne with a twist – Anne taking revenge against those who wronged her and caused her downfall.
QAB Guest Article: Anne Boleyn and King Francois of France
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Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of History of the church and fellow at St. Cross College, Oxford University, is an expert in the History of Christianity. A prolific researcher, teacher, lecturer, biographer and history writer, Professor MacCulloch has been honored with the 1996 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Whitbread Biography Prize and the Duff Cooper Biography Prize for Thomas Cranmer, A Life; the 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award and the British Academy Book Prize for Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490 – 1700; and, the 2010 Hessell-Tiltman Prize and Cundell Prize for A History of Christianity.
If Professor MacCulloch looks familiar, you likely have enjoyed his teaching of religious history on television and radio in a variety of documentaries highlighting the life of Thomas Cromwell, the History of Christianity, how God made the English, and sex in the church. Though honored as a Knight Bachelor by Her Majesty the Queen in 2012 and elected a Fellow through the years of the Society of Antiquities of London, the Royal Historical Society, and the British Academy, Professor Sir MacCulloch is cherished most for his articulate, engaging, and down-to-earth teaching style that enthralls his peer historians, college students, and history buffs alike.
QAB Reformation Day Interview with Diarmaid MacCulloch
QAB Interview #2: Diarmaid MacCulloch Discusses Thomas Cromwell
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Lauren Mackay is a historian from Sydney, Australia.
Lauren is a historian whose focus of study goes beyond familiar historical figures and events to lesser-known individuals, as well as beliefs, customs, and diplomacy of the 16th Century.
Her debut book, Inside the Tudor Court: Henry VIII and his Six Wives through the eyes of the Spanish Ambassador, is the first and only biography of the so-called Spanish Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, the most integral chronicler of the Tudor Court. Her second book, Among The Wolves of Court: The Untold Story of Thomas and George Boleyn, released 30 September 2018 by IB Tauris Publishers, is based on her extensive PhD research, and introduces Anne Boleyn’s father and brother, often underplayed figures at Henry’s court, lifting the lid on their rise as highly skilled ambassadors and courtiers who negotiated their way through the complex and ruthless game of politics.
QAB Guest Article: In Memory of the Irreplaceable (Eric Ives)
QAB Interview with Lauren Mackay
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Stephanie A. Mann is a religious scholar who holds a BA and MA in English Language and Literature from Wichita State University. She is an accomplished instructor, teaching English and History at Wichita State University and Newman University. Beyond this, Stephanie taught RCIA Ministry and Spirituality Core courses and the Spiritual Life Center in the Religious Studies Program, and various topics in the RICA program at her home parish, Blessed Sacrament. Stephanie blogs extensively about the Roman Catholic experience during the English Reformation, and she her expertise is exceptionally noteworthy. For more information about Stephanie A. Mann, visit her outstanding blog at SUPREMACY AND SURVIVAL: THE ENGLISH REFORMATION.
QAB Interview with Stephanie A. Mann
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Saint Thomas More
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Danielle Marchant is an Independent Author from London, UK. She published her first historical novella “The Lady Rochford Saga Part 1: Into the Ranks of the Deceived” in October 2013. “The Lady Rochford Saga Part 2: Tourmens de Mariage” released on the 19th May 2015. Visit Danielle’s Facebook page at Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. Visit Danielle’s website at Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford: The real story behind the infamous Jane Rochford
QAB Guest Article: The Infamous Lady Rochford and the Enigmatic Jane Seymour
QAB Guest Article: The Madness of Jane Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Holbein’s The Lady Parker
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Steven A. McKay is an independently published historical fiction writer and musician from Old Kilpatrick, Scotland. Steven’s debut novel, Wolf’s Head (The Forest Lord) is finding an appreciative audience, and there are many well-deserved amazon reviews. QueenAnneBoleyn.com published a richly deserved positive review of Wolf’s Head. Steven’s vivid adult themed retelling of the legend of Robin Hood in his Forest Lord series is well worth the read. For more information, visit Steven’s website at STEVEN A. MCKAY… ROBIN HOOD AND MORE!
QAB Guest Article: Writing a Novella — The Ups and Downs
QAB Guest Article: Historical Fiction or Historical Fantasy?
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Toni Mount earned her research Masters degree from the University of Kent in 2009 through study of a medieval medical manuscript held at the Wellcome Library in London. Recently she also completed a Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing with the Open University.
