Jillian Laine: On Writing Revisionist History
In this interview, author Jillian Laine discusses how a film reference helped inspire her new historical fantasy, Henry Tudor Must Die.
Jillian Laine is an author and journalist. She has written multiple children’s books and has worked as an acquisitions editor, book festival director, and literary award judge. She and her husband live with their pride of cats in the Great Lakes State. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
In this interview, Jillian discusses how a film reference helped inspire her new historical fantasy, Henry Tudor Must Die, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Jillian Laine
Literary agent: Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, McIntosh & Otis
Book title: Henry Tudor Must Die
Publisher: U.S. Berkley (Penguin Random House) / U.K. Penguin Michael Joseph
Release date: U.S. July 21, 2026 / UK July 23, 2026
Genre/category: Historical Fantasy
Previous titles: Five books with Sesame Workshop under the name Lillian Jaine (I Love You Just Like This, All Tucked In on Sesame Street, Just One You, Happy Halloween!, and Twas the Night Before Christmas on Sesame Street)
Elevator pitch: After Anne Boleyn uses her magic to escape the gallows, she teams up with Catherine of Aragon and several of Henry VIII’s other wives to get revenge on the men who have wronged them.
What prompted you to write this book?
One night, after reading an article on the Tudors, I turned to my husband and said, “Henry VIII didn’t get what he deserved.” My husband nodded and replied, “It’s too bad we can’t Inglourious Basterds him,” in reference to the Quentin Tarantino film. And there it was—the spark of the idea for a book where Henry got his comeuppance and the women he had discarded and killed got their justice.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I wrote the first draft between 2020-2021 and started querying in 2022. The feedback was mainly that agents didn’t see a place for this kind of historical fantasy in the market, so I shelved the project. Fast forward to late 2024, and I dug it out of the manuscript graveyard, polished it up, and sent it back out in early 2025. Within a month, I had an agent. Within another month, I had a two-book deal. And about 16 months after that, the book will finally be out! All told, almost six years—or twice the amount of time Anne Boleyn was queen.
The idea itself stayed the same—it was always going to be the queens versus the king. But several of their side-quests changed dramatically, I added new layers of magic, and I created a narrator (complete with snarky footnotes) in the intervening years.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Only the speed at which it moved once my agent said yes, especially for someone who had spent a decade writing and querying! My first career had actually been in publishing, and I’d worked as a production editor up to an acquisitions editor, so the process itself was very familiar to me.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Less so in the writing process and more in the research! Even now, I’m still learning new things about the Tudor queens, which makes me wish I could keep updating the book with every new tidbit I discover. I am an amateur historian, not a scholar, so I fear it will forever be my curse to wish I could add more depth or detail … but eventually the book just has to be published!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope readers see the inherent strength of women and sisterhood woven throughout the book. Rather than let a man and a male-dominated society tear them apart, these queens band together despite their differences and create true bonds of friendship … and cause a little mayhem along the way.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to look back at older work that you’ve set aside, especially manuscripts you truly loved. The stories you wrote a year or two or five ago could be “the one” as publishing trends change and your own craft evolves.
