any historical personages you wish had fiction composed about them

[chuck]

[quote=""Gabriele Campbell""]Thank you. Merovingian plotbunnies is so what I need. [/quote]

Very interesting site....excellent photos and blogs.....

[annis]

Originally Posted by Gabriele Campbell

Thank you. Merovingian plotbunnies is so what I need.

Ha - I found it! This will definitely give you plotbunny nightmares What can I say? I must have had a moment of madness when I picked this one up in a bargain bin.

"Dark Dream of Love"
De Vincent, Eleanor

A handsome young king, Clotaire, his beautiful but unwilling bride Deirdre and his fiery mistriss Felice, this powerful drama is played out against the colorful backdrop of 6th century France. With swiftness and unexplained brutality he strikes down Deidre's guardian uncle and declares his intention to make the golden-haired beauty his queen and despite her strong attraction toward the dark, dashing king of the Franks, she heatedly vows she will enter a nunnery rather than marry him. As they both wage their passionate duel, the sultry Felice happily warms the king's bed and weaves her spells to bind him even closer.

[Gabriele Campbell]

[quote=""annis""]
Ha - I found it! This will definitely give you plotbunny nightmares What can I say? I must have had a moment of madness when I picked this one up in a bargain bin.

"Dark Dream of Love"
De Vincent, Eleanor

A handsome young king, Clotaire, his beautiful but unwilling bride Deirdre and his fiery mistriss Felice, this powerful drama is played out against the colorful backdrop of 6th century France. With swiftness and unexplained brutality he strikes down Deidre's guardian uncle and declares his intention to make the golden-haired beauty his queen and despite her strong attraction toward the dark, dashing king of the Franks, she heatedly vows she will enter a nunnery rather than marry him. As they both wage their passionate duel, the sultry Felice happily warms the king's bed and weaves her spells to bind him even closer.[/quote]

Oh my. Deirdre is bad enough, but Felice? What sort of name is that? Surely not Merovingian.

But it's the sort of book to find a comfortable place on my SiL's shelves. She has a whole collection of questionable historicals and Scottish Highland romances.

[princess]

I would like to hear a little more about Scottish Kings and Queens (ok there's plenty written about Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie I'm sure) but all the James' of Scotland seem to be pretty much ignored in favour of all the Henry's of England. James I of Scotland in particular I admire after reading "Lion Let Loose" by Nigel Tranter.

[annis]

Posted by Gabriele

Oh my. Deirdre is bad enough, but Felice? What sort of name is that? Surely not Merovingian.

Yeah- this is one of the things that really irritates me in historical romances. The author could at least use names authentic to the period. Maybe in this case she thought that Deuteria and Fredegund sounded less "romantic" than Deirdre and Felice

[Margaret]

plotbunny nightmares

What's a plotbunny? I want one, nightmares or not.

[Gabriele Campbell]

[quote=""Margaret""]What's a plotbunny? I want one, nightmares or not. [/quote]

Plotbunnies are cute looking little critters, but the moment you stop to look at them or worse, pet them, they'll display razor sharp teeth and stick to your ankle or hand, and then you have to write their story. Usually, they breed, and often they bring their family and friends and turn trilogy on you. Or they are very enticing but you'll have to hunt down their warren to get the whole story.

And they always cling to you when you have plenty of projects and don't need any more.

They are pests, but writers can't do without them.

[Amanda]

Margarets!

Margaret of York
Margaret of Austria
Margaret Douglas

[annis]

Posted by Princess

-- all the James' of Scotland seem to be pretty much ignored in favour of all the Henry's of England.

Just recently read Elisabeth McNeill's novel, "Flodden Field" which is the story of James IV's disastrous campaign against England during the reign of Henry VIII. (Sorry, those Henries just keep sneaking in!) The Scottish king managed to get himself and half the Scottish nobility killed instead of gaining the military glory he longed for. James IV was an interesting person- physically imposing, handsome, fiercely intelligent and cultured- a Renaissance monarch, but he had this blind need to prove himself in battle. It destroyed him, and pretty much Scotland as well.

The novel does quite a good job of showing the difficutlies of achieving dominant central leadership in a country ruled by clan loyalties, and in dealing with the Scottish chieftains and English nobility on the Anglo-Scottish border- they had more in common with each other than with kings of either country.

One thing I hadn't realised is that the Scottish royal surname, Stewart, was originally a job description, like the name Marshal of William fame. The first Stewart king was the son of the 6th High Steward of Scotland. They were an unlucky lot - there's an article here which tells their unfortunate story:
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Sc ... narchs.htm

Elisabeth McNeill has written novels about other Stuarts as well;
Mary QOS in "Blood Royal", and Bonnie Prince Charlie in "The Heartbreaker", recently reviewed by Ariadne on her Reading the Past blog
http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2009 ... abeth.html

[Jemidar]

[quote=""Amanda""]Margarets!

Margaret of York
Margaret of Austria
Margaret Douglas[/quote]



Anne Easter Smith's Daughter of York is about Margaret of York and whetted my appetite for more about her. So yes, more would be good .

On another thread (sorry can't remember which one offhand ) there's been mention of at least one book about Margaret of Austria...something about an improper relationship with a Bishop or Cardinal, I believe.

And I agree entirely, Margaret Douglas would be very good. I'd also like to see more about her, definitely .