Toni has published many non-fiction books, but always wanted to write a medieval thriller, and her first novel The Colour of Poison is the result. Her successful ‘Sebastian Foxley’ series of medieval whodunits is published by MadeGlobal.com, and the latest book in this series The Colour of Betrayal is now available as a paperback or on Kindle.
Toni regularly speaks at venues throughout the UK and is the author of several online courses available at MEDIEVAL COURSES.
QAB Guest Article: Toni Mount and The Colour of Poison
QAB Guest Article: The True Story of Laurence Duket
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Sarah Morris, M.D. was raised in Yorkshire Dales, England. Sarah became a historical fiction writer after two successful careers, first as a physician and then as a leadership coach for business executives. Sarah has exceptionally varied interests, all which she pursues with great energy and passion. Beyond her leadership development career, Sarah is a prolific historical fiction writer and historical re-enactor. Sarah’s debut novel, Le temps Viendra: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, is exceptionally popular with website members and browsers, most of whom also follow Sarah’s re-enactment activities and costuming on twitter and Facebook. For more information, visit Sarah’s website at SARAH MORRIS: MAKING. HISTORY. REAL.
QAB Guest Article: A Day in the Life of Anne Boleyn — When the Ordinary Feels Extraordinary
QAB Guest Article: Tribute to Eric Ives — Long Prepared to Die, The Transformation of Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Anne Boleyn
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Elizabeth Norton is a British historian that researches and writes primarily of the women contributing to English medieval history. With MA degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and a MA degree in European Archaeology from Oxford, Elizabeth certainly is multi-talented and highly gifted. Currently, Elizabeth is working on her doctoral research at King’s College, London where she is researching the Blount family of Shropshire. Recently, Elizabeth researched and released a non-fiction book focusing on the remarkable life of Elfrida, England’s first crowned queen, further broadening her expertise of England’s most remarkable female historical figures. For more information, visit Elizabeth’s website at ELIZABETH NORTON.
QAB Guest Article: The Lives of Ordinary Tudor Women
QAB Guest Article: Book Excerpt – The Lives of Tudor Women
QAB Guest Article: The Other Boleyn Women — Queen Anne Boleyn’s Aunts
QAB Interview with Elizabeth Norton
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Seamus O’Caellaigh has always been interested in the Tudor dynasty and the many uses of plants. He grew up learning about plants from his grandmother Anne Kelley and mother Diane Prickett. Their love of plants has manifested in Seamus through his love of being out in the wild looking for medicinal plants, through his spending lots of time in the family garden and through spending time in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. He is most often seen with his head down, looking at the plants along the path and not at what lies ahead.
Having joined a pre-1600s recreation group, Seamus found a way to incorporate his love of the Tudors with a study of medicinal plants from that time period, along with the many herbal books written from the 1st century to the turn of the 17th century. Nothing makes Seamus happier than finding an obscure reference, or his son Jerrick bringing him a plant for “Dad’s Plant Projects.”
QAB Guest Article: When the Treatment is Worse than the Illness
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Ashlee Payne, an American from Louisville, Kentucky, is a history researcher, historical blog writer, and owner/ moderator of Facebook’s Books of Monarchs throughout History. Ashlee, respected in the Facebook Tudor Community, has an active following. Do check her out!
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QAB Guest Article: Remembering Anne Boleyn
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James Peacock is 30 years old and lives in a suburb of Greater London. Originally training and working in Youth and Community, in 2013 he decided to follow his lifelong passion for history with a particular interest in Anne Boleyn. He currently works at a historical site heavily associated with Anne Boleyn. (See the picture… hint, hint) In 2014, he set up ‘The Anne Boleyn Society’ which exists to promote and bring awareness to the role that Anne Boleyn contributed to England’s history and her role in the reformation. The Anne Boleyn Society can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@society_anne). James also writes articles for Queenanneboleyn.com.
The Anne Boleyn Society Blog on QAB
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016 — Anne Boleyn in the Media
The Anne Boleyn Society on Facebook
The Anne Boleyn Society on Twitter
QAB Vlog Post: James Peacock Remembers Anne Boleyn
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Kate Quinn, a Californian with a master’s degree in Classical voice from Boston University, is a woman of multiple talents. A highly gifted singer, Kate’s lifelong love of history has translated into a prolific historical fiction writing career, with five strongly reviewed novels to date. If you love ancient Rome and tales of the Borgias, Kate’s works are well worth the read. For more information on Kate Quinn, visit her website at KATE QUINN: AUTHOR OF HISTORICAL FICTION.
