They say that...

if you put something out into the universe, you just might get it. So that’s what I’m doing. These are probably pipe dreams, but if I don’t give myself a goal, what’s the point?

My Biggest Dream Is To...

Work on this site full-time.

I have never felt as inspired as I do by reading these women’s stories and sharing them with you. I’m a maniac for research. If I could blog 1-2 times a week, podcast once every two weeks, do merch, put out a couple books a year, and support myself by doing so, I’d be the happiest person on earth. No joke. Okay, it would also be nice if mac and cheese had no calories and whiskey didn’t destroy your liver, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Become a best-selling author.

Okay, so it didn’t happen for me in the world of fiction. But I’m working on books about Princess Augusta of Brunswick, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mikhailovna, and Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden. That’s Hilda’s niece, Charlotte, in the photo above; she’s wearing the massive Luxembourg Empire Tiara.

If I ever manage to get a podcast off the ground, I’m also gonna compile season one’s episodes into a book, because I have more to say about all of them. I don’t know if traditional or self-publishing is right for these books, but if you are a literary agent, I would love your advice.

In Terms of Tiaras, I’d Like To...

Try on a famous tiara.

Just once. To know what it feels like to have something touching my body that also touched one of the women I’ve written about. And maybe take a selfie. Because, you know, pics or it didn’t happen. I’ll give the tiara back. I promise.

If anyone’s keeping score, my absolute all-time favorite is the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, on Queen Elizabeth II in the image (public domain via Wikimedia Commons).

In Terms of Travel, I'd Like To...

Spend the night in a castle.

I don’t even care which one, or which country it’s in. I’m not even sure I’d be able to sleep! I’d probably be really grumpy the next morning, but who can waste precious minutes in a castle sleeping? There’s too much to absorb, too much to explore. Well, maybe I could waste a few precious minutes...to be up and ready for a selfie the next morning as I have coffee and breakfast IN A CASTLE.

P.S. The first time I stayed at the Hotel Richelieu in New Orleans, I walked into my room, looked out the window, and swear to high Heaven, had a vision of a gargoyle outside my window. Not a stone one. A real one - huge, bigger than a person. What on earth might my over-saturated brain cook up for me in a castle?

Go back to Versailles.

In my world, Versailles is what heaven looks like. That’s Marie Antoinette’s Cabinet Doré in the image. Le sigh. I was there once, in 1994, when I was sixteen years old. I didn’t know anything about anything. I want to see it again with grown-up eyes.

See the Russian palaces.

Namely, Pavlovsk, Peterhof, Oranienbaum, Gatchina, the Winter Palace, the Alexander Palace, and the Catherine Palace. Throw in Mon Repos while you’re at it, since that’s where Catherine the Great left to launch her coup in 1762.

In Terms of the Business, I'd Like To...

Do all the things.

Seriously. I have so many ideas and so little time! Check out the Collaborations page, where I’ve posted requests for help.

Know that this site has changed someone’s life for the better.

Other than mine, that is.

Partner with someone who’s good at marketing and promotion.

I suck at it. Like, it’s not possible to suck worse than I suck at marketing what I do. Someday, I want to be able to hire a business partner who believes in the site and the research and the stories and wants to help promote it. You might wonder why I don’t just - novel concept - get better at marketing. It’s both a skill issue and a a confidence issue. I can work on the skill issue more easily, but as a natural editor (read: pessimist), I see the flaws before anything else in my own work. This makes it really hard to market. These women deserve it, though, so I’m going to try. But if you’re good at these things and as inspired as I am, maybe you’d like to help!

Launch sister sites.

I have ideas for more "The Girl in" sites that explore other aspects of history. I also want to take what I’m doing here and translate it into a kids’ site - same ideas, same vibe, with no swearing and a tighter focus on what these women did as adolescents and teens. This could become a content empire! Well, it could if I had more hours in the day. Which is where partners and collaborators come in...