I announced recently on social media that I was working on a book. Last night I finished the first draft of The Lazy Historian’s Guide to the Wives of Henry VIII, my first non-fiction book. (I already have three novels under my belt, the first of which was shortlisted for the Prince Edward Island Book Award.)

You might be thinking, “Does the world need another book about the wives of Henry VIII?” It’s a fair question. There are a lot of books on this topic already but I think mine will make a nice addition to the existing library of options.

I’ve read a lot of biographies of historical figures. And I’ve been reading about Henry VIII and his wives since I was in the eighth grade. A lot of non-fiction history books are written by academics who write in a very academic style. These books are usually so thick that they intimidate a lot of potential readers. I wanted to write a casually-written, short book that will work as a primer for people wanting to dip their toe into Tudor history without drowning.

In many cases, biographies of the wives tend to focus more on what the men around them were doing versus the woman herself. I aimed to avoid that and focus on events relating to the wives specifically. I also formatted the book so it’s easy to skim from one topic to another and I wrote each chapter on each wife, repeating some details in case the reader skipped a chapter.

My book still needs a lot of love but I’m hoping to see it published sometime in the spring. Make sure to sign up for the e-newsletter if you want details about when it launches!