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QAB Guest Article: Wife, Nun or Whore, The Three Fates
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Natalia Richards was born in Derbyshire, and gained a degree in graphic design and illustration at Leicester. She free-lanced on leaving college before changing career and becoming a museum curator, thus fulfilling a passion for all things historical. She worked at the National Trust property Sudbury Hall, the Derby City Museum and Art Gallery, Royal Crown Derby, and finally left to go to London. Becoming a senior curator, Nat worked on exhibitions, collections and finally with the community in Outreach. She delivered lectures regularly, wrote articles, and appeared in TV interviews.
Natalia has recently retired, and spends time between Derbyshire and Chelsea, in London, writing and researching for her second book. She is passionate about visiting country houses and churches, walking, photography and of course everything to do with the Tudors. Getting the facts right (as far as possible) is central to Natalia’s writing, and she has spent many years researching Anne Boleyn. You can visit her Facebook page to see more about Anne’s early years, as Natalia Richards Falcon’s Rise.
QAB Guest Article: All About My Novel Falcon’s Rise
Falcon’s Rise, by Natalia Richards
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Tony Riches is a full-time author of best-selling fiction and non-fiction books. He lives by the sea in Pembrokeshire, West Wales with his wife and enjoys sailing and kayaking in his spare time.
For more information about Tony’s fabulous historical fiction novels, please visit his popular blog, The Writing Desk and his WordPress website and find him on Facebook and Twitter @tonyriches.
QAB Guest Article: Excerpt — Jasper – Book 2 of the Tudor Trilogy
QAB Guest Article: Excerpt and Author Highlight — Owen – Book 1 of the Tudor Trilog
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Claire Ridgway is a highly respected author of Tudor Era history books, most focusing on the life of Queen Anne Boleyn. Creator of the exceptionally popular history websites The Anne Boleyn Files and The Tudor Society, Claire is a full-time history researcher, blogger, and writer. The Anne Boleyn Files is highly respected for its outstanding presentation, ease of navigation, and historical accuracy. Claire’s ultimate mission is to get to the truth behind Anne Boleyn’s story specifically and related Tudor history in general. For more information about Claire, her projects and her research, visit one of Claire’s wonderful websites or her very popular facebook page.
QAB Guest Article: The English Monarchy and Interesting Deaths
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Claire Ridgway Discusses Her Love of History
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Claire Discusses Anne Boleyn’s Execution and Resting Place
QAB Guest Article: My Favorite Ruin – Kenilworth
QAB Interview: Claire Discusses The Tudor Society and Tudor Life Magazine
QAB Interview with Claire Ridgway and Clare Cherry
QAB Guest Article: George Boleyn’s Dedication to Ann Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: How I Remember Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Saint Thomas More
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(Photo Credit: Christian Rdgway)
Verity Ridgway is a remarkably talented young woman. A British child living in Spain, Verity is bilingual, an accomplished and published creative writer of short stories, and an artistic graphic designer. She certainly provides a shining example of the talents many youths possess, and Queenanneboleyn.com is proud to highlight her accomplishments.
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QAB Interview with Verity Ridgway
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Mercy Rivera is a popular short deep introspection fiction and non-fiction history writer composing in both English and Spanish. Mercy is also well known for her beautifully crafted historically themed videos. Mercy’s blog “Hall of Crowns” is hosted here at Queenanneboleyn.com. A founding member of Queenanneboleyn.com, Mercy’s contributions to the website are prolific. Mercy and her life partner Luis reside in Peurto Rico.
Mercy Rivera es un escritor de ficción histórica de ficción corta popular que compone en inglés y español. La misericordia también es bien sabido para sus videos themed históricamente maravillosamente hechos a mano. El blog de Mercy “Salón de las Coronas” se encuentra aquí en Queenanneboleyn.com. Miembro fundador de Queenanneboleyn.com, las contribuciones de Mercy al sitio web son prolíficas. Mercy y su compañero de vida Luis residen en Peurto Rico.
“Hall of Crowns” on Queenanneboleyn.com
Artículos en español y breve ficción por Mercy Alicia
Videos by Mercy Alicea (piraresse4) — YouTube
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Philip Roberts, author of Whitehall Palace in a Nutshell and The Mary Rose in a Nutshell, is employed as an ambulance crew member. He is also a Tudor era enthusiast, having been a member of the Mary Rose Trust Information Group Team for well over twenty years, educating people on King Henry VIII’s warship, and on everyday Tudor life. He has also been re-enactor as a Tudor at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk, the world famous Elizabethan mansion, and still re-enacts at the Mary Rose Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
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ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Whitehall Palace
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Educated at Oxford University and Queens University, Belfast, Gareth Russell is a historian, novelist, and playwright. He is the author of Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII; The Emperors: How Europe’s Most Powerful Rulers were Destroyed by World War One; and An Illustrated Introduction to the Tudors.
Editor-in-Chief of Tudor Life, a magazine of The Tudor Society, Gareth Russell also hosts the popular blog Confessions of a Ci-Devant. He lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Queen Anne Boleyn
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JoAnn Spears couldn’t decide whether to major in English or History in college. Life stepped in, and she wound up with a Master’s Degree in Nursing instead. A twenty-five year nursing career didn’t extinguish that early interest in books and history-especially Tudor history. It did, however, stoke a decidedly gallows sense of humor.
Eventually, JoAnn read just about every spin there was on the stories of Henry VIII and the extended Tudor family. Every spin, that is, except the one with the gallows humor. The Tudors certainly qualified for it, but it just wasn’t out there. JoAnn decided that with gallows humor to spare, she would do her best to remedy the Tudor comedy gap. A little inspiration from the classic Wizard of Oz showed her the way to go, and Six of One, a new kind of Tudor novel, was born.
JoAnn thought Six of One, her story about Henry VIII’s six wives, would be an only literary child. Then, two years after its birth, she was caught by surprise with the idea for a sequel. In October 2015, Seven Will Out made its debut and bought the latter-day Tudors into the comedy mix.
JoAnn enjoys writing but maintains her nursing license because a) you never stop being a nurse and b) her son thinks she should be sensible and not quit her day job. She also enjoys life in the beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee, where she gardens, embroiders antique reproduction samplers, and teaches yoga in her Methodist church basement. JoAnn shares her home with three cats and the works of Jane Austen, Barbara Pym, Louisa May Alcott, and of course, Alison Weir.
QAB Guest Article: Anne Boleyn and the Spanish Influenza
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Paul Strohm has been J.R.R. Tolkien Professor of English at the University of Oxford and Garbedian Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University. He has previously been departmental Chair and President of the Faculty Council at Indiana University and has held various national offices and posts with the American Association of University Professors. Author of acclaimed scholarly volumes, he now tackles a new assignment: telling Chaucer’s story to a new and more general audience that loves literature but hasn’t specialized in the middle ages. He divides his time between Brooklyn and Oxford, England.
QAB Conversation with Paul Strohm
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Ann Swinfen (Website: Ann Swinfen) originally published three novels with Random House, but became an independent author publisher with her own imprint, Shakenoak Press. She writes adult historical novels set in a wide range of periods.
The Testament of Mariam takes place in the first century Roman provinces of Palestine and Gaul. Flood was inspired by discovering the struggles of 17th century fenlanders in defending their homes and livelihoods against exploitation by unscrupulous land-grabbers.
Her series set in 16th century London, featuring a young physician coerced into becoming a code-breaker and spy in Walsingham’s secret service, begins with The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez and continues with The Enterprise of England, The Portuguese Affair, Bartholomew Fair, and Suffer the Little Children.
Also in 2015 she has published This Rough Ocean, a novel based on the real-life experiences of her husband’s ancestors in the war-torn 1640s. Loving the whole independent publishing process, she thinks it unlikely she’d ever return to conventional publishing.
QAB Guest Article: Sir Francis Walsingham and the Marranos
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Giles Taylor, a renowned English Shakespearean actor, is also a highly respected teacher, mentor, and consultant to emerging stage actors. With exhaustive stage, screen and television credits, Giles is well known throughout the United Kingdom for his outstanding acting skills and technical mastery of classical verse and language, rhetoric and form. All Tudor History enthusiasts know Giles as an actor for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Portraying Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and Jean de Dinteville, the French Ambassador, Giles added richness and authenticity not only to his specific roles but also to the overall outstanding ensemble cast performance.
QAB Interview with Giles Taylor
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Having studied the History of Art, Architecture & Design at Kingston University, Surrey (UK), in 2005, Melanie V. Taylor embarked on a full-time Master of Arts degree in Medieval & Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent, graduating in the summer of 2007.
