I have a poll

Look at the shiny poll. If you want me to do more articles, vote on it.

Here's a preview sketch of Edward IV to bribe you.

Quick Updates: Guess what today is? *evil grin*

It's the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth Field! And I didn't know it until I checked Twitter! And that's a sad say for me... And I forgot to wear my Richard III shoes. I have a slight obsession, if you haven't noticed. So happy Richmond Day to you all. I've gotta go to rehersals.

Bloody Mary Sue reads...IVANHOE: Part 1-ish

Sorry for the um...not so frequent updates. I was trying to work on something about Tudor history books, but instead, another topic has captured my attention.

Ivanhoe.

I picked up Ivanhoe while looking for the Hobbit at the library. I've always been meaning to read it for some odd reason or another and there it was, only checked out three times in the past five or six years. I know I was supposed to do some Holinshed, but frankly, I don't think I could entertain you.

So Ivanhoe. We start out with some pretty descriptions of England in the 12th century, which is nice. However, I grow to resent it after three pages. I kind of want to skip it, but I can't without a certain amount of guilt say I've read Ivanhoe and not read the first pages. There are a lot of descriptions in here. Boy, are there a lot of descriptions. Descriptions. Descriptions. Clothes. Franklins. There's something about the Normans and the Saxons that you probably don't need to know except the Normans are French and everybody speaks French because the Normans pwnd the Saxons.
Oh. And clothes.
There's these guys. They're the first human contact we've had. Their names are Gurth and Wamba and already I'm entertained. It's partly the names, partly the fact that the description is over for now. Because it comes back a paragraph later. Did I mention how much description there is? Because there's a lot. And it's about clothes again. Gurth and Wamba stop to insult a swine-herd for no discernable reason (I'm not kidding). Gurth calls his wolf, Fangs. I'm getting slightly more interested.
So then a priest, a Templar, and a parson are riding through the woods, this is starting to sound like the beginning of a bad joke, and the chapter ends there.

Thoughts: There better not be more description. If I have to hear one more word about someone's pants, I'm going to kill someone. But keept the ridiculous names and wolf-calling coming. I'm okay with that.

NaNoWriMo is eating my soul and it isn't even November

For those of you who weren't led here by my absolutely glorious hyperlinking from my NaNoWiMo forum sig, I have been a devout NaNoer for two years since I was dragged to my local library for a kickoff in 2009.
You think I'd be more familiar with writing historical fiction, being to author of a blog such as this. Alas, my only attempt came in 4th grade with a wildly inaccurate story about an Italian monarchy in unspecified-time-period-that-looks-a-bit-like-the-ealry-1800s-if-you-squint. It was about an assassin and a princess and I haven't looked back since. (Seeing as I didn't and still don't know much about post-renaissance Italy, the reasoning behind this adventure still baffles me)
I decided I'd tackle some more...familiar territory in 2011. Medieval England should be easy, I fatally thought as I decided to update my novel info page. This year, it's "Mockery King of Snow", a novel about the imprisonment of Richard II. I have 50,000 words to write about this.

Damn.

SO. I have sequestered myself to my brand-spankin'-new favorites folder with the articles about him I scavanged from endless nights stalking around Google and the piles of books about the Medieval world strewn about my house.
Also: PLOTTING. Which has, in the past, been a notoriously dirty word. I never plot until I have to, a habit I have to break soon or I'll never get this done. So far, the plotting I've managed could maybe take up the first...sixth of the novel.
This should be easier with an established historical figure. But here I am, mapping out his relationship with his father until my brain is dripping out my ears (lovely visual there). Not to mention the fact that Half Price only had ONE. BOOK. ABOUT RICHARD II. Wedged between more books about the Tudors than I could ever read. I need to make a post about that...hmm.
But I've got until November. Then I'm dead. For now, I need to get through the Grapes of Wrath. (It helps if you imagine everyone with Irish accents).

I swear I'm going to do webcomics eventually

I'm just an extremely easily distracted person, ya know? I have a bunch of scripts for things lying around and some odd sketches (including a request for Richard II I did for my bored friend once that may never see the light of day), but maybe I'll leave you with some of the character designs I've been working on. I admit, I was originally going to do a graphic novel of Holinshed, but then I read the thing and realized it would probably be more trouble than it's worth. So instead, I'm doing a side project with Shakespeare's histories.

Yes, I know they're blue. These are just blue prints *rimshot* for actual drawings. Today, I'll leave you with graphic novel Richard III. I personally refer to this particular picture as 'white beardless Jafar'. You'll see why.

See why?

So I got a Twitter

I know I haven't got many readers yet, but if you want to keep up on the details of my bloggers block, my attempts at NaNoWriMo, or some snarky nerdiness, you can follow @BloodyMarySue on Twitter and let the geeky fun begin. I've finally moved out of the 14th century and succumbed to Twitter. Edward the Confessor save us all.