Look what arrived in my mail today!  A few months ago, my multi-talented friend and fellow writer Ros, who blogs at Conversational Theology, did a Facebook meme offering a personal handmade gift to the first 5 people who commented.  Knowing her skills at all things crafty, I jumped at the offer — and am glad I did, after opening the package!  Enclosed were these two Moleskin notebooks — one lined, one unlined — which she personalized for me (in my favorite color) with prettied-up covers, fabric endpapers, pockets, and even handwritten quotes about writing tucked inside the pages.  

Among the quotes:

“However great a man’s natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once.” —Jean Jacques Rousseau

“To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself.”  —Anne Rice

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” —Samuel Johnson

“Don’t get it right, just get it written!” —James Thurber

Also inside was a note written on this beautiful notecard, from the Bodleian Library at Oxford (where she has studied), featuring Victorian children’s books.  How perfect!

Thanks, Ros, for such a thoughtful and personal gift.  Just the thing to inspire me to do a bit of writing as I head into the weekend!

I’ve previously mentioned here my husband’s latest book, Katherine Parr: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Reformation Queen.  We’ve both been long interested in this fascinating woman, so there was no question that she would be among the major figures we featured in our third History Lives book, Courage and Conviction (she and her famous husband even appear on the cover).  I was thrilled when my husband decided to do a whole book on her, and especially that he included the two books she wrote, letting her speak for herself.  

But I’ve said all this before.  So what’s the news?  

Well, last Friday Brandon did a radio interview with a network out of Chicago and got to talk about some of the reasons people today are still so interested in her life.  (Unfortunately, the interviewer had not read the book, so some of the more fascinating questions I had hoped for never got asked—but if you pay attention to the key things Brandon mentions, you’ll get a sense for all the real-life drama she experienced, including political intrigue, sexual betrayal, and religious revolution!)  You can listen to the interview online via a link at Brandon’s website.

And there’s a second and related bit of news.  Because of our interest in Queen Katherine, we started watching (and were immediately hooked on) the Showtime series The Tudors.  We—along with a lot of other fans—have been waiting anxiously to find out who would be cast to play Katherine in the fourth and final season of the show.  And that news broke just last night.  Brandon wrote about it on his blog this morning; you can read it at the same link above.  I haven’t decided what I think about the choice yet, but it continues to prove interesting. I always enjoy seeing various artistic portrayals of historical figures, comparing which aspects and interpretations the artists have chosen to emphasize.  Brandon and I both will certainly be talking more about it when the final season airs.

Anyway, I hope you’ll read the book and listen to the interview—and leave some questions for Brandon on his website!  He’d love to hear from you, and I can attest that he really knows a lot about Katherine and the time in which she lived.

high and low
here and there
God is every were [sic]

by Eilidh Christiana, age 8, niece, penpal, budding scientist, and exchanger of poetry (original and found)