Or you might say PLW in HNS, but wow the acronyms on that title. For those who don’t know, the Historical Novel Society began in the UK. Then the rest of the world caught on! While there is always a UK conference (those take place on the even years), the North American conference takes place on the odd years. While I have not been to a UK conference, word on the street is that us Yanks have way more fun.

And I can attest to the fun:

• I met new authors, old friends, and favorite writers.
• I spoke on a panel, chatted in the bookstore, and made friends in the food line.
• I even got to catch up with Lanterns Ana Brazil and Vanitha Sankaran in REAL LIFE. (Pics at the end of the post to prove that it’s true!)

The Knowledge

The opening night  of the conference included dinner and pub-style trivia afterwards. Most everyone was tired and cleared out, but for the intrepid few, we took to a battle of history and books! Our team, delightfully named for the code one must enter to join the leaderboard, thank you A.M. Stuart for your quick fingers (all joking aside, you bring the delight both in and out of the quiz world!), placed second out of six. And MARGARET GEORGE was ON MY TEAM. I nearly died when I found out, because I had no idea what Margaret George looked like, and I just assumed she was another writer who wrote great stuff like everyone else around the table. She was lovely, and her husband saved our table’s bacon a couple of times. I was very proud of myself for being able to come in for two answers out of the fifty questions asked, in chronological order, with

• “What was Genghis Khan’s given name?”
  • (Temujin, thanks Civilization V, National Geographic, and the Bozeman Museum)
• “What war does Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s characters face in The Daughter of Doctor Moreau?”
  • (The Caste War of the Yucatan–it’s a great book and you should read it).

We all celebrated by going to bed, because it was the first night and we were all exhausted from traveling.

The Danger

The bookstore, run by Kathy Scott-Mejia, was basically a trap. And I mean that because I went in four separate times, just to look before I bought because I wanted them all, even the ones I’d already read. The books available were only from authors who were there in person, and holy buckets, what a crowd. I legit almost cried that I was amongst the illustrious crowd. In the end, I settled on buying five books, so when I walked out with six, I felt like I had met the goal. One of the books was the anthology of winners of the short story contest, called Desert of Dreams, of which our own Lantern, Ana Brazil was one. I am very excited to start in on the reads, because they all sound fabulous.

The Passion

My panel was “The Seductions of Historical Romance,” which consisted of me, Jade Lee/Kathy Lyons, Misty Urban, and Susan/Carol Coventry. We talked about the state of historical romance in light of Vulture and Bookriot articles discussing the trad five publishers announcement that historical romance is, and I quote, “dead.” In fact, the four of us all had buttons that said “Ask me about my dying subgenre!” (hat tip to historical romance author Isabella Kamal for those and the super cute “Long Live Historical Romance!” ghost stickers). We had everyone cracking up, and I think we left everyone feeling buoyant and, dare I say, feeling as if they had just read a “happily ever after for now” ending.

The final evening was a dinner, a talk, a gigantic thank you to Jenny Quinlan for her incredible efforts at organizing the convention, and a costume contest. I did not win, but I did walk across that stage as a lady prizefighter. I was itching for a fight, but had no takers. But that’s okay, because I did get a pic with Boudicca (Margaret George!!!! Can I say that again? MARGARET GEORGE), and Jane Austen (the incredible Syrie James, who I finally got to meet in person, after being online friends for years).

The Friends

Shoutout to my emotional support Canadian, TJS Hayes, for the great quiz time and hanging at Hell’s Kitchen, and Barb Ristine who brainstormed with me about the best author swag. We decided that branded gummies* would make you the most popular author at any signing.

Also had lovely chats with Zenobia Neil, Kate Quinn, and Weina Randel after hours on the final night. We covered everything from a mechanized Empress Wu Zetian, the changes in queer culture over the last forty years, to showing each other pictures of our dogs.

I said hello to PLW past interviewee Fiona Davis, but didn’t have much time to chat, which was a shame, because she is such a great person to talk to. She always seemed to be surrounded by a crowd (because she is a delight), and her keynote speech was excellent. Fiona covered why historical FICTION is important, how it differs from non-fiction, and how we, as authors, can be generous with our time, and our author’s note by giving credit to those who have done the primary research. I struggled to not buy the hard cover of her latest book, The Stolen Queen, because she was there and could sign it for me, but also because it is about Egyptology, which is basically my kryptonite. But now I have it on kindle!

Another spotlight author I’d wished to spend more time talking to was Silva Moreno-Garcia, whose books like the one mentioned earlier as well as Mexican Gothic, are fantastic. She gave a great talk about giving weight and importance to oral histories, not just written ones, and how they might not be “truth,” but are always Truth. I’m really looking forward to her next book, The Bewitching, which comes out July 15th.

Next conference is in June 2027, in the Steel City–Pittsburgh, PA! I’ll probably see you there.

*You know what kind of gummies we’re talking about.