Do you ever wish you could go back in time and change something? Make a different decision? Choose a different door? Take the blue pill?
Well, that's the beauty of being authors. We CAN go back in time and fix stuff! (No, we can't). Because we have the power to alter reality! (No, we don't). And the space time continuum means nothing to us! (Actually, it means everything).
So, armed with this magical power (a placebo) we decided to give one of our favorite heroines a second chance. Lady Jane Grey was smart and studious and a humanist and she definitely didn't deserve to be queen-for-nine-days-and-then-imprisoned-and-later-beheaded.
In March of 2015, we enabled our tesseract and created a wrinkle in time so we could travel back centuries to the mid 1500's. (We really just turned on our computers and started typing). And before you could say, "I'm Henry the 8th I am, Henry the 8th I am I am," we resurrected Lady Jane Grey. (No we didn't. We aren't gods). Pretty soon, she had the happy ending she truly deserved in our book MY LADY JANE.
So, dear readers, we would like to turn the tables and ask you: who in history do you think deserves a revised story? (We reserve the right to use your ideas to write our next book.) (Kidding. We would never.) (But maybe we will.)
Leave a comment with your idea and you will be entered to win a MY LADY JANE arc!
(Open to U.S. addresses only. Cuz our publisher can only ship to the U.S.)
I wish Jane Austen could get her happily ever after!
ReplyDeleteEms answer was totally going to be mine. So here is my second answer: l would have liked to see Mary Queen of Scots get a better story than her husband dying shortly after they were married.
ReplyDeleteMan, that's a tall order. Mostly because Jane Grey *is* the person that I would have chosen first! (Never heard of her until several years ago when I watched the movie starring Helena Bonham-Carter and then I was hooked.)
ReplyDeleteBesides Lady Jane, I would love to see Alexander Hamilton grow old. (Yes, I'm presently obsessing over the musical, but it's soooooo good.) I wonder what more he would have done if he had survived the duel.
Or, for a female example, what would Joan of Arc have been able to do for the world if she hadn't been martyred. I mean, seriously, her story was already so good! She was an early icon for feminists. She was only a few decades before Martin Luther. What would an older version of Joan have had to say about the reformation? How would she have reacted to the Gutenburg Bible? I need answers!
Mona Lisa - Everyone knows her name and her face, but what do we know about this woman who inspired one of the greatest minds in history?
ReplyDeleteEmpress Elisabeth of Austria - At 16 she married the most eligible bachelor of the world -- her first cousin. Trapped in a miserable household, she became a celebrated beauty, held seances, gave Hungary elevated status and was then assassinated by an Italian anarchist.
I would totally do Otto Von Bismarck.
ReplyDeleteHe was a war genius, and did SO MUCH for Getmany, albeit behind the scenes under the monarchy. Just think- what could he have done if he was more than just a chancellor? And if Wilhelmina II wasn't emperor and thus couldn't defy him and eventually lead to his downfall? Just imagine how much they could've developed...
And also! His realpolitik left such an impression in history. As Bismarck said, "The main thing is to make history, not to write it." but I believe he deserves a rewrite of his own history.
Thanks so much for the giveaway, ladies!
Maybe Cleopatra and Antony? So much fodder for a plot. And seemingly mystery as to the real story. And something outside British history--as fascinating as British history is. Did she commit suicide--or not? Was she in love or did she seduce Antony? Both died. Very tragic. I think they might need a happily ever after by the lady zanies.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/cleopatra
Okay, the use of the word zanies instead of janies was autocorrect--not some subconscious slip. Honestly.
ReplyDeleteVercingetorix. He united the warring tribes of the Celtic Gauls, never done before, to fight Caesar and ended up paraded around Rome in a cage. I'd like to see him beat Caesar and have a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteLady Diana. I'd like to see her get the support she needed from the Queen, get protection from the paparazzi, and then maybe she wouldn't have been speeding through that tunnel in Paris, and she could have been there to watch her kids grow up.