Now living in Surrey with her terrier, she lectures on both art history and history. The various courses she has taught in art history are Art & Architecture in Renaissance 1350-1500; The Exchange of Ideas between Southern & Northern Europe 1400-1600; The Italian High Renaissance & Mannerism; The Stranger Painters of the Tudor Court (stranger is a way of describing foreigners); The Marketing of Monarchy; Elizabeth I – the Age of Gloriana; The Golden Age of Dutch Art. My medieval history courses include The Normans in Europe; The Reconquest of Spain; The Rise of the Venetian Republic; The Albigensian Crusade; France 1450 – 1500; I also run study days on the Life and Works of Hans Holbein the Younger; The History of the Tudor Miniature; Nicholas Hilliard – Elizabeth I’s Miniature Portraitist. In addition, she gives talks to art clubs on all various art movements, which tend to be technical as opposed to lots of the history of the period and the artists.
In November 2007, she started Ashtead Art Lovers, which meets on the last Friday of the month. You can see what they have looked at over the past ten years on the “What we have looked at before“ page. Art is a very much a matter of opinion, which is why Mell steers away from the artists of the latter part of the 20th century and concentrates on earlier periods.
In the past, she has written articles for the Tudor Society. Now she is able to continue her research into the creators and imagery of illuminated manuscripts of the late 15th and 16thcentury. Why not visit Melanie V. Taylor – Art Historian with an Interest in Visual Messages occasionally to see what Mell is up to.
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Where Can You See Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Could this be a young William Shakespeare?
QAB Guest Article: Thomas Cromwell – Creator of the Royal ‘Tudor Brand’
QAB Guest Article: The Art of Patronage – Erasmus, More, and Holbein
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Sandra Vasoli is a historical fiction writer from Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, USA. A graduate with a dual degree in English and Biology from Villanova University, Sandy enjoyed a long term career in leadership and organization development before turning her attention to her passions of writing and Tudor Era history. Sandy has written all her life: essays, stories, and articles, but Je Anne Boleyn: Struck with the Dart of Love is her first work of published fiction. Volume Two of the Je Anne Boleyn series soon followed. Sandy’s career, working for several of the largest companies in the world, allowed her the study of people, especially those in leadership positions. Thus, she is keenly interested in the bold and insightful qualities possessed by Anne Boleyn. For more information, visit her website at SANDRA VASOLI.
QAB Guest Article: Researching the Original Love Letters from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Anne Boleyn, A Women In Love
QAB Guest Article: May Day and Beyond, 1536 – An Excerpt From Truth Endures
QAB Guest Article: Anne Boleyn and the Cultural Arts
QAB Guest Article: Eric Ives Tribute – Excerpt – Je Anne Boleyn, Struck with the Dart of Love
QAB Guest Article: Henry VIII’s Letters to Anne Boleyn
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: Anne Boleyn’s Letter From the Tower
QAB Author Highlight: Sandra Vasoli Discusses Her Novel Truth Endures
QAB Guest Article: The Coronation Jewels Worn by Elizabeth II
QAB Guest Article: What We Remember About Anne Boleyn
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Jan Henrick Verstaten is a writer and director at Flying Dutchman Films. His fantastic short movie I AM HENRY opened to rave reviews. Jan Henrick’s passion for independent film started in New York when he studied at the New School. He loved the 16 mm art of filmmaking and was lucky enough to sell his first short to the PBS channel in New York, Channel Thirteen.
For the last few years, he focused on screenwriting in different genres in London, where he set up Flying Dutchman Films. Jan Henrick won numerous awards but was unlucky when a big film deal fell through at the very last minute.
Right now, he is putting together a team to produce several shorts, interviews and hopefully a feature after that. Jan Henrick is very clear about the kind of stories he wants to tell and how they look visually. His interest is especially in what it means to be human.
With the quality of technology readily available to us now, he believes that the next decade is going to be a new golden age for independent filmmakers and for films with an individual voice and vision. For more information, visit FLYING DUTCHMAN FILMS.
QAB Interview with Jan Henrick Verstaten
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Beth von Staats is the owner and administrator of Queenanneboleyn.com. The author of Thomas Cranmer in a Nutshell, Beth specializes in writing magazine articles, online historical articles, short stories, and flash fiction.
Beth’s interest in British History grew through the profound influence of her Welsh grandparents, both of whom desired she learn of her family cultural heritage. Her most pronounced interest lies with the men and women who drove the course of events and/or who were most poignantly impacted by the English Henrician and Protestant Reformations, as well as the Tudor Dynasty of English and Welsh History in general.
