THIS IS CRISTIN TERRILL

if you need me i’ll be lying on the floor groaning

→   Requested by anon

Stood in Edinburgh Castle today, in the room where she gave birth to James, and wished for a YA where she and Elizabeth are uneasy allies, despite their quarrels over borders and faith.

(the bad guys are Old White Dudes, obviously. neither Mary nor Elizabeth has to target the other in order to consolidate power.)

What makes it so sad is that there was a brief time when this was the case and it could have stayed that way if a few things had gone differently. Elizabeth wrote to Mary to try to help her as she saw Mary slipping into the same trap she had narrowly avoided herself (Mary married her husband’s probable murderer Lord Bothwell while Elizabeth wanted to marry Robert Dudley but didn’t in part because he was suspected of murdering his wife so he could be with her). Elizabeth felt a real kinship with and sympathy for Mary as everything went to hell after she got with Bothwell, and when Mary fled for her life, she fled right to Elizabeth because of that fragile kind of trust that was building between them. 

But, of course, the old white men eventually interfered and ruined everything and any sisterhood Elizabeth and Mary might have established died away as they began plotting against each other again. But I do suspect the reason that Elizabeth never met Mary in person is because she and/or her counselors knew there was a big chance she wouldn’t be able to be as calculating about Mary’s fate as she’d have to be if she did meet her and that sympathy was able to take root. 

We still have spots available on our fall retreat!

With an intimate group of fellow writers, you’ll learn craft tips and publishing secrets from bestselling authors Carrie Ryan and Shannon Messenger in a series of workshops and meet with each author one-on-one for a personal critique of your manuscript. With our private chef providing every meal, the rest of your time will be spent getting some serious writing done, bonding with your fellow writers, or relaxing in the hot tub or movie room of our amenity-packed retreat house. 

Visit out website to learn more and register! 

I’ll be helping out on this retreat, and I’m so excited about it! I think I’m going to learn a lot from Carrie and Shannon and I KNOW I’m gonna have a lot of fun. 

ngl this has probably been my favorite headline of today

When I went to see GREAT COMET I found myself constantly staring at this member of the ensemble, not only because she was great, but because there was something weirdly familiar about her, and it wasn’t until intermission that I realized she was Lauren, the cute little midwestern teenager from LEGALLY BLONDE: THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT ELLE WOODS, aka the silliest and greatest reality competition show of our time. 

Top left is my old college theatre friend Anna! You better believe I screamed like a crazy person when she appeared on my TV screen. 

English is weeeeeeeeird

Rian Johnson, director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, claps back.