Kathleen McGowan – Exploring the Legends of the Divine Feminine
I didn’t set out to write about Anne Boleyn at all. And had I approached the subject from the point of view of every other historical novelist – using the work of Tudor historians solely as my base of information – I would have never considered it. Nor would I have discovered this powerful and magnificent personality, this “secret Anne” who Henry VIII fell madly and hopelessly in love with, the Anne who inspired him to change the world.
I resisted the growing desire to write about Anne for a long time. Yet none of the existing books or websites, film or television portrayals, showed the Anne Boleyn that I was coming to know. None of them told the poignant, tragic tale of a great love gone terribly wrong or of a woman devoutly committed to creating a spiritual revolution in Europe.
Anne would not leave me alone, and these elements of her story seized my imagination and spurred my research, sending me on an amazing journey across Europe to find the real woman behind the legend. What I found was stunning and completely unexpected. The connections between Anne Boleyn and the most powerful and influential families in Europe, including the Medici, Hapsburgs and Valois, were many – and enduring.
Anne’s true story was screaming to be heard, and I could not ignore it any longer. I vowed to tell it and to stop at nothing until I had accomplished that goal. As part of my quest to defend Anne’s name and share the discoveries of my extraordinary research along this path, I acquired the web domain www.AnneBoleyn.com. I will support this book, The Boleyn Heresy, with what will be the ultimate and definitive website on Anne Boleyn’s life and accomplishments. The debut of this website will occur in the Spring of 2013.
The Ballad of Tam Lin
I forbid you maidens all who wear gold in your hair to travel to Carterhaugh for young Tam Lin is there Scotland, 1323 When 18-year-old Janet Douglas is given Carterhaugh Forest and its surrounding property as a gift from her father, she is thrilled to become the guardian of such an ancient and sacred place. But Janet soon finds that she has an otherworldly rival for her role as protector of Carterhaugh. An elfin knight by the strange name of Tam Lin haunts her forest, and extracts a heavy price from any unwary maiden who might wander there and cut the legendary roses. After her best friend returns from a terrifying encounter with Tam Lin, brave Janet sets out to confront the mysterious and malevolent knight. She cuts the sacred roses to goad him into appearing, but soon finds herself ensnared by the laws of the fairy kingdom. Her transgression is such that Tam Lin demands the ultimate penalty from a noble maiden: her virginity.
