The surprisingly true tale of how my picture almost wound up in a castle in Wales. Yep. You heard that right. I’m famous. Or almost was. While I was in the hospital, I received quite an interesting email. Came all the way from Wales. Apparently, a certain picture I took a while back of one of my characters made quite the circuit of the web, until the man who contacted me stumbled upon it while scouting for images to represent a princess of Wales from the twelfth century, Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd. So, he contacted me to verify that the image was mine and request my permission to use it in an introductory panel in a castle in Wales. 
(The photo in question) My first thought: The costume isn’t historically accurate! How could they use it? My second thought: If they don’t care, I don’t! Sadly, being woefully ignorant of Welsh history, I had never before heard of Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd. So I decided to do a little bit of research and was completely fascinated by what I discovered—hooray for Wikipedia! Gwenllian lived from 1097-1136, during one of the many conflicts between the Welsh and the Normans. She married Gruffydd ap Rhys, a prince of Wales, and joined him in leading daring raids against the Normans. Matters came to a head while Gruffydd was away on an alliance forming mission, so Gwenllian mustered the army and marched into battle herself. Only to be defeated near Kidwelly Castle and beheaded by her enemies. A tragic end to the tale. But her example was an inspiration to the Welsh in their struggle against the Normans, and her name became a common battle cry throughout the conflict. Fascinating, isn’t it? Check out Wikipedia’s article on Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd to find out more! Research completed, I weight the pros and cons. I was amazed at the similarities between Gwenllian and the character in my novel that I had been depicting. Not only that, but her name is practically the same as mine! And who could say no to having their picture in a castle in Wales? Pros won. Cons lost. So I said yes. And immediately began planning ways to scrimp and save so I could eventually take a trip to Wales to visit the castle and research Gwenllian and walk the battlefield where she fought and died. Only to get another email a few days later that regretfully informed me that they had run the image past a historian who rejected the photograph on the basis that the costume wasn’t historically accurate. Ah well. Should have listened to my first thought. So there you have it. The fascinating tale of how my picture almost wound up inside a castle in Wales … and the even more fascinating tale of a princess of Wales who fought alongside her husband for the defense of her people. I still intend to find out more about Gwenllian. Amazing character inspiration right there!
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Wow that's so cool! It's too bad that your picture didn't end up in a castle, but now you have a great story to tell, and learned some fascinating bits of history that you wouldn't have learned otherwise.
I know! It does make for an interesting conversation starter, doesn't it? And I'm curious to learn more about Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd. She sounds like great inspiration for my character!
That is super cool that they even considered you though. :)
I love history, thanks for the story.
I love history too! I spent most of my childhood studying Scottish history, but it sounds like I should have spent a little time studying Welsh history too.
So amazing!!
That is so cool! Too bad you didn't get in, but still- awesome!
Aw, rats. But that still is an amazing story! (And the picture is absolutely cool!)
I'm still kind of blown away by the whole thing. I thought it was a joke at first! That's not exactly the sort of email I normally find in my inbox…
Woww. It's still, like, the coolest picture ever taken! XD I love your photos in costume!!
Why thankee kindly! I feel like a little kid playing "dress up" but putting on a costume and stepping into character is so much fun! I hope to be able to get back to my "characters in costume" posts soon! :)
Wow! Funny how that all worked out!
Isn't it? The whole thing was rather insanely crazy.
Wow! That is totally cool! How many people even get asked if they are okay with their picture being in a castle in Wales?!?! I love your picture! Where do you get so many great costumes?
I absolutely love costumes and theater, and I've put together a couple of play, so I've been stashing costumes up for a while now. It comes in handy!
That's awesome! How did the man find your picture?
This picture has kinda made the rounds of the internet since I first posted it. It's been pinned to a bunch of different fantasy boards, so I imagine it just came up on his image search.
Ah, how very cool!! What a great story … even though it didn't work out, it's a great one for the archives! ;)
Now THAT is an awesome true story…
That is awesome! What a cool story! Too bad they didn't use your picture.
I think your photo is great. I am a descendent of Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd. She is my 25th great grand aunt. I am always looking for more info on her.