I am delighted to be a part of Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway’s virtual book tour for George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat, and share with you our recent interview.
Be sure to leave a comment after our Q&A, for your chance to win a copy of their new book.
Conditions of Entry
For your chance to win a copy of George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat, you must be subscribed to On the Tudor Trail’s newsletter (if you are not already, sign up on our homepage).
Then simply leave a comment after this post between now and 10 June 2014. Don’t forget to leave your name and a contact email.
This giveaway is open internationally.
One winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email shortly after the competition closes. Please ensure you’ve added natalie@onthetudortrail.com to your address book to avoid missing my email.
Good luck!
20 Questions with Claire Ridgway & Clare Cherry
1. When did you realise that you wanted to be an historian?
Claire: I don’t call myself an historian, I tend to refer to myself as a writer and researcher as I’m not an academic. I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was eleven. We did a project at school which involved drawing a map of an imaginary island, making it out of papier mâché and then writing a story about it. I was so inspired that instead of just writing a page or two like everyone else, I took my story home and wrote over twenty pages. My story was published in the school magazine and my teacher took me to one side and said that one day I would be a great writer. I have never forgotten that and although I’m not involved in writing fiction at the moment, I am happy that I spend every day researching and writing.
Clare: Although I spend a lot of time reading Tudor history, including primary sources, I’m not an historian.
Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway
2. What sparked your interest in sixteenth century England?
Claire: I’ve studied the 16th century at various times in my life (junior school, A Level history, the Reformation at uni) and it’s always appealed to me. I did religion at university and loved studying the European Reformation because of all the new thinking that was sweeping through Europe and the way people reacted to these ideas and doctrines.
Henry VIII first piqued my interest at junior school when I did a project on him and his wives. I remember being shocked that he’d married six times and had two of them executed. His story was like a soap opera! Anne’s story grabbed me when I had a dream about being present at her execution. I wanted to stop it, but couldn’t, and that dream set me off researching her story.
Clare: I’ve always found Elizabeth I fascinating, and gradually that fascination extended to her father’s convoluted love life. I can’t really remember when that started, but probably in my teens.
3. Tell us about your latest book, George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat.
Claire: Our aim was to bring George out of Anne’s shadow and I think we’ve succeeded. It’s a full length biography of George and goes into detail on his background, early life, career – both at court and as a diplomat, his interests, what we know about his marriage, his relationship with his family and those around him, and his fall and execution.
Clare: I became interested in George after reading a novel about the Boleyns, and I started looking into his life. The more I found out about him the more interested I became. The book started out as a pamphlet on George’s life, but grew into a full length manuscript as I discovered there was so much more to George than I had realised. I started corresponding with Claire in late 2009, and sent her the manuscript in early 2010. Claire added to it, and it went from there. We both want to tell people about the real George Boleyn, and show that he is not the man portrayed in fiction.
4. Why is it important to study history?
Claire: To learn about the people and events that have shaped our society, and to help us understand the impact people have on the world. Plus it’s incredibly interesting!
Clare: Ideally we should be able to learn from history and ensure we don’t make the same mistakes which litter our past. Unfortunately I’m not sure we are always able to do that.
5. What three new skills would you like to learn?
Clare: I would like to learn French, learn to play the piano and be more IT literate.
Claire: To speak Spanish fluently, to be able to knit and to be able to make more hours in the day!
6. What is your favourite holiday destination?
Claire: Italy. I love the culture, the people, the art and history, the food, the wine…
Clare: Like Claire, I love Italy, but I also have a passion for India. It’s between the two and I can’t make up my mind which is my preference.
7. Name two items on your bucket list.
Claire: Travelling around Australia and seeing Machu Picchu.
Again, like Claire I want to see Machu Picchu. I’m going to Peru in November so it’s a wish come true. The second thing would be seeing George Boleyn be rehabilitated in people’s perceptions. If that happened and I felt I had contributed to that, then I’d die a happy woman!
8. How do you balance writing and family life?
Claire: In term-time, my children are at school so I work while they’re gone and while they’re doing homework. I used to work at weekends too, but I was missing out on precious family time so I will catch up on website admin when they’ve gone to bed or when they go out with their friends.
