Monday, September 18, 2006

I Hab a Bab Cold, and More One-Letter Memes

If you're the man, woman, or adorable little child (I strongly suspect the latter) who gave me another cold, I'm looking for you. And it isn't going to be pretty--that is, if I can stop sneezing long enough to sneak up on you.

My IQ goes down markedly when I have a cold, even before I take any of the cold medication that sends me off into another sphere. While I can still put a coherent thought together, though, can you think of any historical fiction featuring a run-of-the-mill cold or flu? Most illnesses tend to be of the dramatic, widow-and-orphan-making type. I can think of one novel featuring a minor ailment: Reay Tannahill's Fatal Majesty, where Mary, Queen of Scots and one of her ministers, Lethington, share a scene shivering and coughing with what seems to be a Tudor-era variety of the flu while discussing the latest machination of Queen Elizabeth, only to be interrupted by the "revoltingly healthy" James. Quite amusing--and a clever way of giving life to what would otherwise be just a routine update-the-reader scene.

Anyway, feel free to stop by and share your thoughts. Even if you're revoltingly healthy like James.

By the way, here's a few more change-one-letter titles:

The Bunne in Splendor. Whether they follow the white rose or the red rose, Edward IV's female subjects are united in one sentiment--the new king has a nice posterior.

The Queen's Foot. Mary Tudor's court is taken aback when the queen loses all interest in religion and suddenly begins obsessing over fabulously expensive shoes.

The Virgin's Loser. Robert Dudley is in agony. How can he tell the queen that the expensive horse she has given him has yet to win a race?

The Lost Boleyn. Born without a good sense of direction, George Boleyn never can figure out where he is--and his constant refusal to ask for directions may be the last straw for his wife, Jane.

3 comments:

Sarah Johnson said...

Something tells me that Edward IV would appreciate that first novel.

Sorry about the cold! Will have to give that question some more thought.

Carla said...

I've noticed that too. King Arthur has a cold in one scene in one of Bernard Cornwell's Arthur trilogy (can't remember which one), and Alfred has some unpleasant digestive illness in The Last Kingdom. Llewellyn has toothache in one of Sharon Penman's Welsh trilogy. (I have a warrior with a bad cold in one of mine, but that doesn't count). Hope your cold gets better soon!

Susan Higginbotham said...

Thanks, ladies! (Hard to think of King Arthur with a cold.)