Thank you so much to everyone who took the time and effort to enter our “To Die For” article competition, we had 32 entries in all!
As usual, the judges had a really hard time choosing an overall winner and four runners-up because all of the entries were of a high standard, and I’m not just saying that! Everyone deserves a big round of applause – clap, clap, clap – and a pat on the back. Well done!
The overall winner is Nancy Smith whose article “Lady Jane and Me” really touched the judges. Nancy really expressed why Lady Jane Grey was important to her personally, as well as giving information about her life. Well done, Nancy, I’ll be in touch with you regarding your $50 Anne Boleyn Files coupon and “To Die For” book.
There were also four runners-up who all win copies of Sandra Byrd’s “To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn”, which is a wonderful novel, so I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it. The runners-up are:-
- Lana Norris – Sir Henry Norris
- Linda M. Hart – Sir Thomas Cromwell
- Libby Schofield – Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder: The Unfinished Story
- Arielle Kaplan – Katherine Howard
Please can winners email their addresses to me at claire@theanneboleynfiles.com – thanks!
Dear Claire & Judges:
Thank you, thank you and thank you! I am honored that you selected me as a runner-up and to receive a copy of “To Die For”. Congratulations to Nancy Smith for her very moving article on Lady Jane Grey, Lana Norris for hers on Sir Henry Norris, Libby Schoenfield for Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder and Arielle Kaplan for Katherine Howard.
I cannot wait to read the book and will treasure it always.
Thank you.
Linda
Congratulations to you too, Linda, and all the winners! Thank you to everyone who had a part in this competition! I am looking forward to reading “To Die For”!
I’ve been following the AB Files for awhile now,but never really participated in the community aspect of it; thank you for getting me involved! 🙂
-Libby Schofield
I would like to take a moment to echo Linda’s comment– thank you so much for the honor of being selected as a runner up. It means so much to me that my essay is worth including with the other fabulous pieces by Nancy, Linda, Lana, and Libby.
Thank you again, and I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing.
Best,
Arielle
Claire,
Sorry I’m so late to the party! A day of kid’s volleyball, football and parent meetings are so far removed from the 16th century where I prefer to spend my spare time! I was very excited this morning to wake up and see that ya’ll liked my treatment of Sir Henry…I loved the chance to explore other players in the drama. In my research a picture of Norris began to emerge that really got to me. I have a soft spot for kind-hearted, courteous gentlemen with good manners that spring from a good heart. Born and raised in the South, I have been surrounded by men like that my whole life. I wanted to help him clear his name! Being misunderstood is so frustrating!
Congratulations to the other “L-Girls”, Linda and Libby, and also to Arielle and especially to Nancy. Have read all ya’ll’s work and it rocks! (My kid’s influence!) Am honored to be included in such scholarly company. Thanks to you, Claire and to the Judges for being willing to suspend normal life to read so many entries in such a short span of time. This is such a cool group of women and I am proud to be a part of you. Wish Anne were here.
Lana
is thought to have been around the King’s age, I sensed an old-fashioned nostalgia in Norris that I attributed to his being older than the other men in his circle.
Congratulations to all the winners and all participants as well!!!
There are some similar comments by someone on TheTudorTrail who is confused by Weir’s woolly deductions.
http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2011/07/19/the-other-boleyn-boy%e2%80%a6-did-a-fourth-boleyn-sibling-survive-to-maturity/
Yes, I saw that one and actually put a link to it at the bottom of this article. I had a few emails from people who read that article a few weeks ago and couldn’t understand what Alison Weir was on about and that got me started on all of this, that’s when I first contacted Alison Weir.
I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind comments, and compliment everybody who entered the competition for their great articles! I’m honored that my article was chosen as the overall winner – all of the articles that I read were of an extremely high standard. This honor really gives my self-esteem a boost! Thanks, too to Claire and Sandra Byrd for sponsoring this competition.
I forgot to mention that I’m really looking forward to receiving and reading my copy of the book – I’m going to England (again!) on September 23rd for 16 days, and I’m sure it will be great reading material for the long plane journey!
One more thing – sorry for the typos. I was rushing to get the article finished in time and I didn’t have time to proof it (obviously, I should have!). The most glaring typo that I found was the date of Richard Davey’s book – it was written in 1909, not 1090!