candace robb
walking the Mean Streets of Medieval York
Tag: medieval history
Background on A TRIPLE KNOT: Envisioning Joan
In the beginning, I play with characters, trying them out in scenes, testing how they react to events and their fellow characters. With Joan of Kent, I’d already portrayed her several years before the death of her husband, the Black Prince, in A Vigil…
A Triple Knot
Yes, I’ve been quiet, but for a good reason. I’m reviewing the copyedit of A Triple Knot and making the last substantive changes–a tense yet exhilarating point in the birthing of a book. I’m reading it aloud to catch infelicitous phrases, inconsistencies, and repetitions….
The Order of Whose Garter? (II)
I skirted the issue of the garter in the first draft of the manuscript, though it’s such an integral part of Edward III’s court in the middle of the 14th century. Fence straddling doesn’t lend itself to passionate, engaging characters, so as I await…
The Order of Whose Garter?
I remember when history was taught as if all possible questions had been answered. We were to memorize lists of Facts, and those who questioned the received Truth too often were escorted to the principal’s office as troublemakers. Rosencrantz: I remember when there were…
Another Much-Maligned Woman Brought to Life
I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of Susan Higginbotham’s novel The Queen of Last Hopes this past autumn, and thought I’d share the note I wrote to her editor: From the moment King Henry appears in The Queen of Last Hopes…