ReplyDeleteThe person who immediately comes to mind is Anne Frank. She's been such an inspiration but also had such a sad ending. I'd love to see her history changed.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I LOVED MY LADY JANE.
Oh how about Fredrick fleet. What if he had taken his own binoculars on to the titanic. What would life be like if all those people had survived instead of the ship sinking.
ReplyDeleteThe first person that comes to mind is Jack from Titanic. Although he's fictional, I think going back in time and saving the people who perished in the Titanic would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteJoan of Arc, John F Kennedy, Ryan White, River Phoenix....mostly My Jane Grey & Guilford Dudley....
ReplyDeleteMine would be JFK. I wonder what he would have done in his second term.
ReplyDeleteMine would be JFK. I wonder what he would have done in his second term.
ReplyDeleteIs it bad that my initial thought was Hitler so he could maybe be killed SOONER? I mean, you said revised story, that means it doesn't necessarily have to be revised for the better for that person, right?
ReplyDeleteUhh, after that I thought of Anne Frank, I wonder what she would have done if she hadn't died at the hands of the Nazis, or maybe MLK or Abraham Lincoln.
I'm seconding so many of these (Joan of Arc! Jane Austen! Hamilton obsession!) but I would like to say Anastasia and the entire Romanov family. They were absurdly close to beig rescued when they were murdered, and as a child, I obsessed over the movie and the biography my mother bought me. When that woman came forward claiming to be Anastasia, I wanted so badly for it to be real. If anyone deserves a happy ending, it's that family.
ReplyDeleteSeconding Cleopatra - I want to see a version of history where she wins the Battle of Actium and Egypt remains a super power. What would history look like if not dominated by the Romans?
ReplyDeleteThe first person to come to mind is Virginia Woolf. But my second thought would be Wilfred Owen, who died in a bridge explosion a week before the end of WWI. Would it really change history? Probably not. But so many of the war poets died before they went home.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, it's a tie between two of my favorite historical ladies: Anne Boleyn and Marie Antoinette. They got gypped.
ReplyDeleteKhutulun, the Nomadic Mongol warrior princess! I think that would be fun to read/ write! :D
ReplyDeleteAnne Frank was my first thought. Another one is maybe Amelia Earhart, so she could go on and do many more future flights and help women progress in that field!
ReplyDeleteZelda Fitzgerald immediately came to mind! When she wrote her one and only novel, Save Me The Waltz, her husband, F Scott Fitzergald (ha yeah), read it before its publication and found far too many similarities to one of his own and forced her to change it. She was also said to have never enjoyed married life much and refused to be domesticated - as they had a plethora of maids and other helpers, so it'd be fascinating to see their marriage explored and Zelda's spunk retold!
ReplyDeleteAre you sure y'all ain't gods? ;-)
What if Henry V hadn't died when his son was only 6 months old? What would his lonely Queen's life been like if her husband had lived? Would the second half of the Wars of the Roses happened? Would Henry VI have led a less tragic and misunderstood life?
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to read what you wonderful ladies come up with!
What if Henry V hadn't died when his son was only 6 months old? What would his lonely Queen's life been like if her husband had lived? Would the second half of the Wars of the Roses happened? Would Henry VI have led a less tragic and misunderstood life?
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to read what you wonderful ladies come up with!
Anne Boleyn. I don't think she deserved to have her head cut off either. Now Henry VIII on the other hand would have probably been a much better man if he hadn't have married his brother's widow.
ReplyDeleteI wish Mary Queen of Scots and Francis II could get their happy ending!!
ReplyDeleteI think she has many amazing stories, but I've always been fascinated by Queen Victoria. I love the fact that she stood up to her bullies and became a respected queen, and also the way she loved Albert without her love being truly returned (until late in their marriage).
ReplyDeleteFun giveaway - and thanks for the chance to win! Cannot wait to read this one. :)