My favorite writer event happens this week, the Historical Novel Society Conference, North America. During the pandemic the volunteers on the board figured out how to put on an excellent virtual conference, so good that HNS now has a hybrid conference with virtual and in person portions. Which means I’m participating from my home desk for the first part of the week and then flying to San Antonio on Thursday.
My “Tribe”
I love this conference for a number of reasons. It’s where I can get together with my writer “tribe,” people who love history and transforming history into fiction. Moreover, there’s been a renaissance of mythic retellings and Trojan War books. As a result, part of my writing repertoire is actually “hot” these days–something that pretty much never happens. (Hittites have yet to become “hot.”) This is a crowd that celebrates such ancient world rarities. Therefore, reason number one that I love HNS is hanging out with old friends and meeting many new ones. This conference is my built-in historical fiction friends renewal project.
Panels at Historical Novel Society Conference
The panels and workshops come in as a close second. Writing is a process of perpetual learning and improving. I can’t wait to listen to my colleagues’ wisdom, both regarding the craft of writing and the important job of getting my books into the hands of new readers.
I am also presenting at the conference, both virtually and in person, and I enjoy public speaking. Unlike a lot of introverted writers, the longtime teacher in me is at home explaining something to a group. I find it deeply satisfying to teach a nuanced/challenging topic and watch eyes light up with understanding.
A Conversation about Historical Fantasy
On Wednesday morning, June 7, I’m leading the conversation room on historical paranormal, supernatural, and fantastical fiction. These “conversation rooms” were an invention of the pandemic online conference to provide a way for meaningful socializing when there was no chatting at the bar or whatever. They turned out to be a lot of fun. So the organizers kept them as a component so those who attend virtually have access to fun interaction, and those of us who are attending in person can start interacting a few days before we arrive for face to face friendship. I already attended Zenobia Neal’s Myth-Based Histfic conversation room this morning. There was my tribe in action!
My panel at HNS
Then on Friday afternoon, I’ll be on a panel entitled Just the Facts, Ma’am: What To Do When the Facts are Poorly Known. Addison Armstrong and G.M. Baker present with me, with M.K. Tod as moderator. It’s sort of obvious with my historical period, the Late Bronze Age Hittites, that there are poorly known facts. This is the empire that was “lost” to history until dug out in the last few decades. That I fill in imaginatively is no surprise, but the how is key.
In a similarly old vein, Mark Baker writes fiction set around 790 CE with conflicts between Norse and Anglish. Particularly the lives of his female characters are highly under-represented in the available evidence. But the particularities of his period and its evidence are quite different than mine. It’s intriguing to listen to how he “makes stuff up.”
Then we include Addison’s perspective as a writer of 20th century fiction. On the surface, you’d think the unknowns are few. So much documentation! However, the facts are scarce when you delve into an offbeat, intriguing and specific story as she does.
We share similar problems and a variety of solutions across history. Lots of fun to jump into this issue of “making stuff up” together. Our planning and practice sessions had me fully engaged. I’m looking forward to our panel.
So here’s to another Historical Novel Society Conference with plenty of friendship, learning, and teaching.