School holidays are trickier, especially the long summer one, but I’ve got into a routine of working 9-3, with a short break for lunch, then going swimming with them or playing a board game, and then doing a bit more work. They’re old enough now to go out and play with friends or amuse themselves, so it’s not as hard as it used to be. I used to feel so guilty working from home and physically being there but having to work.
Tim works from home too and we sit opposite each other, so I see plenty of him! We have started to go out for breakfast once a week so that we can leave the computers behind and talk to each other without interruptions. It’s funny how you can sit opposite each other and ignore each other apart from asking if he wants a cup of coffee!
Clare: I’m not a full-time writer.
9. Describe a day in your life when you are writing. Do you follow any rituals?
Claire: No rituals as such. Every day is a mixture of research and writing, whether it’s for The Anne Boleyn Files, a guest article or for a book. I get up, check emails and website orders etc., go for a run if it’s a running day, shower and then get down to work. Our youngest son gets home for lunch at 2pm so I take a lunch break then, which is always very welcome.
10. What does your writing space look like?
Claire : Messy! I wish that I could say that it looks neat and organised, but it doesn’t. However, it is organised because I know where everything is. My lap top is surrounded by books and documents with bookmarks and post-it notes sticking out of them, piles of papers, pens and highlighters, note books, a cup of coffee… I am positioned right by my bookcases so other books are all in reach and my bookcases are organised by topic or Tudor character, and I also have shelves and files for primary sources, so I know where things are. Organised chaos perhaps you’d call it!
11. Describe your perfect weekend.
Claire: Taking the kids to the coast and having fun on the beach, or playing board games.
Clare: Driving into the New Forest and walking with the ponies.
12. What motivates you?
Claire: In my work with The Anne Boleyn Files and my writing on the Boleyns it’s a desire to fight injustice and debunk myths. That sounds very pretentious, but when I was little I was always one of those children with a strong sense of fairness. I hated it when things weren’t fair! When I look at what happened to people like Anne and George Boleyn, that part of me cries out “it’s not fair!”, and I hate the way that some people still think that they committed incest and that Anne was a witch who deserved everything she got.
Otherwise, I’m a very driven and focused person. I have an idea and then I just get on with it until it’s turned from idea to reality. Tim and my parents would say that I was stubborn, rather than driven!
Clare: My answer mirrors Claire’s. I hate injustice, and I feel that George Boleyn has been the victim of gross injustice, both in 1536 and by the way writers have chosen to portray him over the last thirty years.
13. What is something most people don’t know about you?
Claire: My non-Tudor vices: I love bears (black, brown, grizzly, polar…), the Harry Potter books and the True Blood series.
Clare: I’m a family solicitor.
14. What are a few of the books on your TBR list?
Claire: My Kindle is packed with books I’ve downloaded and not read yet. Here are just a few of them: The Outlanders series by Diana Gabaldon, the Game of Thrones series (I haven’t read them or seen them on TV) and The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
Clare: I’ve not got through all my Christmas books yet, and I’ve also got a number I’ve downloaded and not had chance to read. The Life of Pi’s one of them.
15. Name five people you follow on Twitter.
Claire: I tend to use Facebook more, but here are some people I follow: @OntheTudorTrail of course, @Tudor_History, @HeverCastleLtd, @LeandadeLisle and @Queen_UK (not the real Queen but some very funny tweets).
Clare: I’m not on Twitter.
16. What women in history do you most admire?
Claire: Anne Boleyn (obviously!), Elizabeth I, Catherine Brandon, Mildred Cooke, Anne Askew, Mother Theresa… Lots!
Clare: I admire the women who have done incredible things for no recognition, and who don’t expect recognition. Like those women who worked at Bletchley Park during WWII and who helped break codes which saved thousands of lives. They made a massive difference but their names will never be known.
17. Are you currently working on any new books?
Claire: Yes, I am working on The Fall of Catherine Howard: A Countdown which will be the same format as the one I did on Anne, i.e. a day-by-day account of Catherine’s fall.
