First, an explanation of my profile name: Aethelflaed was an English queen, also known as Lady of the Mercians, long before England unified under one crown. She married one of her father's allies and proved herself to be an expert military strategist and warrior. There is plenty of speculation as to her relationship with her husband, Aethelred of Mercia, especially considering that they had one child, a daughter. The birth of this daughter almost killed Aethelflaed, according to some sources. Though it was a daughter, Aethelflaed's brother, king of Wessex, must have seen her as a legitimate ruler due to the efforts he took to remove her from power after the death of Aethelflaed. The exact details of this woman's life are part of my continuous historical study. There are many records and many areas of speculation and many often contradictory explanations, as is often the case with any sort of historical scholarship. One thing all sources and historians agree upon is that Aethelflaed was a truly remarkable woman, gaining respect from those who would often sneer at kings. I was introduced to this woman's existence when I read "The Edge on the Sword" by Rebecca Tingle when I was in high school and I could not get her out of my mind for years. When I was taking a class on early Medieval History in college I decided to make her the subject of a research paper. While my historic studies have strayed from studying Europe, this woman has fascinated me for over a decade of my life.

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About me:

I have a degree in History and hope to pursue graduate school. I love the creative exploration that fan fiction allows because it acts as a starting point for many who have amazing creative talent. I often find that as my fan fiction develops it becomes a story independent of the original inspiration.

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My philosophy about writing:

The only way to get better at writing is to sit down and do it.Seriously, too many people get overwhelmed by all the advice out there and so they try to do the equivalent of running a triathlon or tough mudder before they have even walked a mile, so to speak.I used to write fan fiction but right now I co-writing an independent work (still in the rough draft stage)I am a teacher by profession and I would love to act as a beta as soon as I qualify. Editing work and helping others hone their ideas is what I do, literally.No matter how bad you are, just think about the kind of stuff that has been published (seriously...) and then think that everyone had to start somewhere.