Sunday, March 14, 2021

Backstabbers and Betrayals: Beware the Ides of March!



This week at the SFF Seven, we're asking for our most dastardly characters or favorite backstabbers. 

One of my favorite backstabbers is a subject of some historical controversy: Bess Throckmorton. She was one of Queen Elizabeth I's ladies in waiting - and her sometime favorite. Until Bess fell in love with and Married Sir Walter Raleigh, who the queen also loved. At least, that's how the story goes in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and that's the version that inspired aspects of my Forgotten Empires trilogy.

I loved how this dynamic was portrayed in the movie - and I particularly felt for Elizabeth and her heartbreak, though I think we're supposed to sympathize with Bess. Elizabeth, though, loses the illusion that Raleigh might love her for herself and she loses her belief in Bess's friendship. 

I based the dynamic between Lia, the Queen of Calanthe, and her favorite lady-in-waiting, Tertulyn, on Elizabeth and Bess. But I told it my way and changed up the details. Still, it was super fun to write my own backstabber story!

Also, you can preorder book #3, THE PROMISED QUEEN!