Clare: No, I work full time so it’s difficult to get the time to write. Claire and I have discussed a project on the Seymour brothers, but unless and until I retire I can’t see me writing any more books!
18. Do you have a favourite quote?
Claire: I have two and I cannot choose between them, sorry!
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7, The Bible.
Clare: “Beware the fury of a patient man”, from Hardy’s ‘Return of the Native’. I think it’s highly perceptive.
19. What do you like to do outside of writing?
Claire: Spending time with Tim and our three children, going for a run, and reading. I’m a complete bookworm.
Clare: I love reading and cooking.
20. What is the best advice you’ve been given?
Claire: It was something I read: “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” It’s easy to waste time worrying about the past and the future, but we need to make the most of today. I have a close friend who’s battling cancer and it’s made me realise just how precious life is.
Clare: Never take anything for granted and never assume anything.
Follow the rest of Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway’s Virtual Book Tour:
Wednesday 4 June – The Tudor Cafe for a Q&A session.
Thursday 5 June – TudorHistory.org, where we share our favourite primary sources.
Friday 6 June – The Tudor Roses, where we share an extract from our book about George’s love of falconry.
Saturday 7 June – Gareth Russell’s Confessions of a Ci-devant, where we look at George Boleyn’s scaffold speech.
I would love to win a copy of this book, George Boleyn is a egnima in some ways as his story is always told along side his sisters and his was as interesting, if not more so. Fingers crossed I’m lucky 🙂
My name is Charlie Fenton, I love the tudor times and specifically the Boleyn family, there are books on Anne and Mary but this is the first (that I know of) on George. I’d love to read it and find out more about him as the way they show him in things like The Tudors and The Other Boleyn Girl always make him a bad person, someone that either raped his wife or slept with his sister (which we know has to be wrong anyway). Need to read about the real George 🙂 my email is char.fent@gmail.com
I’d love to read about George Boleyn because there is so little known about him. There is plenty known about Anne and a little about Mary, but George is a complete enigma!
I’ve studied Anne Boleyn several years now here in Finland and made my thesis about her. All Boleyn family interests me. I want this book!
My name is Amy, I am fascinated with The Tudors. My favourite Queen of Henry VIII’s wives is Anne Boleyn + her family, I have studied the Tudors e.g. from Henry VII to Elizabeth I since I was 10 years old (which is when I fell in love with Anne Boleyn and her life) and I have recently wanted to study a wider range of History surrounding The Tudors past and present. Seeing this new book on George Boleyn has taken all my attention and would help me delve into the life of Anne’s family. This is the first book I have seen on George and will give me a chance to see life from his point of view as apposed to the women (Mary + Anne). I have always wanted to be a Historian as well and this would add nicely to my Tudor collection which I can study more and more on 😀
Hi there! My name is Joy Eckhoff.In the last few years I have become obssessed with everything Tudor.My email is canadianjade@outlook.com.
I usually don’t have any luck with random contests but thought I’d give this a go cause I would love to read this book 🙂
I would love to learn more about Anne Boleyn’s brother. Thanks for the giveaway! Raquel36m (at) gmail (dot) com
Like Claire, I have always had an intense sense of fairness. I think it is one of the reasons that Anne and George Boleyn have fascinated me. I want to learn more about George’s life and his relationship with his parents, sisters, and his wife.
I really want to win a copy of this book! I can’t wait to read it. I have read so much about Anne Boleyn but very little on George. Thank you for this opportunity!!
Shellie
I would love to hear more about George Boleyn!
I would lovw to win 🙂 never have before. I tried for the anne boleyne remembrance which was supwr fun! Love love love tudor history. Ive always secretly wanted to move to the country have cows and chickens amd worn those gowns and walk around my farm 😉 even my hubby thinks im crazy
From a distance of 500 years we find all this so fascinating but there are so many things I find incredible and books such as this are so helpful in making the people real and not just historical figures. Thank you for al your hard work!
I would also like to learn more about George, especially since we have learned at lot about Henry VIII’s court since Bapst’s book was written (BTW thank you for getting that translated, Claire)
Sorry, but I forgot to leave my full name: Esther Sorkin
I have been fascinated by the Tudor dynasty for as long as I can remember. I have always thought that Anne and George were treated unfairly.
