PP - You have over 1,200 followers on Twitter, and almost 900 on Facebook --- were you surprised by this? What kind of readers do you have?
"I'm flattered and thankful to have as many readers as I do. They're Tudor enthusiasts, history enthusiasts, travelers, teens, college students, parents, Brits proud of their history, Anglophiles, academics, historians, all over the map. It is the best party at which to be and I'm really happy to be there every day."
PP - You say you're not an historian, and you ask your readers not to challenge you to academic duels. Has anyone ever been really nasty or otherwise picked a fight?
"I had to put that disclaimer in there! I have some readers who, when they first found me, may have taken issue with my rather irreverent and casual tone for such a topic, and asked about my "thesis" and other credentials. Being upfront has been most helpful, and I'm glad to say they stuck around! I try to do with the Tudors what I did in my classroom when I taught junior high and high school, which is make you love it and enjoy it, not just learn who and what and where. That's really what I'm about: blowing off the dust and making it fun and accessible, without sacrificing the respect the subject deserves."
PP - How many hours per day/week do you put in on your Tudor fascination? Do you have a "real" job these days?
"In our family, I'm our house co-manager and co-chef, homework quality control specialist, gardener, bedtime reader, and so on. I'm a freelance writer and editor as well. Therefore, I'm on the computer all the live-long day. I have a bit of a focus problem so I am constantly popping back and forth among my freelance work, my blog posts, Twitter, and Facebook. I don't have a smartphone or Blackberry or the like so I am never, for example, tweeting from the grocery store or on vacation. I don't even know how to text-message! But as long as I'm in the house during the day I am connected."
PP - You say you have a "book idea". Would you mind sharing?
"I based my blog on my book, The Tudor Tutor: Your Cheeky Guide to the Dynasty, although the blog tends to go off on tangents, incorporating relevant news stories, book/TV reviews, pop culture references, that sort of thing. The book is more of a basic "Here's what you need and want to know about the dynasty and its players." I have spent quite some time querying agents but have yet to learn the secret of being a published non-fiction author today when one is not a Kardashian nor a "Jersey Shore" cast member. Maybe that will all change in the near future? I keep my fingers crossed and my queries and proposals out there!"
PP - Do you have plans to cover any other period or dynasty in this much detail in the future?
"My original book idea was actually a cheeky guide to all the British monarchs, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II. I shopped that idea around as well but adjusted it to focus on the Tudors when that end took on a life of its own, through massive interest on the Internet as well as the beginning of the Showtime series. At this point I would like to continue to pursue representation on my current idea, but in the future I think it might be interesting to explore in-depth the Plantagenets, or perhaps the Scottish Stewarts. Really, wherever there's history, there's a load of great stories to dive into and bring out the cheeky!"
(There's also a great post about Barb over at Brit Fancy.)
Barbara is awesome! Thanks to her for all she does!
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