About The Author

Elizabeth Howatt Jackman

Elizabeth Howatt Jackman did not set out to become a historical novelist. She started in investment banking, moved into film production, and seemed content working behind the scenes on other people’s projects. She line produced The Incurable Romantic, produced the successful Hating Alison Ashley, and worked on Prey, a small candy horror film. While managing film financing and editing scripts for other writers, something shifted. She realized she wanted to tell her own stories again, stories she actually cared about rather than just helping others bring theirs to life.

King Richard III became that story. Elizabeth had always been interested in history, but Richard’s case bothered her. For 500 years, he has been remembered as a villain, a hunchbacked killer who murdered his way to the throne, including his wife Anne and his two young nephews. Shakespeare cemented that image, but Shakespeare was writing propaganda for the Tudors who had taken Richard’s crown. Criticizing Richard kept Shakespeare safe and the Tudor dynasty legitimate. Elizabeth started digging into historical records that surfaced after Shakespeare’s time.

The more she read, the more she found a different man: someone honorable, brave, trying to rule fairly in an era of constant betrayal and violence. She wrote two scripts about Richard before realizing the story was too big for film. It needed novels. But Elizabeth made herself a rule: no inventing facts to add drama. Richard’s actual life provided enough conflict, love, political intrigue, and tragedy without her needing to embellish like Shakespeare did.

‘Between Love and Loyalty,’ her first novel, focuses on Richard’s relationship with Anne Neville. It is a love story set during war, showing how two people tried to build something real while alliances shifted and enemies closed in. ‘Monarch,’ her second book, covers Richard’s controversial reign. It shows the politics, the betrayals, the battles, and ultimately one of England’s worst injustices as Richard fought the former Queen who spent every moment trying to destroy him so she could control England through her young son.

about the team

Fact Checkers

Steeped in Ricardian lore, Rocco and Louie were present for the entire research phase and contributed tirelessly to historical accuracy-when they weren’t napping on primary sources.

Rocco

Louie

Desk Monitors

Responsible for ensuring the author didn’t exceed her screen-time allowance. Regular enforced breaks (usually involving snacks or beverages) were strictly observed.