George Boleyn was an extraordinary man and he deserved a biography. Thank you Claire and Clare for investigating his life!
I know so little about George so would love to win this book xxxx
I am an avid Tudors fan, I live and breathe Tudor history, I would love to have a copy of this book to learn more about George Boleyn since all of the books are usually about the King or Queen’s. I love this site as well 🙂 Thanks!
I never would have thought George Boleyn would be as fascinating as he is…Its about to someone dispelled the myths created by fiction.
Would love to have one more piece of the royal history, namely your book on George! Thanks for the chance!
this sounds like a great book.
I can’t wait to read the book. It is already on my summer reading list! I too fell he has been unjustly treated by people in both his own time and ours. I am curious as to whether or not there is a chapter on his marriage to Jane. She is someone else I feel got a raw deal in history.
I am very appreciative of those who research historical documents to attempt to bring to light people from history we really know very little about.
From all your book excerpts, that I have read, I think the authors will achieve their goal of seeing George Boleyn be rehabilitated in people’s perceptions. This sounds like a fantastic book.
What an intriguing read this will be! I have been very interested in the stories of this era, it was Mary and Anne Boleyn who initially drew me in through “The Other Boleyn Girl”. I have really loved working out the family tree and the intimacy between characters throughout the “Cousins War” and it would be wonderful to see a different perspective of the men involved in the Court.
I am very interested in the Tudor times, but it is hard to get books about it in my local bookstores. George Boleyn has always seem to be overshadowed by his sisters, and it would be interesting to get to know more about him 🙂
With all that time, effort and research you have both put into this book there is no doubt that you will have definitely brought George out of Anne’s ‘shadow’, very well done. If I don’t win, I will be buying this book, and will look forward to the one on Catherine Howard….we are so spoiled with all these wonderful books to read 🙂
Thank you for having us!
I’d love to win this book about George Boleyn! I’ve always been so fasincated by his and Anne’s relationship and what they went through together. I feel he was a great and supporting brother to her and its ashame that their names have been blackened by such horrible lies. I’m looking forward to learning more George, himself, and all of his accomplishments. People need to know who he really is! I also agree with Claire and Clare. History really is amazing and we can see how others have paved our way for us to now and we can learn from it.
I have been looking forward to this book for sometime now.I would be absolutely thrilled if I could win it!!Thanks for the chance!
For authors who don’t consider themselves historians, your work is very impressive! What a great interview! I particularly like Clare’s quote …it makes you wonder and worry!
I am curious as to why the tower/apartments that housed Anne Boleyn before her coronoation and during her imprisonment were left to ruin but all the other towers were maintained and still stand.
would absolutely love to read and learn more about George Boleyn.
I am looking forward to the new book on George. I love the underdog as well and always want to know more when it comes to the Tudor dynasty. I have always loved and respecte Anne bolyns courage to be a catalyst for change.
Thanks for the offer of a free book . . . would be great to read about George and his relationships and troubles.
So little is written about George and this will be a fascinating read. Well done Claire and Clare for bringing his story out of the darkest corners of history.
Would love to read about George many things have been said about him but no full story like in this book the Boelyn family facinate me
This is such a wonderful book 😀
Poor George. Married to a dreadful woman and so misunderstood when it came to him and Anne. Having portrayed Elizabeth for well over two decades, the Boleyn’s are dear to my heart. Crossing my fingers that I win this book! ????
Loving the tour, thanks to everyone!
Fascinating stuff. Can’t wait to learn more!
Cheers.
I’m really enjoying the tour and all the different perspectives on this fascinating time in history. Thanks everyone, and that includes the commenters too!
Not only would I love to read this book, i loved reading about the authors! I really enjoy getting a “peak” at the minds behind books, especially historical ones! Thank you, ladies:)
I love all about the Tudor, and have the compleatr serie
I cannot wait to read more about George Boleyn and I know these two ladies will do him justice.
Shannon Leigh
mosthappyreader (at) gmail (dot) com