Now that I owned up to my love of King Arthur lore, I have to add that when I went to England years ago, I did not expect to be as enchanted as I was.
London was my first foreign visit. My best friend in the world, Christine, had gone in high school with her school. I never went on those trips. My family couldn’t afford it. So I listened to my friend and wished one day to go. So when I had a full time job, post college, where I made some money and could afford a few things, I made travel important.
I packed my bags and my first place to fly off to wasn’t the other end of my own country, but England. I wanted to live the history I read about so much.
History was always one of my favorite subjects. It’s why I teach it now, though it’s American in my class.
In London, I saw where so many stories were born. In the pic above, is Hampton Court. This was the home of Henry VIII. One of his wives is rumored to still haunt the place. In the Tower of London, another of his wives haunts there. When I mentioned I was from Boston, the Beefeaters locked me in the Tower for a moment claiming I owed money on some tea in the harbor.
It was so much fun. I wish I could write history straight, but my voice is too modern. I don’t want to write how limiting being a woman is and because I’m a girl, I want to relate to the female characters. How do I relate in real life to a girl who was probably married off at age 14 and then died at 30 while in her short life, she wasn’t allowed to speak?
This is part of the reason I reset my world when I retold a King Arthur story and I set it in the future, thinking that history is sometimes circular. So if you can, please click and vote for my novel? If I win, you get your copy for free.
