King Richard III was the reason I became an author. After reading Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time in my early 20s, Richard became a bit of an obsession. Well into my 50s, after developing some writing skills as a newspaper editor, I decided to attempt a novel about who I thought the real Richard was. It was a labor of love and was published as A Rose for the Crown by Touchstone at Simon & Schuster. 

Richard is either a minor character or is made mention of in all of my books. From that first book where I looked at him through the eyes of a young woman who loved him, to my newest, Royal Mistress, Richard went from being a protagonist to an antagonist as I was forced to look at his actions from other people’s point of view.

So when the discovery of a skeleton beneath a car park in Leicester was made and the bones thought to be those of my favorite king, I was very excited. Richard is the only crowned king of England whose grave has never been found. The news has rekindled interest in the man, and Ricardians throughout the world, and there are thousands of us excited to learn the  results of the  DNA testing!

You can read more by going to these links:

• BBC news:  DNA confirms Richard III is found
• New York Times: Bones under parking lot belonged to Richard III
• Facial reconstruction:  How Richard may have appeared, as reported by BBC

This is a wonderful compilation of all things Richard III, including A ROSE FOR THE CROWN:  Royalist.Info

On February 4, 2013, the day it was announced Richard III's remains had been identified, I was pleased to be interviewed for Public Radio International's "The World".   In the  7  minute segment below, I am interviewed from approximately minutes 3 - 7: