Historical Novel Society

We attended the Historical Novel Society's 3rd Annual North American Conference the weekend of June 12th in Schaumburg, Illinois. Last year it was held in London, the year before in Albany, NY. Panel discussions concerned Breaking In and Staying In the Historical Fiction Game, Place as Character: Making Your Settings Come Alive, Does Size Matter? Publishing With Small Presses, Selling Historical Fiction (Editors), Talking the Talk: Historical Fiction Dialogue. If you would like blogs on any of these topics, let me know.

On a personal note, we met author Michelle Moran and thanked her for her book Heretic Queen which served as a model for our graphic designer because we chose it for reader accessibility and beauty. Michelle is also the author of Nefertiti and Cleopatra's Daughter, the latter to be released in September.

All told, there were 20 panels, so much activity that yours truly found himself in the wrong room sitting in the first row between an English nurse and Australian farmer. Not wishing to embarrass, I stayed and discovered one of the panelists (Nancy Hull, teacher at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan) turned out to mention author Richard Peck. He writes young adult novels and has done so for 20 years. He is also a former friend and fellow teacher at Glenbrook North High School. I had been attempting unsuccessfully to send him an invitation to the Book Launch. He spoke at her school earlier this year so I asked for his email and she promised to check with her chair for me.

Sometimes my mistakes pay off better than my plans.