One of my favourite history blogs is History of Royal Women, a great site with features on royal women around the globe (and a series on royal mistresses that I really must get my act together and write something about Madame de Montespan for!) I was very happy to have the chance to ask the blog’s creator, Moniek Blok, some questions.
I’ll let Moniek introduce herself…
My name is Moniek Bloks. I am 28 years old and I live in the Netherlands. My blog is about historical royal women (as the name might suggest!) and their amazing stories.
When did you start your blog and what was your motivation? How did you pick its name?
I registered the domain name in October 2013 and the first post appeared in November. I tried to pick a name that was general enough to fit a lot of people but still spoke to people. Conveniently, this domain name was also available.
Has your blog turned out the way you anticipated?
Better actually! People around me are often surprised when I tell them how many Facebook likes or visitors I get. I currently have about 66k Facebook likes and I get around 40k unique visitors per month on the site itself.
What is your best blog-related moment?
I guess that would be when I first got sent a book for review. For me it meant that people were taking me seriously!
What’s your favourite post?
I don’t really have a specific favourite post, but I really like the series I did on Queen Mary I. It really changed my view of her.
How to you pick what to write about?
I usually pick up stories while reading and I put everything in a draft in my editorial calendar on WordPress so I don’t forget!
Do you have a schedule for posting and/or a favourite social media platform?
Right now I am posting three times a week, while Amy (one of my contributors) has a series that posts once a week. I am thinking about going up to four times a week as I have so many ideas. I think my favourite social media platform is my Facebook page, but I really dislike the mobile app that goes with it!
What are your go-to sources for research?
I buy A LOT of second hand books and I like to torment my local library with my ILL (interlibrary loans) requests as they don’t have many history books.
Do you have other writing projects you are involved in?
I also write news stories for Royal Central and I just finished the first draft of my historical novel. My own novel is about Margaret, the Maid of Norway who actually existed and was (although it’s disputed) Queen of Scots. Unfortunately she didn’t survive the journey to Scotland (she was a Norwegian princess through her father) in real life. In my novel she survives the journey and together with her grandfather’s widow we follow her life. I’ve actually just begun writing the sequel which is about her eldest daughter Maud, who is married to the King of France at the age of 12.
If you could go back in time and be one Royal Woman or live in one era which would it be?
I think the Tudor era would be most fun!
Are you a historical fiction fan? If yes, what/who do you love to read? If not, why not?!
I have not read much historical fiction but I recently received Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen by Alison Weir for review and I really loved that!
Here are Moniek’s social media links:
Thanks Moniek and Happy New Year. I’m looking forward to lots more of your posts 🙂
Kate Braithwaite 