Monday Update

Last week was a pretty miserable one for me, between spending one night in the emergency room with a relative, having to replace the water heater for the second time in two years, and not having the fun of attending the Historical Novel Society conference, so I sorely needed some cheering up yesterday with a productive trip to the library. And it was productive! Not only did I find almost everything on Margaret of Anjou that I came for, the library staff very kindly intercepted one journal for me just before it went into processing to go into storage. God only knows how long it would have taken to retrieve from the black hole of processing it if I'd come a day later.

As you might have gathered, I've pretty much honed in for Margaret of Anjou for my next novel. She's gotten a lot of bad press, much of it undeserved (for instance, contrary to accounts by Shakespeare and by some recent historical novelists, the latter of whom should certainly know better, she wasn't even at the Battle of Wakefield, where the Duke of York was killed). So now it's just a matter of getting started.

On a historical fiction note, if you're a Jean Plaidy fan or want to know more about her novels, do check out Historical Tapestry, which is in the midst of a "Jean Plaidy Season." There's been some great posts there lately, including a priceless one by Daphne about some cover art. Check out the one for The Goldsmith's Wife (Jane Shore) in particular! I'll be doing a guest post there next week sometime.

Oh, and I'd like to welcome Joan Szechtman to blogdom with Random Thoughts of an Accidental Author! Joan is a fellow member of the Richard III Society. It can get lonely blogging about the fifteenth century, so I'm glad to have another fellow traveler (albeit one who likes Richard III rather better than I do) out here!