As y’all know, I am an H.P Lovecraft fan. He is the father (Edgar Allen Poe is the grandfather) of the modern horror genre and he rocked it. One of Lovecraft’s most famous monsters, one beloved by geeks like me, is Cthulhu. As with anything beloved, parodies about it spring up like mushroom after it… Read more Parody: why choose the lesser evil?
*SPOILERS for Game of Thrones* Today is Henry Fitzroy’s birthday, and if he were alive he’d be 496 years young. Sadly, the king’s baseborn child with Bessie Blount passed away at the tender age of 17. Fitzroy was actually being eyed as a potential heir to the throne, illegitimate or not. Henry had recently declared… Read more Happy Birthday to Henry Fitzroy
*NB – this was supposed to go out yesterday but Fun With Kids happened instead* On the last week in May of 1553 Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guilford Dudley, the fourth son of the duke of Northumberland (John Dudley), at the urging of the increasingly ill King Edward VI. Contrary to myth, there is… Read more Lady Jane Grey Marries
A few years ago, great brouhaha ensued when mystery writer Robert Galbraith was “outed” as none other than JK Rowling by the best friend of a wife of one of Rowling’s solicitors. Considering the massive fallout for the solicitor over this, I am assuming that best friend is no longer welcomed in his home. I… Read more Robert Galbraith’s Mysteries
I have great news! (At least, it is great from my perspective. Y’all just jump on my train, okay?) I have a release date for my second non-fiction book, The Jezebel Effect: Why the slut shaming of famous queens still matters. It will be officially released into the wild on February 27, 2015. That’s right!… Read more Release Date for The Jezebel Effect!!
I have this friend named Sandy James. Her husband has cancer and almost died of sepsis recently. She’s a teacher, and thus lavishly underpaid, so the medical bills are crushing her like Rodin’s Fallen Caryatid Under Her Own Stone. She is an English, rather than chemistry, teacher so she cannot Walter White ala Breaking Bad… Read more Blatant Emotional Manipulation
Today is Epiphany, AKA Three King’s Day, AKA Twelfth Night. In the Tudor era this was an important night of feasting, merry-making, and often gift giving. My gift for you all is the gift of accurate historical knowledge, per your request. Thus, here is a truth-telling guest post by Kathryn Warner, author of Edward II:… Read more Isabella of France And Edward II: Reality Is Far More Interesting Than Myth
I’ve never made it a secret I have Asperger’s syndrome. To the contrary, I have been quite up front about it. As an Aspy, one of my biggest bugbears is inaccurate book reviews. I would never try to censor someone’s opinion of any book, but the facts they list as the reason they dislike the… Read more Keeping the Accurate in Accuracy
Edward II was a deeply flawed king. In her book Edward II: The Unconventional King, Kathryn Warner doesn’t attempt to hide that fact. However, she also uses meticulous research to debunk myriad myths about Edward II, including the malarkey that he was killed via a hot poker in the rectum. Edward II had a rough… Read more Review of Edward II: The Unconventional King
(I’d like to give a warm welcome to Kathryn Warner and thank her for the post. I’ll have a review of her excellent book up on Friday!) King Edward II is rightly remembered as one of the most disastrous kings England has ever produced. His reign of nineteen and a half years, July 1307… Read more Guest Post About Edward II from author Kathryn Warner