By profession, Beth works in non-profit program administration as Director of Residential Services at New England Village in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Queenanneboleyn.com Blog: The Tudor Thomases
Short Stories: Revelation, by Beth von Staats
The Tudor Thomases on Facebook
Queenanneboleyn.com Facebook Page
Queenanneboleyn.com Facebook Group
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Alan Weatherall is retired and lives in Hampshire, England. He enjoyed writing during his business career; two different books, both of which were translated into Japanese. He became interested in Thomas Cranmer after reading the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. Cranmer seems to be undervalued by history; he lived in cruel and dangerous times and had to behave accordingly. Arguably, Queen Elizabeth would not have survived the first years of her reign without the church that Cranmer did so much to define. A historical novel, grounded in facts and correct dates, seemed a good way of presenting a more positive side of this major historical figure.
QAB Guest Article: Thomas Cranmer’s Importance to Queen Anne Boleyn
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Alison Weir is the United Kingdom’s most popular and best selling female historian. Alison’s first published work, Britain’s Royal Families, introduced the world to the now recognized genre of “popular history”, and her sales tell the story. Readers purchased more than 2.3 million books, over 1,000,000 in the United Kingdom, and more than 1,300,000 books in the United States. Rich in detailed research, Alison’s engaging prose captured the interest and imaginations of countless people, instilling a love of history that influenced the career paths of historical fiction writers, historians, and teachers, while also greatly increasing knowledge of medieval English history among people throughout the world. For more information on Alison Weir, visit her websites at ALISON WEIR: U.K. HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR and ALISON WEIR TOURS.
QAB Guest Article: Anna of Kleve’s Evil Genius
QAB Interview with Alison Weir #5 May 2018
QAB Interview with Alison Weir #4 May 2017
QAB Interview with Alison Weir #3 May 2016
QAB Interview with Alison Weir #2 December 2015
QAB Interview with Alison Weir #1 October 2013
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Janet Wertman has harbored a passion for the Tudor Kings and Queens since her parents let her stay up late to watch the televised Masterpiece Theatre series (both The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R) when she was *cough* eight years old. One of the highlights of Janet’s youth was being allowed to visit the Pierpont Morgan Library on a day when it was closed to the public and examine books from Queen Elizabeth’s personal library and actual letters that the young Princess Elizabeth (technically Lady Elizabeth…) had written.
Janet is thrilled to have released the first two books in The Seymour Saga trilogy: Jane the Quene, which tells the story of Jane Seymour’s marriage to Henry VIII, was published in 2016; and The Path to Somerset, which chronicles Edward Seymour’s rise after Jane’s death to become Lord Protector of England and Duke of Somerset (taking us right through Henry’s crazy years) was released in 2018. They will be joined in 2020 by The Boy King, which will cover the reign of Jane’s son, Edward VI, and the string of betrayals he suffered.
QAB Guest Article: How I Remember Anne Boleyn
QAB Guest Article: Remembering Saint Thomas More
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Derek Wilson has been writing historical fiction and non-fiction since the mid-1970s and is the author of 70+ books, as well as work for radio and television and innumerable newspaper and magazine articles. After graduating from Cambridge in History and Theology, he spent some years teaching and traveling abroad before settling to a freelance writing career. He specializes in the Reformation but his large output includes studies of the Rothschild family, the Plantagenets, Peter the Great, Charlemagne and the history of circumnavigation. He lives in Devon and is the patriarch of a family of three children and six grandchildren. His most recent release is The Devil’s Chalice, published by MadeGlobal. Visit Derek’s website at DEREK WILSON: HISTORIAN OF FACT, FAITH, FICTION & FANTASY.
QAB Guest Article: Summer of Discontent
ANNE BOLEYN DAY 2016: A Reading from The First Horseman
QAB Interview with Derek Wilson
QAB Guest Article: The Prebendaries Plot – A Crisis in the Life of Thomas Cranmer
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Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder (1503 to 1542) was an English lyric poet, ambassador, knight, and courtier living during the reign of King Henry VIII. Born in Allington Castle, Kent, England, Wyatt was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge. Though Wyatt’s poetry was widely read, his body of work was not published until after his death. Songes and Sonnetts (Tottel’s Miscillany), published 1557, included the work of Wyatt; Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; and other lesser known poets, some unknown.
The remainder of Wyatt’s poems, satires, and lyrics would remain in manuscript and slowly come into print during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Along with the Earl of Surrey, Wyatt is commonly credited with introducing the sonnet into English. His love lyrics, many based loosely on the Petrarchan sonnet, deal with courtly love and ill-treatment at the hands of his lovers. Though Whoso List to Hunt is thought to be a poem about Queen Anne Boleyn, whether the two ever enjoyed a relationship is lost to history.
POETRY BOOKS BY THOMAS WYATT, THE ELDER